Water Thru Cabin Air Intake - My Solution

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I'm having this issue after heavy rains in TX last night. How is the flashing holding up for every one? Does it still allow enough airflow even when covered?

 

Mine's still perfect using the adhesive. No issues with it. It was bowed up enough the way I installed it that plenty of airflow can travel underneath it.

The only thing I wish I had done first was add the mesh over the intake opening itself to stop mice from nesting on the cabin filter. I now just leave a baited trap in the garage to prevent that from reoccurring.

 

This winter I had a similar issue with water on the passenger floorboard and ran across this thread. I built a slightly different diverter (pictures below) and it has resolved the issue with water running down through the heater blower.

A month or so later I noticed that there was now water on the driver's side floorboard. I pulled out the carpet and used a hose to soak the door seal, fender, and cowl area and could not find any drops inside. I also tried the trick of spraying soapy water on the body seams and then turning on the fan to pressurize the cab, but no bubbles appeared. At this point I am not sure how the water got there. Is it possible that it came from the original leak into the heater fan and then ran down the heater duct that goes under the driver's seat?

I used a scrap of galvanized sheetmetal for the diverter.


Which I bent in a bench vise into a U shape with one arm longer than the other.




After bending a small notch in the middle so it would sit flat I screwed it to the firewall. Water now runs down the windshield, through the gap at the cowl, and into this trough which diverts it from the HVAC intake.



Here's the driver's side floorboard. As you can see the paper towel is completely dry even after 5+ minutes of hosing down the truck. Could the water possibly have come from the heater blower and into the heater duct that goes to the rear seat? There is a slip joint right under the driver seat where the water could have leaked out.

 

The last time I posted in here was when I first got my truck in 2014. After pulling apart the truck what seems like a hundred times and having no luck at all, a friend who happened to be over drinking some beers with me looked at the truck for two seconds and noticed a piece of the door weather stripping had popped out of place. He popped it back on and that solved all issues. It was so simple all along. A second set of eyes was all that was needed.

 

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slomatt, do you have the measurements from your fabricated diverter?

 

Unfortunately I don't since I just made the part to fit the available space.

 

Hi guys, I just found I have this same issue after last night rain, under carpet under floor mat was wet, but cabin air filter is not wet, so I read than may be the hose for the AC drain might be, is this hose can be pulled out to unplugged (if it is) or how that can be cleaned. Thanks

 

Following up on my earlier post, the water on the driver's side floor was coming in through a hole in the main grommet (from engine compartment to under the dash) that was cut to run a wire. I sealed that shut with silicon and the leak is now gone.

 

Just got the windshield replaced on my 2015 and now I have this issue on the passenger side. Happens when I go through car washes.

I think I’m going to try this fix before I get a new cowl.

My question is- if the water is just being redirected, where is it being redirected to? Is there a drain for it to exit near the firewall?

I haven’t popped it off an inspected yet, I’m just trying to get a full understanding before i get in there and fix it.

Thanks!

Jim

 

Okay- got it all figured out.

Took it apart this morning and checked things out. Found the cause of the leak…
The tech who replaced my windshield destroyed the cowl…

I see how the dam/shield fix works now. I decided to hit the Toyota auto recycler for a cowl. $60 as opposed to $300 from Toyota…

Installed, and works like a charm. Ran it through a car wash and got no leaking!

If you’re in the Sacramento area- DO NOT get work done at Tigris Auto Glass.

They’re total assholes. Refused to take responsibility for their error. Totally stone walled me with zero remorse. Said it wasn’t their fault and that the windshield isn’t leaking so it’s not their problem. They literally destroyed the cowl and and are claiming that it’s “not their problem”. Unreal…

 

Useful thread, I had the same cabin air filter water infiltration. I made a cover out of cintra since it is supposed to rain today and I had cintra on hand. We will see if it deforms since it is so close to the engine bay. If so i'll grab a roll of flashing and copycat the above solution. for now there is no water pouring into the cabin air intake so ill count it as a win

 

I’m sorry to revive an old post but I got my windshield replaced a few months back, and it recently started raining and I found the water leaking down into the cab through the blower motor housing - cabin air filter gets soaked in car washes or heavy rain. What type of adhesive was used to hold the lashing in place? I recently tried this but just used basic silicone and it didn’t stop the leak - granted I didn’t use the lashing in the post I just got two KEEP OUT metal signs and laid a bead of silicone to help keep the water out.

 

lemme /thread this thread right quick

1. if you read the repair manual for free like you should, you’d know there’s a TSB for this. If you have a vehicle, you should log in to the repair manual, read every TSB for your VIN, and see if any apply. The old cowl is faulty. There is a new cowl for this. Doesn’t matter how many times you do your windshield or how good you do it.
For us poors not trying to spend $320 on a piece of plastic I covered the gap with tape that has since worn.
Now I have adhesive residue to clean up and a piece of tape that wrinkles and folds up from constant hot cold expansion and contraction, rather than a proper cowl that does the job of a cowl/what it is designed for.

a windshield installer is not donating $320 on a new cowl. They’re taking the old faulty leaky cowl out and putting it back in to replace the glass which is their job. It does not leak in through the glass. Glass adheres with silicone and seals the glass. Nothing else.

2. PELE 3d prints a nice kit for a good price with mesh and shield. But if you wanna fuck around with Home Depot roof metal go right on ahead.
People like that do not owe or garuntee producing quality products for eternity and are rather typically a limited time. So if you see it, you should probably get it, be done, and move on.