Hi all, I took some pics of my latest leak fixing mission - hope it helps some people. Please note - this is a New Zealand Toyota Surf KZN185, so the 4runner interior may be slightly different.

I was getting wet carpet in the back - first step was rear door seal (second hand, $45nzd) - I could see it had been leaking previously and had some rust repaired - I retreated the areas and replaced the seal which fixed the problem until we got some real heavy rain.

I found one of my roof rack rails had a missing bolt and the hole was very badly siliconed up - which was leading to water entry, ending up on and around the wheel arch. I stripped out the rear interior (very easy, pretty much all clips apart from unscrewing rear ceiling light and the base trim by rear doors and rear opening on floor. Also unbolted rear seatbelts). The roof lining clips were impossible to remove without wrecking them - I had the tool and everything but they were stuck. Just going to replace them.

Turns out the missing bolt was snapped off, and someone had just siliconed over it. I got it out with pliers from under the roof lining.

Here are a few shots of the back interior for you all - note the rear sunroof drains.



I replaced the bolts with stainless - lucky my Dad never throws away anything so I just raided his shed. The red washer is a tap washer - seemed like a great idea but it squashed up when I tightened it so I had to go back to the originals.


Treated any rust with this awesome stuff...


And this is the sealer I used - seals when wet, seals when oily etc.


I put a blob of sealer around the bolt holes and smoothed it out (lick your finger, saliva stops it sticking).


Be careful not to use too much, there are little drain holes in the roof racks to stop water getting stuck.


When I had pushed the roof rack rail down into place, I did the same sort of sealing job on the top of the rack before I put the bolts in.

No leaks at all so far, very easy job.

That's great info. Thanks for posting that!

Thanks a lot for this!

I literally just came on to ask where the heck the opening for the rear sunroof drains are because I cannot get any mechanics wire to slide down the tray and INTO anything - seems it pops up and curls up over the glass instead of entering any tubing.

But now seeing your thread, maybe I dont need to worry with it.

Im having a hell of a leak that comes from the headliner then down the rear passenger window in the cargo hold. If our drains are like this - going over the wheel well - I don't need to muss with trying to be sure my drains are clear. huh?

Does anyone know if the US drains are the same positioning in the rear like this?

WHERE is the opening to those effers anyway? Do I need to slide and hug the rack, or slide and hug the outside of the tray??

Going to go look at my rack as well - just in case that is the actual issue I have...