Cowl Water Leak and Linkage Seized

From your first picture it just looks deformed, possibly from removal. I've removed many cowl panels and some were tough to get back into place (especially on the Lexus RX300).
I would remove it again and the reinstall paying attention to the gap between the rubber and windshield as you work. You can maybe get one from a junk yard or eBay?

Silicone/sealant is not the answer.

 

While I give credit to you for experience, when you have a passenger floor board full of water whenever it rains and a moldy stinking carpet on a 3-4 year old truck you will do what it takes and sealant was my fix and has not leaked since. We have had more than two inches of rain here since Friday. It's worse when you have multiple leaks from different areas as many of us have found. You are right, I think his initial pictures show the cowl clips out of place. This is a poor design and I cannot believe Toyota would produce a part like that. Look at the cost involved to replace the wiper components and cowl for this guy. Big bucks in parts plus labor for the un-handy in most cases. There should be a TSB and no charge fix from Toyota for this situation. They are not alone though. I've seen it on BMWs ,VWs and Chryslers too. To me there is nothing more annoying than water leaks into the cabin.

 

There is a TSB for a new cowl in 2005-2012 Tacomas.

I have a special kind of hate for water leaks, I've been fixing them for the last 25 years as an automotive tech. I've seen everything from bad assembly from the factory to shoddy body work.

 

I guess he can look into that TSB, thanks. I have a '13 so I miss it. Leaks are very frustrating to live with and harder to fix. There are not enough conscientious guys like you unfortunately.

 

I’ve got 300,000 km on my Tacoma so I don’t think I’m applicable. I’m going to try and seat my cowl properly and see if it fixes the leak

 

The mileage listed on the TSB is just if Toyota will be paying for the repair. You can use the part(s) listed if you have a vehicle that falls in the VIN (or year) range. It's just that you will be paying for parts and labor.

I downloaded a bunch of TSB's for my truck while I had a TIS account, didn't have an issue with anything but it's good for reference later on if I encounter such an issue that was addressed in a TSB instead of pulling my hair out.

 

Im going to do this - do you feel that if you had to replace the windshield again, that you would need a new cowl OR could you reseal upon install of the new windshield. Aka - how many times can we reseal

 

just found this
What does everyone do? Bite the bullet and get TSB PN cowl for $330 new at dealer?
Lot of money for a floppy piece of plastic that cost $10 to manufacture.

I know folks have said Toyota should pay for it. But I doubt this will happen. Besides the fact no car is perfect or design not predicting real world effects,
More importantly, TSB is not a recall but information, and means covered IF under factory warranty, which basically no 2nd gen is any more.

in other words, the factory’s stance would be “if this was an issue for you, it would have revealed itself while the vehicle was still under warranty and you would have quickly brought it into the dealer during that time”
within that window, whatever it is, such as 4yr/50k mi whichever comes first.

 

Regarding posts about cheap fixing the gap with silicone instead of entire cowl trim replace (expensive)

has anyone done it with tape
Thinking of using something like Flex Tape so that it goes on better than sealant and is not permanent. Black should look better than clear, as cowl trim and outer section of windshield are both black.

Says stops leaks and automotive use right on it.

 

Woke up this morning after a hard rain to find standing water on my passenger side. Ugh!

1st time this happened to me. Curse the truck gods! Damn, I feel like I'm getting hit hard with the little things recently.

I'm thinking about bending an old license plate as a little roof for the air intake under the cowl. I'll post some pictures is it works out ok....I'm trying to shy away from the silicon sealant solution. I have a crack starting in my windshield so I'll have to replace it at some point. Ugh...

Here's what it's looks like. Might not be perfect but I hope it helps. Day 1 we'll see how it does. Enjoy!

 

sounds easy.
1. Flex seal tape over gap if you don’t want to replace cowl with updated design
2. PELE 3d printed cover with shield
3. inspect area metal for any cracks to seal

I still have to figure out what to do about my cowl gap. Going to try tape.

and did not yet inspect or test surrounding metal for cracks that could need seem sealer.

despite that, after only the addition of PELE 3D kit, water ingress has either mostly reduced or stopped entirely.

but hey the plate looks good and if it’s there already could be done.
Note: the PELE shield tilts up at an angle to allow for cabin air enter through the sides. It’s not flat.

it looks like you completely blocked off the cabin air port by bending the license plate flat. I see a lot of room behind it going up the firewall to windshield.
You could re bend it into more of a triangle on the sides so it goes up like a tent. And the water slides down it.

 

Did you apply the tape on the outside? Over the top of the windshield and cowl? Got a picture?

I'll be getting that PELE set-up but I'm squeezing pennies right now.

Good Luck!

 

not yet. Plan is Home Depot get a roll of black flex seal tape. Probably better than the knockoff HFT has to save 5 bucks.

going to measure and cut length and place it evenly over my gap where original cowl meets the windshield. I think it’ll be fine and not noticeable. Should work. Maybe hit it with a wipe and let dry before slapping the tape on.

otherwise so far have just done the PELE shield. Need to go back in there at some point to install the side panel anti-mouse meshes. May need to pull out my wiper linkage to make room for access to get a drill in there for making the securing screw holes for the side mesh panels.

pretty happy with what I’ve installed so far on the PELE cowl stuff. It goes together, well designed, looks good, no issues. Vs having to deal with Home Depot gutter mesh and roof flashing.
That’s the older method that very well may still work too. Or license plate.
Hopefully that doesn’t rattle around and rub metal to metal on the truck scraping paint off over time to cause rust.
Vs the PELE kit being plastic and bolted on, that’s probably not a possibility.

 

I read somewhere that the leaks aren’t coming from the warped cowl but
the channel under the cowl is blocked at the ends with debris. I kinda believe this because my cowl is very much not
against the windshield and I never have a leak.

 

I definitely cleaned a bunch of leafs out of the corner where the hood latches are.

 

Just checked that channel and there wasn't a lot of debris in there but it's enough to cause a problem I guess.

Thanks

 

@TacoTuesday1 did you ever have any luck sorting out the gap issue on your cowl? I believe you said you were going to try tape. Was curious if you found a solution. Any reply would be appreciated!

 

there are 4 cowl revisions. There is a bulletin on this issue advising to install revised cowl. but, that’s around $330. A piece of plastic is not $330.

So, at the time, I cleaned then laid down a long even strip of flex seal like tape. Whichever version I got from harbor freight.

it’s still there. However it’s not perfectly sealed like it was on day one. Changing temp, expand and contract, has developed small wrinkles and gaps in some areas. Probably lasted a couple months in that regard.

 

I had this issue also. The second time I removed the cowl plate I bought a big tube of black caulking at Home Depot to "fix" it- this looked better than clear I used prior.

The new Tacomas have this same shitty design.