mickjh

First off, let me state that I’ve already spent hours on the forum researching my problem, so this isn’t your “typical” wet carpet thread. I’m your typical bullheaded guy who tries to figure everything out on his own before asking for help….so I’m giving in.

I have a 2003 Lexus ES 300 with 230k miles. The thing has been bulletproof, just like my last three Lexus (all of which I also took over 200k miles). However, my interior carpeting got drenched while the car was parked during a heavy, tropical storm and then driven a couple hours through a heavy downpour. I’m certain that the water came from above, rather than below as it got soaked twice again weeks later while parked during heavy rains. The carpet in both the front and back got soaked, on both driver and passenger sides.

I have had it looked at twice by mechanics I know and trust. In both cases they blew out the moonroof drains and checked the cowl drains and found no issues. I suspect it may be a windshield seal as the top left and right corners of the windshield weather stripping appear to be open or lifted, but I haven’t had another ES 300 to look at to confirm this is not the way it is supposed to be (and the windshield has NOT been replaced). I put some weatherstrip adhesive in the holes in hopes that plugging this might stop the leak.

Twice now I’ve pulled up the carpeting, removed the lower pads to dry out in the sun and ran dryers to dry out the underside of the carpeting. I have followed the path of the leak by the wetness of the carpet, and the moisture appears to travel from the front to the back carpets by following the console driveshaft hump. I’m assuming this isn’t related to the A/C, as it occurs during rainstorms. Unfortunately, while drying out the interior with the doors open, I disconnected the battery (so the interior lights wouldn’t run it down) and as a result screwed up the computer, which had to be reset by my mechanic. Since then, I’ve had the following electrical issues occur (which may or may not be related to the water);

• My keyfob has stopped working so I can’t unlock the doors.
• Now when I put the car in reverse or drive the doors don’t automatically lock.
• The airbag light has come on….at first it flashed, now it is a solid light.
• I felt a drip of water on my foot when wearing sandals and driving….this happened, ironically, right after I had squeegee washed the windshield at a service station.

This has been quite maddening and the first real problem I’ve had with a Lexus…and I’ve owned them since the debuted in the U.S. I’ve spent hours on the forum reading about related issues (roof drain, evap drain, A/C drain, door seals, cabin filter leak, windshield leaks) and my best guess is the windshield. I’ve been trying to figure this out without resorting to taking it into the dealer and having them throw labor and parts at it until they figure it out, as my financial situation can’t handle that at the moment. About the only thing I haven’t yet done is having someone run a hose over the windshield while I crawl around the floor looking for a leak, which I plan to do this weekend when I have some help now that the carpet is all pulled up again and I can see the floor up under the dash. Anyway, any help or guidance I can get from my Lexus brethren is appreciated! These forums have always been a great help before with many minor things that I’ve adjusted or fixed myself. Sorry for the lengthy post, but I was trying to cover everything that has been done or troubleshot so you guys wouldn't have to ask. Thanks, in advance.

DRACO A5OG

Wow, that would be maddening. I had water intrusion in my 911 and the culprit was loose windshield water nozzles allowing water to seap pass into my trunk then on to my feet. Yes, engine is in the back :-P

Now your car, it could be similar in that the seals may have shrunk causing water go into your engine bay at the fire wall where the heat insulation sits and where the grommets are that wires/cables plumb into the cab.

But before that you need to figure out why you are having the electrical issues. I would check the ECU and other modules for that matter to make sure it did not get wet and possibly shorted out like a flooded vehicle would go thru. If you see water residue in form of calcium deposits, that would cause havoc.

If not damaged, get some Deoxit and try to refresh the contacts.

Jim

speedkar9

Just a thought, does the water have any color or odor to it?
I wonder if it could be a leaky heater core, since that's up in the dash and would leak straight down the center console.

Run it through a few car washes or a garden hose pointed at the door and windshield seals with the carpet removed to try and pinpoint the source of the leak.

