Too Moist inside

So, I live in New Orleans, it is just a humid area, I'm used to it.

But in the last week, coming into the truck every morning, there is an excessive amount of moistness. the windows are fogged up to the point of almost beading. The truck does not normally have this much moisture and neither does my camry or corolla.

the strange part is, I checked for leaks in the windshield, windows, back window, there are no visible leaks, no water flowing down from up top. I even sat in the truck when a rainstorm started and watched for leaks. no water collecting behind the back seat, no obvious leak spots in the headboard.

It almost appears that someone is boiling a pot of water in my truck like a wet sauna.

I will have to take the doors apart and see if water is collecting in there.

Maybe it is collecting in the air handler intake?

Anybody else encounter this?

 

Have you checked the floor boards under the mat? passenger side particularily..

 

This ^^^

The 2005 had a TSB for leaks in the firewall seams. I'll see if I can locate a link.


Here is the TSB for the seam leaks: https://www.tacomaworld.com/attachments/bo00405r-05-leak-pdf.1051900/

Thread about the leakers:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/passenger-side-water-leak.681099/#post-24000462

 

Good point. But i dont have carpet. I have the rubber off road carpet replacement.

 

AAAAAAAh, Thank you. I searched but kept finding posts about leaking back windows.

 

Leaks are a normal part of car ownership, and can be frustrating to solve.

On my Tacoma, the most recent leak I fixed was from the rear cab vent. I discovered it when changing the cab mount bushings -- the rear ones were waterlogged. I traced it back to the vent behind the rear-seat backrest, at the back of my access cab. Did my best to reseal it without removing the bed... no idea if I was successful, but for where I live, this is not a major problem.

Another leak I think I might have fixed was in the fresh air intake, on the passenger side cowling. Here, I fashioned a "roof" from sheet metal over the air intake, to prevent rain dripping from the windshield into the hvac intake. You can find examples of this by searching the forum.

There are dozens of other common places that could leak, though.

Here's what you need to do to get to the bottom of it:

1. Figure out what is wet. Check your floorboards, first by lifting the floor mats and looking for wet carpet, then if that doesn't help, pull the trim so you can lift the carpet and padding. Physically put your hand under the padding to feel for moisture. Another area where water can pool undetected -- at least on access cabs -- is at the rear cab-mount bolts, beside the rear jump seats. I see you have a 4-door truck, so your bodywork is different, but no matter what: water is going to find the lowest places, so start your search low and keep looking. If you can't find any water in the truck after a good rain and pulling the interior, then maybe you don't have a rainwater leak. Sometimes the climate just leads to excessive moisture in the cab. A leaking heater core or blocked evaporator drain could also give rise to moisture and foggy windows, but that is a separate issue.

2. Once you've figured out where water is collecting, the next step is to determine its source. Ideally you will do this on a clear sunny day, with a helper, but you can also do it alone during a rain storm or parked under a sprinkler. First, remove all carpet, trim, and interior furnishings from the general region where you found the water, until you have a clear view of the bodywork in all directions upstream from the pooling water. Be prepared to keep removing interior until you find the source -- water can wick horizontally and duck behind body seams. Have your helper relentlessly spray the vehicle with a hose. Showering it from above for several minutes on end is a good start, but also try spraying from all directions, and parking on an incline in various orientations. Set your phone on the dash in speaker mode so you can communicate with your helper. Meanwhile, you should be crawling around in the vehicle with a headlamp looking for the tiniest drop of water, in search of its source. It is not always easy, because most leaks that will turn your truck into a perplexing swamp are very tiny, and the water collects over days or weeks... whereas your helper will get bored in just a few minutes. And if you are working alone with a hose, it is a lot harder to trace the water drops to their source.

In any case, your goal is to find the actual point of intrusion -- some failed barrier in the original design of the vehicle. Beware of giving up your search too early -- for example, some interior seam gap from which water seems to originate within the vehicle. You need to figure out the source at the exterior of your vehicle, and seal it off there. If you plug an interior seam with sealant, water will keep coming into your truck, and will just find a different route to the floorboard.

