Interior Water Damage

[jaa]

My 1998 4runner has soaked carpeting from four days of rain.

Since I bought it from used I have noticed a mildew smell, and I have washed the carpeting, but after four days of rain in southern California, a lot of water entered the cab.

I was wondering where it was coming from so I removed all of the carpet. Waiting to drive it in the next rains.

ANY SUGGESTIONS?

 

[Clemsonfan15]

Maybe you should get a mod to move this to the 3rd Gen section.

 

[jaa]

My 1998 4runner has soaked carpeting from four days of rain.

Since I bought it from used I have noticed a mildew smell, and I have washed the carpeting, but after four days of rain in southern California a lot of water entered the cab.

I was wondering where it was coming from so I removed all of the carpet. Waiting to drive it in the next rains.

ANY SUGGESTIONS?

 

[NickF]

Does it have a moon/sun roof?

 

[webby]

Wrong corral, dewd. This is the classifieds.

Good luck resolving your problem though.

 

[4RUNNERTMAN]

Yes you should have posted this in the 3rg Gen Section but that has been pointed out. Check your exterior door rubber stripping and see if it is intact and securely fastened. Also if you have a sunroof check that as well although the seats would most likely get wet from water entering the cab from there. Also check to be sure all your screws are intact on the roof rack, I had alot of water entering the cab from 2 missing screws on the rails, new screws installed and no more water. Hope this helps you. Happy New Year!

 

[topdown4runner]

A few more things to check....

Sun roof drain holes.

Sun roof seal

Antenna wire from under the pass. front wheel well up into the interior. Make sure it is looped down like a "p" trap under your sink. That will let any water following the wire drip off the bottom of the loop instead of down the wire into the interior.

Good luck

 

[WrexHAmm]

First find the leak and fix it. Then rip out the carpet and replace. You'll never be able to get that smell out if you don't and personally I don't like mold in my car. Clean really well underneath before you install new carpet.

 

[topdown4runner]

You can get the smell out.

A lot of detailers use an ozone generator, or ozone machine, ozone air cleaner.... they are listed under several different names.

I have one called Alpine Air. Ebay, used, for $25 several years ago. These things are usually about $400 new.

I've used it on several vehicles to get rid of cigarette smoke, pet odors, food odors, sweaty construction worker odors, etc... from vehicles I purchased. Not MY odors

 

[19bham92]

I can almost guarantee its the firewall grommet. If you have cables running through, ie. Amp, switches, hardwiring, it could be because the grommet is misaligned. This happened to me with 2 different 4runners right underneath the steering column.

 

[Suprareal]

I can almost guarantee its the firewall grommet. If you have cables running through, ie. Amp, switches, hardwiring, it could be because the grommet is misaligned. This happened to me with 2 different 4runners right underneath the steering column.

Check this even if you don't think its leaking from here. Mine got me so bad before i felt like i was at soak city. I used silicone all over the hole from the engine bay side and haven't had a problem since.