Scan the airbag code. If it comes up with a seat airbag related code, the car has been flooded enough to corrode or short the wiring under the seat. Disconnect the battery, remove these connectors, clean them and reinstall. Its technically a safety issue that needs to be addressed ASAP.

mickjh

Thanks for the replies. With the carpet pulled up I have tried running water over the windshield bottom to top as well as the moonroof and have not been able to duplicate the leak. I ran the A/C for a half hour as well and saw no drainage on the interior floorboard (or coming from the drain hose under the car either, but perhaps the reservoir didn't fill?).

Regards the heater core, I have noticed motor noises this past winter under the glovebox where the heater core would be located. My mechanic thought maybe it was a blender motor. I will say that the leak certainly appears to be water and there is no odor or color. I think at this stage it's time for a trip to the dealer as they've likely seen this situation before and would probably be better equipped to isolate the problem.

Thanks to the two of you who responded. Was hoping by the size of this forum there would be more input, but maybe it's just a head scratcher and nobody has had a similar issue or any additional valid input.

DRACO A5OG

Well, keep us posted

speedkar9

My first car, a Camry, came with soaking wet carpets. I thought it would've dried out from the dealer shampooing it, but it didn't. I vacuumed it over and over but the wetness still returned. Pulled the carpet and the sponge pads were soaked and the floor board was getting rusty.

Drove the car for a week with no carpets. Poured water over the windshield and no drips. I cleaned the carpet as much as I could (mouldy rusty smell), dried it, and replaced it and the carpet never got wet again. Probably the previous owner left the windows open in rainstorm and never got it to dry out...or the car was flooded.

Just a thought, maybe the other backing pads (around the console or under the seats) are wet causing the moisture to seep down and soak the floor pan after you dry them. Pull out the hole carpet, dry it and drive it bare as a final test.

Good luck

mickjh

Well, I found the leak. Finally had a very hot day with high humidity which allowed me to run the AC on high, and within 10 minutes, Bingo, the drain tube under the dash on the passenger side was leaking right down on to the transmission tunnel hump, from where it could travel to both sides of the front carpet as well as creep down the tunnel to the back carpeting.

I took it up to my mechanic buddy who blew out the hose and found a gum wrapper plugging it up, which must've fell down one of the dash vents. He checked the airbag code and deducted that the airbag sensors were ruined by the water, as the sensors are located under and to the back of the center console, right in the path of the water flowing to the back seat. So, now I'll need new airbag sensors, but otherwise just stuck with the problem of figuring out how to get the smell out of my car, as with all that water soaking it twice it smells like somebody left a dead body in there, argh!

Now, the AC drain hose was one of the first few things I suspected and checked, but wrote it off as I did have a AC drain puddle under my car initially, so evidently some of the water was draining down on to the pavement, at least initially. The reason I checked it again was I started thinking that I was always using the AC during the rainstorms and driving long distances, which would allow for the buildup of enough water to soak the interior....and indeed it did.

I am glad to discover it's not a Lexus issue, but instead caused by somebody careless with a gum wrapper. With all the bragging I've done to my friends over the years about reliability and how problem free these cars are, I would've been eating some crow.

Thanks to those of you who replied and hopefully this will help out somebody in the future who has this problem. Most of the leaky AC drain tube threads I read involve just the front passenger carpet getting wet, probably because of casual driving. If you are driving long distances and spending hours in the car, it's enough to soak the whole interior.

speedkar9

Glad you found the leak.

As for the wet carpet (as per my post above) you really need to remove the carpet from the entire vehicle to get it to dry thoroughly. You probably have to remove the carpet to get at those airbag sensors regardless. No matter how much drying you do from above the pads beneath will always be damp. Once its dry take the carpet to a detailing shop to have it shampooed.

Don't be surprised if you see the floor pans starting to rust because of the water. Put a light coat of paint on it to ease the corrosion before replacing the carpet.

My old Camry was smelly because of the wet carpet. Although I dried my carpet and replaced it, there was still a slight musty rusty odor.

LeX2K

+1 on removing the carpet. But you don't have to take it to a detail shop grab yourself some carpet/upholstery shampoo and a scrub brush. Wet the carpet with a hose wash it down thoroughly then rinse. I've done this several times the carpet came out like new. A hot sunny day is really helpful to dry the carpet I hang it over my fence it dries in about a day.