I have a 2001 RX 300. After a real bad rain storm I found a that my front driver side carpet was soaked with water. The doors were closed tight and the windows were up. The only thing that was wet was the carpet After taking the modeling loose and able to see under the carpet it was flooded. There was a lot of water to the point I had to purchase a wet/dry vac to get up all the water. After further investigation I found that there was water up towards the left where some wires are behind the panel. I tried following the water flow with my hand. It lead me behind the dash closer to the door. I am not sure where this water is coming and I cannot see from the out side. I hope it is clear the area I am describing. Please let me know if you need more information.

Any suggestions short of taking it to a Lexus dealer.

 

You are doing the right thing to dry it out. If you dont then fungus/mildew will form. Some people advice spraying a light bleach solution to kill bacteria .. please check if it will fade any color.

There is a rubber grommet way up in the wheel well (you have to remove the plastic liner). If that has been dislodged or removed when some one ran a wire (depending if the RX has been worked on) then you will get water from the spinning wheel.

Salim

 

http://rx300how2.home.comcast.net/~r...w2/ac_tube.htm

try cleaning ac line...worth a shot!

 

There is a slight possibility that you are getting water into the cabin from the drains in the moonroof track. These run in tubing fed (I think I remember) down the "B" pillars to exit under the car. If one of these came adrift, it can funnel rainwater from around the moonroof onto the cabin floor instead of directing it under the car. If nothing else solves the problem, carefully blow out the track area on either side, and see if you can find the drains located at the rear of the track. Use a can of compressed air held a couple of inches away from the opening to gently blow the drains clear. Too much pressure can blow a plugged tube off of the spigot on the moonroof tray, meaning you'll have to remove the headliner to replace it.

 

Can you elaborate on that? or show me a picture please?

I have the same exact problem, there is a puddle of water on the driver's side. This started only a few days ago.

Salim mentioned that it might be caused by some wiring, and the funny thing is I had a Sirius satellite installed last week.

we discovered the problem 3 days ago when my wife complained about HEAVY condensation in the front windshield (on the inside).

I checked the tube that runs at the bottom of the A/C unit on the passenger side but it was connected OK and also was clean of any debris. I also checked the A/C air-filter to make sure, it looks practically as-new.

Also, can anyone elaborate on the roof-drains thing? I opened the roof and saw the 2 holes in each corner and blew some compressed air inside, but no idea if anything helped or where to look.

Mine is a 2002 and been driving it for 6mo.

I also had a 60k service done to it a few days ago (after the satellite radio got installed).

please help, i'm desparate

 

Those roof drains go through hoses to the bottom of the car. I would be very careful as you would not want to dislodge the hose from the top hole. I have never investigated, but suspect the hoses go out the wheel wells somewhere. A parts guy at Lexus might show you a diagram picture of the hoses and where they are routed.

 

There is rubber grommet which lets the bunch of wires pass through the firewall. It is roughly behind the coin holder. I am pretty sure if you climb in the cab with your head on the floor (upside down, legs on the seat back) with a flashlight you can see the pass through hole. Most of the wires lead in to the fuse panel (behind the coin box). I would recommend bit of detective work. Look for highest point of water mark.

High level of condensation is due to presence of moisture inside the cabin. So once you find the source and fix and things dry out, this would go away.

Each person has their favorite way to fix the problem ... and I am not a fan of compressed air (if not done right, it can separate the pipe from a connector. To be fair my techniques are also not fool proof .. use them at your own risk). I use long shrink tubing (1 meter long in various diameter from electronics hobby shop). Gently thread it and twist it and you can blow in it with your mouth.

The other thing I use is the weedwhacker string. You can twist it and it has sharp edges that can help ream the tubing.

Salim

 

thanks Salim for the quick reply, I will check according to your recommendation.

 

I have a 2001 rx300 and just recently started seeing drips of water on the passenger side. After popping off the covers under glove compartment and the side cover that exposes what I think is the heater, I found more wetness right under the tube that goes into an aluminum housing. I can't see any thing wrong except dampness right under that aluminum tube. Got any answers of what I could do more?