gshort

I'm brand new to this forum. I did read some posts about this subject, but still haven't found a solution so hoping for help.
'05 gx470
Rear carpet is wet. The whole back carpet. Everything from the middle seat forward is completely dry. It's just the back. But the whole carpet was wet when I lifted my weathertech mat. I removed the carpet. i see it's mainly wet in the very back near the door. (I ran a dehumidifier all night last night to dry carpet, ran the car thru the car wash this morn.....then this morning took out carpet). Removed the weather stripping around back swing open door. There was water inside that rubber. That weather stripping has a couple cuts in it.
So first of all I read that the 3rd brake light can cause this. But I have a spoiler. I popped that cap off, but the seal around it looked good. Of course I ruined that when foam seal when I removed it. I don't think water is coming from that. Never the less I will re-seal that and replace. I will also replace the weather stripping around rear hatch.
I also read this can come from a leak from rear AC unit.
This seems more likely to me. My plan was to access the AC unit and hopefully find a plug to unplug it. Then run the vehicle thru the car wash a couple times and see if the water returns.

Is this a solid plan? Any suggestions? If I attempt to unplug the AC unit in the back, will that cause any issues?

chiph9

Look under the right-rear corner of the vehicle behind the rear passenger door. You should see the A/C drain hose sticking down. Use a piece of plastic line from a weedeater or string-trimmer & gently run it up in there to see if it's clogged. You shouldn't need more than 6-8" of line.

Where are the cuts on the weather stripping?

Chip H.

gshort

on the bottom they approx 1.5 inches long. being down here, I didn't think it would make my whole carpet wet.

gshort

btw... i ran the rear ac for approx 15 minutes with the carpet removed and the rear AC unit exposed, and I never saw any liquid under the unit or around that side of the cabin.

chiph9

The location of the tears probably aren't the source of the leak, based on where they are (not unless you parked it outside in a hurricane..)
Not sure about the 3rd stop light - I don't have a spoiler.

Another possibility is a blocked/loose sunroof drain. IIRC there's one on each side and they run down the inside of the C pillar. With the right trim panel removed (where the rear AC is) you should be able to see the clear hose. I don't recall where they come out underneath the car, but you should be able to do the same trick of running a string-trimmer line up in there to clear any blockage.

Chip H.

gshort

oh really? thank you ! i thought the drain was in the front of the vehicle and therefore couldn't be the cause.

gshort

So I stuck some weed eater line down both holes up in the sunroof. To be honest, I'm not sure where the tube ends up terminating under the vehicle. it stopped about I'd say 6' in.

gshort

UPDATE: Thank you to chiph9 for helping me !!

I caulked the 3rd brake light plate ( i have a spoiler ) that seems to have fixed the problem. it rained a bunch over the last couple days and no water. i also ran it thru the wash 3 times.
Looks like the posts I read were correct. It's that 3rd dang brake light.

mcpotter

chiph9

Once you find/fix the source of the water, you can call a carpet cleaning company to do the carpets in your vehicle.

Chip H.