draco

I have suffered what some people on the forum have mentioned before, in that my car has wet carpet, particularly in the passenger footwell and I have also noticed on the driver's side as well. My car did have a funky smell quite a few weeks ago, but after a couple of weeks of good strong sunlight and heat that smell went away. At the time I thought maybe some water had spilled and it just needed to dry up.

Yesterday we had a bucket full of rain. Quite heavy and strong. I didn't notice anything yesterday when I got to my car as it was still raining. However this morning I found that the smell was back (that wet carpet / mouldy smell) and I had a few minutes before the next train arrived. I checked quickly and found that the passenger side (in Australia it's the left side of the car facing forwards) carpet had a small wet patch.

Anyway got home after work and proceeded to find out what might be causing the problem. I dismantled part of the passenger side and lifted up the carpet and found that all underneath (the padding / noise proofing) was soaked wet.



I removed the plug that normally sits there and the amount of excess water from that plug to the garage floor was more than I was expecting



** Drain Plug **



I asked my wife to point a hose at the sunroof to see if I could spot where the water was coming from. I noticed that just underneath a big electrical bank sitting just above the carpet, water was basically running out of this hole.



** Close up of the hole where water is pretty much running straight through, basically someone turned a tap on and it just leaks straight into the carpet **



As you can see the closeness to the wiring is dangerously close.

I tried to see if the sunroof holes were blocked and they looked okay. I took some whipper snipper string and tried to feed it down the sunroof holes, but alas did not see where this would come out. I tried searching under the car, but couldn't find the spot where the water would normally drain out. The string went in and I fed it through, but eventually I hit a block somewhere but I don't know if this is a problem or just the string couldn't twist to get where it needed to.

Can anyone help here please? I need to find out why there is water spilling into my cabin at the footwell. This has started to ruin my carpet and getting into the car with that smell surely isn't good for my or my family's health. Does anyone know where this is meant to be draining out underneath the car? How do I fix this leak without spending a fortune? I urgently need assistance here.

thomas1

OH I wonder if the tubes for the sunroof drains became disconnected or broke...There are usually four one on each corner.

thomas1

did you try compressed air to see if they are indeed blocked....?

draco

I haven't tried compressed air as of yet. Not sure if that would do any damage to anything that's along that path. Given that the water runs into the cabin, that is a bit of a concern so not sure whether the air from the compressor would cause any problems.

rcy

I'm going to have to lean toward sunroof drain hose as well. Instead of having your wife spray the sunroof, open it, and direct some water (a small amount of course) toward each front corner at the front of the sunroof opening. See if the water drains away , then see if it's coming out in the footwells.

This will at least narrow down that it is the sunroof drain hose for that is the problem.

I can check my service manual when I get home and see where the sunroof drain hoses lead to and let you know.

draco

Well the car is going into Lexus on Wednesday/Thursday next week to investigate the issue. From what I have described to Lexus (although it is yet to be confirmed) they have advised that it sounds as though one of the drain holes might have become dislodged and hence why the water is pouring out where it is. I called Lexus and Toyota only, as they would be best to investigate this issue and the difference is $12 for the labour cost per hour. Lexus obviously is the more dearer one but seeing as they will have everything for it (as Toyota like to pretend they don't know anything about Lexus) it is the best dealer to go to. Also Lexus will give me a complementary car (which you still pay for) whereas Toyota won't. So hopefully my the end of next week, I will know what the problem is and how much it's going to cost to fix it.

Would it be fair to say that the storm that really caused this was heavy enough to dislodge the pipes in the car so that I could see if insurance would cover it?

thomas1

I wouldnt think so...Where any modiicfications done in the interior that might have disturbed the hoses..?

MC5Wes

This is a known problem on the 2nd Generation RX. Search these forums and you will see numerous discussions about water being in the floor boards. One or more of your sunroof drain lines is clogged. And the water is running down to your floorboards.*

Use a can of compressed air on the drain lines. And then check the lines with a garden hose.*

draco

Where are the drain lines (I can see 2 holes to divert water in the sunroof, but that's it. I ran some wire down there (admittedly very flexible wire) and it went through and eventually came to a stop somewhere. Couldn't move anymore. Where do these lines come out on the bottom of the car? I can't seem to see where this would drain out underneath.

MC5Wes

I'm not sure if you can run a wire down the drain. As it may have some large bends on it.*

That's why it's better to buy a can of compressed air. And see if that breaks the clog.

Also when your done . If you could post some pictures. That would help others.*

draco

The car is going into Lexus on Wednesday to find out what the deal is. If it's a blockage, fine they can get rid of the blockage and so be it. However if the actual drain has been detached, they would need to fix it (cause I certainly wouldn't know how to do it).

If it turns out to be that the drain lines are disconnected, would it be feasible to say that the storm we had possibly allowed these lines to detach, and hence the problem was caused by the storm? I would need to possibly try and claim through insurance.

draco

Well the car is in and I will find out verdict tomorrow morning I would say. I have a CT200H that has only travelled 2500km as a courtesy car while they investigate the problem. One of the Lexus techs seems to think that the problem might have been caused by the removal of the roof racks and the water getting through the holes where the roof racks bolted into. I tested this last night by pouring some water over this area and did everything seems to drain quite well and I didn't find any additional water in the car, so I will see what the report comes back with tomorrow and update.

draco

If it does turn out to be the roof rack removal being the cause of the issue and insurance can't cover it, I guess the next couple of questions are:

* How do I clean the carpet now that it has been wet considerably?
* Is there a potential problem with mould? The car has overnight been kept closed (i.e. all windows)
* The car has been left with the windows open when it was at home, but not at the train station to allow the smell to get out (can't trust people these days sadly). When it has dried up, the smell has reduced considerably and to my nose smells as though it has dissipated.
* Should I remove the whole carpet and clean this way? Is this a gigantic task? What would I need to remove to remove the whole carpet (just the seats, centre console)?

thomas1

Oh man, when you removed roof rack, did you use the little rubber washers under the bolts?....

RX330inFL

And, teflon tape on the bolts?