Signs of 3rd brake light leaking.

May be kind of a weird question but to the guys that have had this issue what was your beginning signs of it starting to happen. I live in south central PA and the last few days have been pretty rainy so I took a look around in the back of my 16 sr5 double cab since I know this is a problem in these earlier trucks and saw some water stains that I know weren’t there before. What do you guys think? Worth taking it in? I bought certified so I have 12,000 bumper to bumper.

 

Yep. Take it in. For me, I started seeing condensation on the inside of my front windshield in the mornings. But that didn’t persuade me until I saw the water behind the back seat one rainy afternoon. Then it all made sense. At least you’ll have it documented.

 

For sure take it in.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/leaking-2017-tacoma-bad-mold-need-advice.643784/

I started checking mine regularly

 

Thanks for the heads up! Now that you say that, it’s been a little bit ago now but I do recall seeing some condensation on my windshield a few weeks back now that doesn’t always mean a leak but now with what you said and my experience this could all be making sense. Thanks again! I’ll hopefully be calling the dealership tomorrow.

 

Take it before it gets to bad. I took mine in when I first saw it but my back seat was already flooded. There was no mold in my truck. but with it sitting at the dealership for three weeks it now has mold. They are replacing my backseat , headliner and carpet. They are also having to scrap up all the sealant crap under the carpet. And I’m gonna be without my truck for another three weeks.

 

Yikes!!!! That doesn’t sound good at all. At least they’re taking care of everything for you though. Since your trucks been at the dealer for so long I guess the light assemblies Are still on backorder?

 

Man that's BS. Toyota really screwed up with this. I wish they would recall all the trucks affected (which are 2016-2018 double cab).

Sorry to hear those chain of events.

 

You'll likely see it first in the headliner. Drips behind the rear seat are also a good sign it's leaking. Mine leaked but luckily enough before the 36k. Dealer replaced headliner and light and all has been well since. 30k ish miles since replacement.

 

Good deal thanks for the help! Glad they fixed everything for you! Sounds like I should have a good chance of getting it fixed. I also think I have the door sill rust starting to but I’m going to monitor that a bit before I say it’s just my eyeballs or somethings up.

 

I had water down the back window and in the storage bins. Looked like yours but worse. Def take it in

 

Yeah I got lucky. I feel bad for the people who got passed the 36k and Toyota just said not our problem. Recall the invoice was well over 2k for the repair. If I had to pay out of pocket I would not be happy.

 

Damn! Yeah I second ya on that one!

 

Sounds good. Sounds like I better make a call tomorrow than. I’ve noticed my seats have some stains on them too but like I said I bought it used so not sure if someone spilled something or maybe it’s had a bit of a leak before and it’s all just now showing it’s self. But hey this is what warranty is for.

 

POS third gens.

#SmittyLives

 

Haha. Just seems weird I never had to worry about water in the vehicle with my 20+ year old VW. And it had a sunroof. Decide it's time for a new truck and the outside is inside.

 

On a VW only if the brake pedal becomes dis-attached while driving
https://www.carcomplaints.com/news/2016/volkswagen-porsche-recalls-cars-suvs.shtml

or they forget to put the c clips on their connecting rods in the engines recall

or the epa scandal ?

And the list goes on.

They have issues.

 

I had a 96 and a 97. Well before the scandals.

 

I had a Model T that had 0 recalls myself.

 

Congrats old man.

 

See I always thought they fixed it in 18. I haven’t noticed any leaks but also haven’t been vigilant on checking either.

I’m due for a vacuum/interior clean