doritofeet

2004 GX470 117k. Has anybody experienced water intrusion into the rear driver side interior panels? The car is brand new to me and i noticed staining on the seatbelt indicating an ongoing problem. We just had our first big rain of the season in south florida and the seat belt and floor board are very wet on the driver side, back seat(not 3rd row). I checked the condition of the 3rd row hatch window seal and it's perfect. there's no obvious damage or cracking to any exterior weather stripping. It seems the leak would have have to be rather high up in or above the C-Pillar to saturate the seatbelt, itself. Roof rack seals? Rear A/C duct condensation? Any help would be much appreciated. I'm looking for a OEM part solution rather than something involving silicone Thanks!

chiph9

Roof rack seals are a possibility. I'm not sure where the sunroof drain runs, but if that gets clogged that will cause problems. I doubt it's condensation from the rear A/C duct as the quantity of water seems high for that.

Basically, you'll have to pull the interior panels and go exploring while a friend with a garden hose soaks the outside.

Chip H.

burny

when my wife drove through high water last year this happened. I had take up all the plastic trim around each door and lift the carpet up and air out each door with a fan. The trim pieces come off easy and you can use a small wood block or piece of pvc to hold the carpet up while air drying

burny

also check the front and look at the condenser to see what kind of debris is on it and hose it off if necessary

doritofeet

Thank you for the replies. I'm liking the moonroof theory best. Upon further investigation(remember i've had this car a week), i've noticed some water staining on the passenger side A-Pillar where it meets the dashboard though this area is not currently wet. I would assume that the moonroof drain hoses are routed down both A-Pillars and both C-Pillars. Can anyone confirm this? the attached diagram is all i can find and it's not very clear where everything attaches. Also, does anybody know where the top and bottom(in/out) of the moonroof drain hoses can be found? i don't see any drainage holes along the inside edge with the moonroof open but i know they must be there somewhere. Likewise, i cannot seem to find where these hoses exit the car when i look under the vehicle near the wheel wells. are they hidden behind the wheel well shrouds? i'd like to try to "snake" the drains with some heavy monofiliment as a first step and i suppose my next step is to pop off some interior panels to have a look. Any tips or special tools for dealing with the interior panels? I'm a handy fella but have no experience with this car. thanks!

kamlung

iTrader: (8)

you can get a cheap panel pry tool at your local harbor freight for a few bucks... they won't scratch the trim if you slip and can properly get under the clips so you don't break the tabs... if you don't have a HF around, amazon has them too...


to snake drains, i usually use a heavy duty zip tie vs anything metal since it is less likely to damage any rubber hoses if you accidentally jab too hard while snaking...

YCT

Definitely check the sunroof drainage issues, my moms toyota had a similar issue.

doritofeet

yep, really looking like the sun/moon roof drains are the cause of my problem now. i was able to find the front drain holes which were so clogged with gunk that they were invisible. however, the rear drain holes are proving very difficult to find/reach. does anybody know their exact location and if they are accessible from the top with the moon roof open? or are they all the way in the back under the roof?

Project470

Could you please take a pic of the sunroof drain holes?

doritofeet

i'm away from the car for the next few days but if you poke around in the front corners, you'll find them. wipe any debris away from the area and look for the soft spots. they're around 1/4 in diameter and are punched right of the steel, no grommets. i used trimmer line to snake them out. still need to figure out how to get to the rear ones...