Water leak

[steffan]

had the dreaded wet carpet in the rear, left cargo area. after reading through the half dozen threads on it as well as the nice video on youtube, i figured it had to be the little clips holding the trim piece on. I pulled the trim and under the built up dirt were the tabs and gaskets looking factory fresh. not convinced, i flooded it with the garden hose directly on the clips....... no leaks
then i went through and checked all the window seals and drain holes. they had a little crud built up but nothing majory. i scrubbed the tracks out and flushed it well. again, closed the windows and flooded it with the garden hose...... again, no leaks.

 

[steffan]

here are some pics of the adventure. this shows the trim 'cap' and the trim slid forward.

 

[steffan]

here is the clip and the 'gasket', and from underneath... they looked great, didn't seem to leak and with my luck, i'd break one trying to remove it so I left them alone. after cleaning up the windows and assembling everything again i washed it... no puddles anywhere. don't know if i should be happy or not. guess i'll have to keep an eye on it - it's never happened before

 

[VivaToy]

Reviving this thread to see if anyone had suggestions on possible gasket material. I'm hesitant to use silicone all the way around because it seems like the louver would be much more likely to break next time it's removed if it's 'glued' on to the body. Any generic seals or weatherstripping I should look into?

 

[Kief]

Uh, don't use silicone, the acetic acid (smells like vinegar) is corrosive and can cause rust. If I remember correctly, I utilized the butyl tape that one might use for sealing around tail lights. It comes in a roll. I edited my original post- I thought it was about sunroofs..

 

[joxeale]

So the fix is to silicone down the rear quarter moulding? I feel like the responses on this thread are kind of confusing and the lack of pics makes it worse. If anyone can chime in, please do. I have a leak in both my rear quarter sliding windows. Don't think it's the sunroof drains but either the weather strip of the sliding window, or the clips that hold the moulding down. If anyone has pics, or a video, it'd be wonderful.

 

[VivaToy]

@joxeale Agreed, which is why I brought it back up. I'm looking at the louvers and not sure what is going to prevent them from leaking again with the exception of siliconing the edges. My leak is coming from the bottom of the louver from the inside.

 

[graham5david]

@joxeale Agreed, which is why I brought it back up. I'm looking at the louvers and not sure what is going to prevent them from leaking again with the exception of siliconing the edges. My leak is coming from the bottom of the louver from the inside.

I siliconed under the louvers and replaced the clip gaskets with a dab of silicone then put the trim back on. A little messy and I had to do some cleaning. Also the silicone holds dust so if you get it on tbe window trim it takes a little scrubbing to remove. But no leaks so far. They do sell replacement louvers and gaskets which I will probably do some day.

 

[graham5david]

Also the reason it leaks primarily in the driver side is because it drips onto the jack and accumulates on the jack base. Then it spills over to the rear carpet. Removing or moving the jack would probably allow the water to drip down the quarter panel and drain out of the bottom of the quarter panel like the passenger side. Doing this would reduce the wet carpet quite a bit.

 

[LandLocked93]

So the fix is to silicone down the rear quarter moulding? I feel like the responses on this thread are kind of confusing and the lack of pics makes it worse. If anyone can chime in, please do. I have a leak in both my rear quarter sliding windows. Don't think it's the sunroof drains but either the weather strip of the sliding window, or the clips that hold the moulding down. If anyone has pics, or a video, it'd be wonderful.

Wait.
No.
As I understand all the previous, one source of leakage is the white trim-clip holes.
"Silicone" (Toyota FIPG103 in 80-speak) is used to secure and water-proof them.
A second source of leakage is the big hole under the 'loovers'.
This takes an OEM gasket (or crafty equivalent).

@VivaToy - All things being equal, the 'next time' you're talking about should be 20 years or so, if r&r is done properly.
Otherwise, for overlanders, DIY rear-quarter gullwings are the go-to (excuse) if a gasket replacement is already planned. See DirtLifestyle channel (or others, on YT)) for the how-to. It's not for everyone.
But if you're DIY'ing a gasket just to put the OEM glass back in (more so a slider, tho a slider is at least usable in somewhat the same way as a gullwing, compared to the one-piece glass) you're half way there.

