Water Thru Cabin Air Intake - My Solution

Thats under the passenger side engine/firewall compartment.

 

Yeah, it's directly above your cabin air filter. Underneath the black plastic piece surrounding the windshield wipers.

 

I'm gonna leave it open. Maybe the water will drown the mice that have started nesting on my filter

 

^ There's a fix for that too.

 

This happened to me today. Noticed my carpet was wet on the passenger side and my cabin filter was soaked.

I'm trying that fix tomorrow. Thanks for the thread!

 

Hey guys, I'll allow this to be my introduction here. I have been searching all possibilities mostly on this board.

I purchased a used 2011 Tacoma base access cab last week and discovered water on the passenger side floor after rain or after a wash. I performed the flashing modification and still had water on the floor after a steady rain and after washing it quickly this afternoon. My cabin air filter is bone dry and there are no signs of water leakage anywhere inside the cabin air box. I did find that the drain hole in the cowl itself was plugged with dirt so I cleared it out and water is now draining properly from the plastic cowl. Is there another area nearby the cabin air intake box that water could be coming through?

Has anyone experienced a water leak through the passenger side door area? I have a sneaking suspicion that the leak may be in that area instead of the windshield or cowl. My A/C drain tube is flowing freely and the water leak happens whether or not the truck is running and with or without the A/C running so that is not the issue.

I am not sure if the windshield has been replaced in the past, but there is what appears to be the corner of an interior windshield seal hanging loose in the driver's side lower windshield. Could the water be traveling all the way from the driver's side to the passenger side floor without getting any water on the driver's side at all?

I have the truck scheduled to go back to the dealership tomorrow morning to have this looked over, but I am not holding much faith in their assessment. I do not want to start the process of taking the truck back and forth to the dealer while they play the "we fixed it this time" game with me.

I'd appreciate any and all suggestions that could be offered!

Thanks much in advance.


*EDIT* I think I may have actually just solved this problem. I found the small drain at the end of the passenger side of the cowl completely clogged with dirt and debris. I cleaned it thoroughly and flood tested it with the hose tonight. I had no water inside the truck. I have a hard time believing that it could be something so simple, but I guess time will tell.

 

^ If the cabin filter was dry, then the water is NOT coming from the cowl.

 

Cabin filter is in fact dry. I thought I had this solved last night after clearing the cowl drain and flooding the entire exterior cabin area with the hose and finding no water inside.

Today on my drive home there was a small amount of rain (didn't even have to turn on my wipers) and I find water on the floor again. This happens whether or not I am driving and the water finds it's way in from somewhere even when parked. It is coming from underneath the carpet and soaking through. The top of my floor mat is dry, but shows wetness underneath. I am stumped! Anyone have a suggestion which area I should start my search? The truck has a musty mildew smell that is really quite obnoxious and becomes much more noticeable after the water makes its way inside.

 

Could be windshield seal or even the rear window seal. I've read stories on both in addition to the drain hose getting plugged/pinched for the AC (runs when fan is on and air is set to floor/windshield or just windshield).

 

Does the A/C drain tube have liquid flowing through even when the A/C is not activated? I've only run the fan and heat so far.

I'm going to see if I can pull the carpet up tonight and find an originating source for the water. I am beginning to think it may be the windshield seal itself as it does look like a replacement.

BTW, Thank you for starting up this thread and remaining here to help others who have come through. This thread is linked from sites all over the net while I have been relentlessly searching to find leads.

 

If you haven't been running the defrost or floor/defrost, then it likely won't be the drain tube. It wouldn't be the first replacement windshield that leaked. I read one comment on a replacement leaking and running down the pillar behind the trim pieces getting the carpet wet.

 

Hi. I had same problem with my 2005 tacoma and did similiar type repair. Works great. We had 70 mm rain today and passenger side is dry

 

Mine is probably filling up with water right now. Next nice day and I am doing the same thing. Thanks for the write up.

 

you have to pop off the big plastic piece covering it, and there it will be

I attached a screen across mine for pine needles, never had a water problem
but will flash it if I do


water on floor is one of two things:

clogged AC drain or crimped ac drain hose, drips from under dash onto floor

water inside air intake cowl

 

Thanks for this post. Is the cowl easy to remove? I'm going to Home Depot this afternoon to get some flashing, because the every-other-day car washes keep filling up my cabin filter.

 

Very easy:

1. Remove the wiper arms (pop cap off, remove nut, bend wiper up and lift off). At times, it maybe easier to pop the hood to access the nut.

2. Remove the two lower windshield corner trim pieces. Must have the hood up for this. They only attach on the edge closest to the center of the truck. There's just two tabs on the piece that pop into holes. Grab them (flexible) and pull them out perpendicular to the windshield (so toward the front corner of the truck and up a little). A couple pics here of the two holes and the piece removed and upside down to show the two tabs:




3. Remove the two pop-clips at the front corners of the cowl (near the fenders just behind the front rubber trim piece). The centers of these have to be popped up, then the whole piece lifts out. They may break if brittle. I don't actually have these two clips anymore. I've got a nut/bolt in one and left the other empty. They're not actually needed.

4. Toward the center of the truck under the front lip of the cowl trim piece, there are 3 tabs on the trim piece that clip into the metal of the truck. If you lean down and look under there, you'll see them. They just press forward in holes to clip. So use a thumb or finger and press them back one at a time from one side to another while lifting up on the trim piece. They pop right out.

5. Now just lift the cowl trim up and away.

 

Awesome, thank you for the detailed help!

 

Does anybody have a picture of the drain hole in the cowl? Im having water drip on my passenger side weather tech. I removed it and checked my cabin air filter, seemed dry. Im going to do the flashing tomorrow but does anyone have a quick pic of the drain hole? Thank you

 

It just drains where the fenders meet, but if your filter is dry then the cowl should not be the source of that water. Instead, check the drain hose inside for the HVAC system. If that's plugged, it could be the source of the water.

 

The water on my floor turned out to be from the passenger side door weather stripping. A small section of it was popped out of place and the water was streaming right in during rain. It's with checking out quickly.