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

Oh this is still a problem. Just heard water this morning sloshing around after rain..... took apart the back today and found those to be loose.... even in the correct position can see light around them.... that is a poor design.....

 

yikes. i'm having that rear cab panel and one of the vents replaced right now due to fire damage. i'll ask the shop if they looked to be sealed/installed properly or if they found any moisture.

 

Stopping by to confirm that this is still very much so a big problem. Had my 2016 taco in the dealership 8 months ago for the third brake light recall and they replaced carpet and brake light and all and the issue kept happening. More water in the cabin every time it rains the carpet under my floor mats are very very wet. I took it back in today thinking that the brake light was still the issue and after a $200 diagnosis later they told me water is coming in from these vents and that the gasket around these vents are the issue. I’m going to try silicone or some windshield urethane to try and fix it myself and save the $600 for them to replace the $30 vents… My biggest frustration is if they believed this same result was caused by the third brake light and was not considered normal wear and tear, how is this not a recall/toyotas fault? Another thing, i’m still getting a little bit of water on my headliner near the back corners also when it rains. That’s not the vents causing water to get on the headliner so explain that?? Here to vent (no pun intended) also here to see if anyone has found a sure fire solution to this issue since toyota can’t seem to fix this problem.

Can these be replaced without having to take the bed off? Just watched a YT video on removing the bed which surprisingly doesn’t look too hard. Has anyone done this yet?

 

I just used windshield urethane on everything including the 3rd brake light and it seems to be holding up after about a year. I know it’s not a perfect fix since the 3rd brake light is not removable any more.

 

In the mid 1990s passenger side air bags were added to cars but the air vents had not been upsized. Often times in a wreck the moon roof would blow right off. The mid to late 90s Thunderbirds, Cougars and Lincoln Mark VIIIs would launch the moon roof quite well.

 

Interesting bit of information!

 

I have this problem in my 2018 TRD Sport. I believe the issue is how the vehicle is parked when it rains. My driveway is on a steep incline and I pull straight into my driveway making the front of my truck face lower than the back. This position/angle makes those foam baffles on the vents let water that's flowing down the rear window right into the vent and drip into the interior of the truck. Testing my hypothesis currently by backing in my truck and seeing if the problem persists. Here are some pics of what I found and my driveway for reference:

 

On a related note- Can these vents be replaced without removing the bed of the truck?

 

no

 

Thanks! Wish there was an alternative or a way to rig these to not leak if I park my truck in the driveway and it rains.

 

They can be partially removed. I removed mine enough to apply some windshield urethane to the outside lip with the box still attached.

 

I don’t know if they still make GoreTex (yes, I am old) but would it work to allow air flow but keep water out? Just replace whatever Toyota puts there with it? Back in the old days when I still backpacked, GoreTex was used for tents, boots, etc to allow air flow but keep water out. I haven’t looked at mine yet but was thinking about soundproofing the back and stuffing some kind of sound deadening foam in the vents. Sounds like a bad idea if they let water in. No problem with mine (just going by smell).

 

In my experience, water gets between the vent and the hole that the vent goes through. So basically the vent still works as it should but isn’t sealing properly at its connection point. I believe there is a foam gasket that eventually stops sealing. Windshield urethane seemed to work amazing for me. I’ve had this repaired for about 2 years now with no issues.

 

Do you recommend any particular brand?

 

Have you tried parking it the other way and hitting the truck with a hose to note any changes in water intrusion?

 

I think any brand would do. I just bought some from my local Maslack store. I think it was on sale.

 

Apologies for bumping an old thread. I never realized I had this leak til it rained nearly a week straight out here.

(my 3rd brake light was fixed a few years back under the recall).

Never had my headliner wet/soaked. I recently only found the rear lower seat/floor board area to be wet.

Took out my back seats today prior to a light drizzle and discovered the following:








I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to go purchase some silicone sealant as recommended by many of you here….

 

Mine aren’t wet…….

 

Its a cheap design mine did the same because the vents were not sealed to the cab. They are only held in with those crappy little plastic bend tabs, get any outdoor silicone/cauk. I drilled a small hole on either side of the vent to attach a rope to it, then to the front seat to pull it tight while it dried.

 

Good deal man. Hope it stays that way.

I didn’t even think of doing that. I was about to get a long wedge of some sort and just silicone/urethane the hell out of it as soon as the sun comes out tomorrow.