Water leaking into Cabin

Hoping somebody here can help or has some insight. This morning I noticed my passenger side floor mat was holding water after last nights rain. The trucked was parked outside and not driven during the storm. Upon further investigation I found the water to be dripping from the HVAC fan and also found my cabin air filter to be completely saturated. I do have a replacment windshield and was suspecting a leak but it appears the water is flowing through a gap on the cowl. See the pics. I did some experimenting with a hose and it appears water is flowing through the gap and into the fresh air vent.

The drivers side does not have a gap like this. Is this gap normal and if so what would be causing my truck to leak? I do have ditch light brackets that could possibly interfering but the truck has seen rain in the past and I havent noticed this issue?

Any feedback welcome.

Also added a video

https://youtu.be/OzB59rVzRVo

 

This is exactly what happened on my '13. The cabin air intake is to the right about 8 inches from your arrow there. If there is any gap between the cowl gasket and the windshield, water will run right between and into the air intake as you have found. Remove the wipers and cowl. Clean the base of the windshield with a single edge razor blade and then acetone. Use the sealer of your choice in the channel of the cowl gasket and refit the cowl. Tape the cowl gasket down with masking tape and burnish the tape firmly to the windshield and leave overnight or even longer, then remove the tape. That should do it. I would lube the wiper linkages before you put the cowl back. It won't be easy to get back in there again. I did caulk that corner piece too just for good measure.

There are lots of threads with many sources of leaks that end up on the passenger floor. This is a common one though.

 

Thanks for the reply. I actually just removed the cowel and found part of the problem. The small drain slit on the passenger side cowl was completely clogged. I opened it up but considering modifying it. Even fully open I dont think that tiny hole could keep up with a monsoon. I'm also going to bridge that gap with some sealant as well.

Also found the mess the autoglass guy left. Considering I had to have the glass company replace the Passenger A-post cover ( because they gouged the shit out if it) I should've checked the cowl. Every single clip that held it to the firewall was broken. After I pulled the 2 plastic pins and wiper blades it just flopped off. That's where I found all of the old weather stripping balled up under the wiper motor. I'll call them tomorrow and ask WTF but I'm sure after 6 months they'll tell me to pound sand...

 

I found those little maple tree whirly seed pods stuck in my drains and thought that was the problem and cleaned them out. I ran the hose and the water flooded out from the bottom of the front fender. I thought all was well. I just could not believe that Toyota would rely on that gasket to keep all that water out of the air intake but it was true. I had about 1/16th (maybe) between the windshield and the cowl gasket about 4 inches long. We ran the hose there and the water just poured in under the dash.

I had a '98 Jeep Wrangler ,15k miles on it, that had the windshield replaced by the dealer glass guy just before I bought it certified pre-owned. Well the first rain storm , the glove box was flooded and the owners manual destroyed. Brought it back and they sealed the windshield superficially. I knew that wouldn't work. Next rain, same thing. They sent a glass guy to work to fix it. When he removed the windshield he found only 1/2 of the replacement windshield had been sealed when they installed it. The other half had no sealing compound at all.

 

Could those little slits be drilled out to enlarge them? What is under the slits, anything close that you could hit with a drill bit?

I'm going to watch from now on when I wash my truck and not spray high pressure water around the base of the windshield.

 

The cowl leaks in a heavy rain. You can't avoid it and won't know it until you see the carpet wet and /or smell mildew. If you can see gap in that gasket take steps to fix it before damage happens. Be especially wary of any gap to the passenger side of the passenger wiper shaft. The water runs through the gap between the cowl and windshield. The base of the windshield is just about in a vertical plane over the air intake opening under the cowl. The water flows off the edge of the windshield and right down into the air intake. The drains don't play any part in this situation. If they are clogged though the water could overtop the air intake curb also I suspect, and leak in. Cleaning them out is a good idea.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/water-leak-into-passenger-side-cab.496884/


Had the same issue, wasn't a clog but ended up being the great work of autoglass companies. They actually used my truck for a nationwide service bulletin..lol

 

2020 Tacoma, same issue. Started leaking about 3 months ago into the cabin filter and onto the passenger floor mat. Showed dealer, their response was “we ran it through car wash 4 times and could not repeat the problem”, then they asked what car wash I use. I have used wash at Buckees since purchase in October of 19, a year without problems, and they said “it’s just the foamy soap at the car wash, and I should use a different car wash”. I then showed them photos of it leaking and also asked why this foamy soap did t cause a problem for first 12 months of weekly car washes? . So they didn’t even pull the shroud off to check drains, they ran the shop hose over windshield and said all drains are open cause the water went on the ground. This was Friday, took my truck to wash today, immediately leaked on floor mat. I guess it’s time to do a back and forth with the dealer or just fix it myself like usual. Not to mention, I had a Thursday appt at 5pm, and they didn’t “look at it” until noon on Friday, to just run it through a car wash. Lazy, just lazy. I even told them that the cabin filter was stained with colors from the car wash, still did t do anything about and they did t even change the filter. I have that nice mildew filter smell every time the blower is on. Avoid Toyota of Denton service. I’ll contact them again to see if they attempt to do actual work, but I doubt it.