Once you've found the actual point of water intrusion, it is generally an easy fix by replacing parts or gaskets, applying silicone or urethane sealants, or unblocking clogged drainage passageways. Be warned that you can't just smear caulk over a leaking interface to seal it. You need to disassemble it, clean the surfaces, and reassemble it with sealant applied to the correct surfaces. For example, for non-openable windows such as windshields, if there's a gap in the seal, you can't effect a permanent fix by smearing caulk around the edges. Trust me, I've tried. If you value your time, fix the leak properly.

This approach sucks, but will eventually work. It may take a few tries. I've sometimes repaired a handful of insignificant leaks before eventually finding the insidious culprit.

Edit: You mentioned you don't have carpet, but the same idea applies. Lift up the floor liner to figure out where the water is collecting.

 

Thanks.

I dont have carpet, so Im going to have to take the door trim off and pull up the rubber floor to look underneath.

The confusing part, is that there are no puddles. if water is getting under the rubber floor, then it must be from the firewall area. There are no puddles behind the back seat (i dont have the moulded plastic in there and can see everything)

 

Yeah, took me a while to write that, then I saw you don't have carpet. The principle is the same. Your logic is probably right, and you can find tons of examples of common leaks on the internet, and your situation is likely a common one.

But... leaks are insidious, and might only occur in certain situations, such as when you park at a certain angle. Water can wick uphill. Logic reasoning isn't always helpful.

I recommend locating the water, tracing it to its fundamental source, then properly fixing it there. Sometimes it's not even a leak, but rather a drainage path blocked by dirt or leaves, causing the water to overflow into the cab. In that case, you have to clean out the drainage path, and either keep it clean, or add a barrier to keep other crap out.

In any case, randomly trying to fix "common" leaks based on internet searching, in my experience, has rarely fixed the leaks on my cars. Finding the water, tracing it, and properly restoring (or improving) the original drainage design is time-consuming but always effective.

Good luck!



Edit: A couple of photos from recent repairs...


Here's the "roof" I built over the air intake:




And here's the rear cab vent... not properly repaired, as I'd have to remove the bed to replace the original seal. (And I did not.) But I was able to push the vent rearward and inject sealant around the flange on all sides before popping it back into position... good enough for SoCal.



There's probably half a tube of urethane body sealant dripping down the back side of my cab... but hey, the vent no longer leaks.

 

Nice roof! I've got some material and some sealant. I'll probably start taking apart the intake when the rain stops.

I am just dreading to see if i have wasps and rats in there... i will have to get the shop vac ready.

I also have a can of flexseal somebody gave me a while back. and i have been itching to use it on something LMFAO

 

The Title of this thread is misleading....

 

MOIST

 

Termites. Effing wet termites were piled up around the intake.

I didn't have much time, so i cleaned the area up, sprayed flexseal and made a quick "roof" and put everything back together

 

.

 

Termites attracted by wet leaves etc... ?

 

No, the swarmers. They get into almost anything. It's really funny to watch people freak when getting covered with the little fkers.

 

I had the same thing two days in the past 2 weeks or so. 3rd Gen, Covington. I couldn't find any leaks either.

 

Upon experiencing foggy glass, smell, and water dripping on my floor mats maybe a year ago,

I began researching this topic, finding numerous discussions recommending to do the following:
-verify windshield is installed properly
-make sure cowl is installed properly, to direct water outward, which it does a bad job of even normally because the channel is too small
-install a protective cover over the cabin filter intake, shaped by curving a piece of metal
-install a grate underneath that, over the cabin filter intake while you're in there, to keep mice out (unrelated to water)
-visually inspect around the cowl intake area, for small cracks in the metal of the truck, potentially allowing water to leak in that will require seam sealer to be smeared on top of them; of which what tool is used to neatly do that I am not sure. I only have a tube of sealer and caulking gun.
-find out if truck has drain holes/tubes/channels (normally vehicles are supposed to) and inspect/verify operation, such as 1.pour water,2.poke with coat hanger, 3.look at with flashlight

But today in this thread, I am finding out there are potentially even more areas that can cause water ingress
and the fun results that probably include corrosion and mold

I never thought I'd get to the point of reflecting back on my old high mileage German car to realize it had less problems

Thanks Toyota

 

It is expected that my old beat up truck could leak.

I hope your much newer taco isn't letting water in

 

I couldn't find any leaks. And I'm pretty sure I would smell wet carpet by now if it something to be really concerned about. I think it's something that just comes with living in our sub-tropical climate..