Back wall's air vents are leaking water into interior. And yours are, too.

Thanks!

 

I can see that if you drive off a cliff but I think the interior isn't that tight to allow a pressure equalization going down a grade.

It's for the high volume of air the blower is pulling in and when you close the door.

 

also sorry for stupid question but where are these vents at exactly?

i'm assuming the back wall behind seats under the rear window but the pics don't help.

 

Yup, exactly there.

Lower the rear seats. There will be two large, black panels that are behind them. Each panel is held in place with three or four 10mm bolts. Undo the bolts, then pull on the panels and they'll unclip. Start with the driver's side panel as it overlaps the other one. They come out easy, and you'll then see the hanging material (5-6 push pins on top) that you can simply lift up to see the vents.

 

I took mine apart today just to check . I did not see any signs of leaking . the vents did seem to be gasketed with something very foamy and flimsy ( like a sponge ). Because I had it all opened up , I caulked it up all around the vents . It seemed like a no brainer just to be safe .
Thanks for the tip ! Waiting for a potential problem and hoping Toyota will make it right is not worth it to me . Wet floors and mold , leading to rust is a bad thing .
I also did not see any signs of leaking from the rear window or rear box light .

 

Well done man... you did the right thing... those vents are real sloppy and the "gasket" thingy does not really seal anything..!! You'll be good in that area now..!!

 

No issues with mine either and I use those high pressure no touch car washes a lot.

 

I'd be interested to know if the caulking you did, lessened the exterior road noise coming from the back?

 

I agree . I will never worry about it again ? I even put some of the same silicon caulk on the inside of my house garage door , and the outside stoop to my garage , to see how it ages and reacts to the weather . It should let me know how it ages without having to take apart the rear of the tacoma interior again .

 

I doubt it would make any difference that can be heard .

 

+1.

I'd expect no change from that at all.

@Scruffie - keep in mind that the vents themselves are simply pieces of incredibly thin rubber (1mm or so) that is attached at the top edge, but otherwise loose. It's literally thin enough for air to move it. These rubber flaps are the only things covering the gaping holes (~8" x 1.5" on each side) made by the air vents. Nothing you do to the perimeter seals will affect the noise because the vents are essentially straight-through holes to the exterior.

I completely covered the driver's side vent with noise-deadening material, and covered the rear wall + rear floor + all four doors. It did make a difference, but not nearly as much as I was hoping for. I still have to sound-deaden the floor under the front seats, as I suspect a ton of noise is leaking in from there, and once that entire floor section is done, I'll get the "proper" results that I was hoping for from the get-go.

 

Was afraid of that. My one pet peeve with my truck, has been the road noise coming through the back cab wall. Had a Rice Rocket winding er up as he went by my from front to back. Couldn't hear him coming, but could sure hear him just after he went by me, and then for another good 5 seconds as he wound er out. Cocked my right ear to the back the sound was coming directly from the back cab. Sounded like driving through the Deas or Cassiar tunnel with my window down in traffic. All emanating form the back of my truck.
Guess just need to turn Tunes up louder.

 

I had the same thing happen to me and I have video proof of the leaks. Anybody dealing with a musty smell after rains should check here first

 

Last two times it rained I noticed a smell of mildew in my truck. Decided to look behind my rear seats and this is what I saw...the last one is a picture of my subwoofer box after I pulled it out. Did a water test and water started pouring in from the rear vent on the back wall.

 

Mine is stock with no mods around the vents. It is bone dry after many months of driving in rain. Vents look good.

 

Is this what's causing our trucks to smell like socks?

 

was this addressed on the 2017's? I haven't noticed any mildew smells or anything similar since i got the truck and we had some pretty heavy rains already this year in SoCal

 

Question, are these vents the same on access cabs as on double cabs?

 

Ok posted a thread on this and was sent here. Anyone having further issues with this ? I was on the search for a smell in my truck and found this. Those that have sealed it themselves what did you use on it ? How’s it holding. Not a fan of having a hole in my truck. Starting pricing 4runners right away

 

Check this thread:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...behind-rear-seats.503508/page-2#post-17401658