Wet Carpet/Passenger Side

03 Tacoma base w/ 4 cyl, auto trans and 194,000 miles

Getting wet carpeting on passenger side only...have searched the forum and ruled out cowl vent, heater leak and plugged drain line. All seem to be in order. Removed floor mat and took up carpeting, drove truck to test, no dampness or water leaks found. Replaced carpet and floor mat and drove truck, back to where I started, damp and wet carpet.
What I have discovered is that if I leave the floor mat out, my carpet is fine. It only gets damp and wet when driven with the floor mat installed over the carpet.
Anyone experience this before? I would like to have a floor mat to protect the carpet but not at the expense of carpet mold and mildew. Any ideas??
Floor mats seem to be after market, standard rubber mats.

 

Leaking floor mat?

Honestly, it sounds like you are getting moisture build up that is able to evaporate when the carpet is allowed to breathe- when the floor mat is not covering it.

My bet is always a plugged AC drain when there is water on the pass floor. You said that's not an issue, so... Has it been extremely wet in your area? I've seen a leak in the cowl/lower windshield seam where water came in and ended up on the floor. Is there a way for water to come in through the firewall on that side? Missing rubber grommet/plug or something like that?

Just a little bit can cause it to seem like a lot when it spreads out and does not evaporate.

I know you said your AC drain hose is free and clear but can you check the tray it goes to? Maybe something is blocking the water from properly routing into that hose and it's overflowing but the hose is clear?

Good luck!

 

I have blown out the drain line from the cowl vent and pan. Even ran the windshield washer and wipers and the water drains from the cowl to the hose and runs out on the pavement just fine behind the front tire.
Haven't even had the air conditioning on and problem still persists. It hasn't rained in a couples weeks here. Both rubber grommets/ plugs are in place in the floor pan under the carpet.
If I put the floor mat in on the passenger side and drive in dry/no rain condition, the carpet will be soaked as well as the under side of the floor mat. I can then take out the mat let the carpet dry out, drive it and come home and the carpet is just fine. This is just a mystery to me.

 

Get rid of that floor matt!
sorry I don't have anything better.

Pull up your door sill plate and check for water in there.

 

What kind of floor mat is it?

 

on my old chevy truck, rubber floor mats would grow mold and scum under them. took carpet out and left floor bare and everything stayed dry for a week, put carpet back in and everything stayed dry for a week, put floor mats back in and 24 hours later it was wet under them.

I switched to carpet color samples you can get for free from home depot (they throw out the old outdated samples) to use as floor mats and never had anymore issues.

I never did find out for certain why my truck had so much moisture in the air that it would get wet under the floor mats but a body shop guy said it can just be getting in from bad seals around windows and doors and not an actual water leak anywhere.

wish I could be more help but if you have heavy rubber floor mats, especially form fitting ones, try different mats

 

TSB

 

Does the water smell like antifreeze or is it just water?

 

I wonder if that's why I smell . . . something . . . whenever I squirt the windshield washer.

 

I was having a similar issue, for me the problem was a plug under the carpet, if you lift the carpet on the passenger side there are two plugs, one goes to a bolt, the other seemingly to nothing.

Whenever it rained and I drove around, water would slowly leak through it and soak my floor. So I put some sealant on the plug, put it back, and problem solved hope this helps!

 

Sounds like condensation build up... You could pull up your carpet and insulate your floor pan, then lay your carpet back down...

 

my dodge did that a while ago from my lunch box sitting on the floor cold and condensateing...

 

Where is the AC drain? I was unstalling Pop and Lock wiring behind the passenger kick panel the other day in my '13 DCSB and found the padding underneath the carpet was wet. Want to check the AC drain.

Edit: found it. It's very visible on the passenger side firewall. Looks like routing an extension may be easy. Area below it is wide open on the 4 banger.

 

mine now has a aluminum tube that i found in the emissions dept. at advance auto thats 3/8'' inner dia. and about 2'' on each side L shaped . was worth the 4$ to keep it open and off the exhaust.

 

Can you post a pic of that? Sounds like a good idea. Thanks.

 

here it is...its about 16* here and the rubber around it is brittle so apologies for not removeing it...