grklexus

Hi All,
After yesterdays' rain the car looks like all the windows and the roof were open. There is obviously a major leak somewhere which I can't locate. There was no dripping from the roof or from anywhere else. Looks like most of the water got accumulated in the passengers rear floor.
I checked the drain wholes on the moonroof and they look clear, and no water accumulated.
Are there any other places that there are drain tubes that might be pluged except the ones on the moonroof?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

--John (2000 RX300)

Rx900

wow, never heard of something like this. maybe window rubber seals?? Is there a big stain on the interior ceiling??

grklexus

After further inspection, I checked the spare tire area. It was filled with water.
I took out the side panels and both of them had water in them too. I checked both the drain tubes but they did not looked pluged.
I have the car for 3 years and it is the first time that this happens.
Thanks for your reply

--John

Rx900

no problem, anytime!

Lil4X

Is it possible you were parked in an area of flash flooding?

My wife was caught in a flash flood at a major intersection several years ago. She was driving a '74 Riviera I had plans to restore, when trapped by stalled traffic in fast-rising water at an urban intersection. She abandoned ship, carrying a friend's infant daughter she had been sitting - before the situation became too threatening.

Fifteen minutes later, the rain had stopped and the street was almost dry. They got a little wet, but the car's carpets and spare well were soaked as water entered the "drain" holes in the doors and floor and the car was flooded with about three inches of water inside. The car seemed to be otherwise tight and weatherproof, but I never thought about water coming up from below . . .

grklexus

This is not the case here. The car was parked in my driveway and there was no flooding

salimshah

There are three sources .. falling water, rising water and forced water.

Since you have eliminated the last two (parked in driveway) start looking for the highest wet point (even the high areas of accumilation). Each low point should have a drain hole (or a rubber plug). So make sure you drain all the wells.

Happy hunting.

Salim

rl9905

I think the best way to find out is to sit inside the car. Then have someone else with the garden hose run water on top of your car and as you sit inside you should be able to hear or see any leaks inside the car.

blue_rx330

Did you happen to drive in that rainstorm with the air conditioner (or the defroster) running?

I had a 1991 Honda that had the same symptoms that you described. I drove for 2 hours through a major rainstorm at night, the next morning I noticed that the passenger footwells, and the rear seat footwells were soaked with almost an inch of standing water. But the ceiling was dry, and all windows were closed tight. Where'd all that water come from?

In that Honda, there was something called an "evaporator tube" or "evaporator hose" that drained condensation/water from the air conditioning system. A small part of the hose is visible from the passenger footwell - and my friend must have kicked out the hose with his feet. I've been told its a common design to have the evaporator unit in the firewall behind the dash.

I would've expected water to collect in the front passenger footwells...but if you parked your car on an incline with the front of the car higher than the back...that would explain why the water collected in the passengers rear floor.

So to test the theory - take a flashlight and look closely under the dash on the passenger side of the car. You're trying to find a disconnected or damaged flexible hose.

Good Luck!

parula

Blue, that's real good information, we need to find where this hose is on our RXs. I'll look on mine.

grklexus

Thank you all for your replies. Blue, this sounds very interesting but I am pretty sure that we didn't run the car with AC on for a long time. But it definately worths to take a look at it.

--John

sluggo

I have had the same problem with my car, and looking over the number of problems people are reporting with the electrical connections under the rear seat, it seems to be a pretty common problem.

I first noticed it in the winter (our rainy season) when taking the seatbelt out in the morning. Often as not, it smelled of mildew, which I hate. After really bad rains, it would be wet to the touch. Yuck. So rain water was getting in somewhere.

I tried packing a tiny bit of clear silicone caulk in the gap that had developed over the years between the rear window plastic trim and the body of the car. No luck. I cleaned the sunroof area really well and looked for leaks later, but there was nothing obvious. Even parked on a crowned road (with the passenger side lower), the water was always on the driver's side of the car (the high side), so I have to doubt it's coming in through the sunroof. When I had my rear seat out I noticed all the rust stains in the well on the driver's side. but there were no stains on the passenger's side.

I took the rear driver's side panel off and looked around. All I could see was where the water was coming forward along the underside of a rail and then dripping onto the seatbelt. I put a piece of duct tape and shaped it to block any water moving forward, then covered the seat belt mechanism with several layers of folded aluminum foil. No more wet seat belt, but I still haven't figured out how the water is getting in or why it's always on the driver's side.

sluggo

Edit - I just noticed I was posting this in the RX forum. My car's an SC400. Interesting. What side is y'alls radio antenna on?