 

[LandLocked93]

Wait.
No.
As I understand all the previous, one source of leakage is the white trim-clip holes.
"Silicone" (Toyota FIPG103 in 80-speak) is used to secure and water-proof them.
A second source of leakage is the big hole under the 'loovers'.
This takes an OEM gasket (or crafty equivalent). edit: The gasket around the 'loover' itself. If that gasket is not economical, a small bead of 103 is not the end of the world, worst case.

@VivaToy - All things being equal, the 'next time' you're talking about should be 20 years or so, if r&r is done properly.
Otherwise, for overlanders, DIY rear-quarter gullwings are the go-to (excuse) if a gasket replacement is already planned. See DirtLifestyle channel (or others, on YT)) for the how-to. It's not for everyone.
But if you're DIY'ing a gasket just to put the OEM glass back in (more so a slider, tho a slider is at least usable in somewhat the same way as a gullwing, compared to the one-piece glass) you're half way there.

 

[LandLocked93]

What? Why?

 

[VivaToy]

I'm looking at this image and see that I only need to remove the louver. That's a nut off the bottom stud, a clip accessed through the inside upper panel, and a slide of the louver down. The issue is there's a gasket around this entire thing. I'm looking for a replacement rubber for that. Or, do I silicone the entire edge to the body? Or maybe I only silicone around the base of the louver so it can't leak from the hole. These are the questions.

 

[LandLocked93]

View attachment 2445539
I'm looking at this image and see that I only need to remove the louver. That's a nut off the bottom stud, a clip accessed through the inside upper panel, and a slide of the louver down. The issue is there's a gasket around this entire thing. I'm looking for a replacement rubber for that. Or, do I silicone the entire edge to the body? Or maybe I only silicone around the base of the louver so it can't leak from the hole. These are the questions.

I think you could use either the FIPG in a tiny bead, or closed-cell foam weather stripping on the underside of the louver all the way around, maybe leaving the very bottom of the louvered piece open to drain whatever moisture might make it down to that point?

 

[ColinP]

Working on this overdue project this weekend on my ‘97. Have already removed the quarter molding using the slide-forward toward the rear passenger door method (previously posted YouTube video for this was excellent) and successfully removed the small white clips. The paper gaskets were all toast so I cleaned everything, applied silicone to the openings, and replaced. Good rain in the PNW today - those seem to be holding but water still leaking from above and further back which I assume is coming from behind the the louver. Since it seems many have broken the clips removing that piece fingers crossed I can get it out and back in in one piece.
if I understand correctly the sequence for this is to
1. Remove interior paneling
2. Remove lower louver screw
3. Push upper clip out from inside
4. Slide louver down to remove.
is this correct?

 

[VivaToy]

@ColinP That is correct. If you happen to break one of those clips, you can pick them up at a larger Napa. PN 665-2849. They are direct replacement. No modification needed.

Here are some photos of what I did a couple days ago.

To elucidate your steps a little:
1. Be careful not to break the tab off on the interior panel behind the seatbelt mount.
2. 8mm nut on the louver stud.
3. There's a little window from the removed seat belt mount panel and you can pop the clip from there.
4. Slide louver down and be careful not to scratch the paint with the stud on the bottom.

Once you remove the louver ocmpletely, you can pop out the middle clip and replace it onto the louver or with your new Napa clip so it's easier to install.

I used a lot of silicone on the plastic vent edges (that has the foam gasket) because I don't do things twice. Maybe in twenty years I'll have to scrape it off, but I won't be worrying about a leak for a long time.

Be sure to clean everything really well. The picture of the red cloth is gunk just from one side.

Good luck.

 

[thelal]

Napa. PN 665-2849

good find on the parts. Yep - those clips are a pain and can end up breaking as get brittle over time.
I had leaks on both my rear qtr windows and took them out. Interesting that the aluminum deteriorates with lots of holes in it. Will need to put up a post on this in more detail. Leaks appear to be stopped. Ended up with rust forming on the very bottom under both windows at the very rear (where water will pool - there is a rubber stopper you can take out)

 

[HardyDanger]

Ahhhh haaaaa!!!! looks like I got this problem too! Found a puddle in my jack mount and a rusty jack . I think my first aid kit might also be toast that I keep there too.

Hi