The truck is leaking water into the driver's footwell...

[RAD4Runner]

... My windshield has a large horizontal crack starting from the left pillar....
What are the most likely culprit areas I need to inspect? ... I don't have much time ...

With limited resources, focus on checking what is most obviously not normal.
Dry the wet area, tape off the windshield crack and wait for next rain. OR
Dry the wet area, hose down the crack. see if you get water there again.

 

[ShooterMcGavin]

Ran into the same problem after I ran a cable through the firewall. Drivers floor mat soaked after a good rain. If you ran any aftermarket cables through the firewall, this may be your problem. I sealed mine up with a lot of black RTV and it has been dry ever since.

Here's a video I took trying to find the problem after spraying water on the roof, hood and windshield. Click the picture for video.

That grommet is not the one I tried to show in my photo. But, that grommet was crooked and not seated in its hole when I inspected things last night. I re-seated it and took the truck out for a drive and parked in the rain. I came back in and looked in the engine bay to see where water was going. As I lifted the hood, water drained off the windshield cowling and poured right onto that grommet. I still don't know if I found the 1 problem, but that is sealed up properly now. I'll take more suggestions from this thread and track it down.

If I want to unclog the sunroof drains, are they pretty easy to find by opening the sunroof and looking around the tracks and the edges?

 

[cblock406]

That grommet is not the one I tried to show in my photo. But, that grommet was crooked and not seated in its hole when I inspected things last night. I re-seated it and took the truck out for a drive and parked in the rain. I came back in and looked in the engine bay to see where water was going. As I lifted the hood, water drained off the windshield cowling and poured right onto that grommet. I still don't know if I found the 1 problem, but that is sealed up properly now. I'll take more suggestions from this thread and track it down.

If I want to unclog the sunroof drains, are they pretty easy to find by opening the sunroof and looking around the tracks and the edges?

They are very obvious once you get up there and look. I snaked weed eater line down mine and poured water down them to make sure they were draining properly. This was one of the many things I did when I was getting water into the floor.

 

[phattyduck]

I used Imgur for my images.

Here's the grommet that I think most are talking about:

Stopped, in the rain, the water just POURS right over that grommet. It has to be 100% sealed or you will get water inside the driver's footwell.

-Charlie

 

[ShooterMcGavin]

I used Imgur for my images.

Here's the grommet that I think most are talking about:

Stopped, in the rain, the water just POURS right over that grommet. It has to be 100% sealed or you will get water inside the driver's footwell.

-Charlie

Thanks for posting that. That is the grommet that was completely unseated in my truck. When I opened the hood, the water poured right onto it. Sounds like water pours onto it also when the hood is closed. Maybe I found my problem? I'll have to revisit this after Thanksgiving.

 

[habanero]

Water does pour right off the cowl and onto the wiring grommet. I tried silicone on the grommet but couldn't get it to seal well enough. The water was hitting the grommet and also the wiring and draining right on into the truck.

I don't know if it will last....a hose with an opening cut into it at one end, siliconed and zip-tied to the fender/firewall so that the water is routed away from the grommet and wiring. A gutter of sorts.

So far so dry but time will tell if I need to use another method to attach the hose....maybe another screw or two....we'll see. The pic is spectacularly bad, you're seeing water running into it and down the hose and a blobby mess of silicone helping to create a dam of sorts.

 

[MarkamisPrime]

I can take a look again. It seems to leak water when the truck sits for a while in the rain. I don't know if it is leaking while I drive. After a rain, I have checked the headliner and it seems to be dry. Would that rule out the sunroof as a leaking point?



It does seem odd that I get that much water inside the truck for such a small hole in the firewall. Not sure.

Easiest way is to get someone to pour a pitcher of water over the area while you watch where you think it’s coming in from
That’s how I found out where my sunroof was leaking

 

[ShooterMcGavin]

Water does pour right off the cowl and onto the wiring grommet. I tried silicone on the grommet but couldn't get it to seal well enough. The water was hitting the grommet and also the wiring and draining right on into the truck.

I don't know if it will last....a hose with an opening cut into it at one end, siliconed and zip-tied to the fender/firewall so that the water is routed away from the grommet and wiring. A gutter of sorts.

So far so dry but time will tell if I need to use another method to attach the hose....maybe another screw or two....we'll see. The pic is spectacularly bad, you're seeing water running into it and down the hose and a blobby mess of silicone helping to create a dam of sorts.

Nice work. Looks involved. Hope it all continues to keep things dry.

 

[ShooterMcGavin]

I used Imgur for my images.

Here's the grommet that I think most are talking about:

Stopped, in the rain, the water just POURS right over that grommet. It has to be 100% sealed or you will get water inside the driver's footwell.

-Charlie

Update: That grommet... I re-seated it in the hole and it poured rain last night as I parked outside. The result is that there was NO moisture in the driver's footwell. I think I have found my problem!!! I'm really happy about that because I am losing my garage parking starting tomorrow. I will still get some weedwacker line and clean out the sunroof drains, but that might just be preventative maintenance. I don't want another leak to show up. This last leak appeared while my truck was in storage, so my friend told me I was growing things in the driver's footwell and there was mold throughout the truck!

 

[mtbtim]

Hey Shooter, I think that was your problem. I found that same grommet unseated on a dude's rig I was helping out with some mods and repairs. To investigate the leak, I got under the dash and had this guy Eric spray a water hose stream onto the windshield. I immediately saw water coming through the wiring port through the fire wall and noticed the grommet was only partially seated. It was a pain to get it fully seated again but that fixed his leak. We shot water against the windshield again and no more leak.

And Shooter, you didn't need to wait for another rainy day to see where water was traveling. [MENTION=99565]kolelt[/MENTION] mentioned spraying water on your rig in the 2nd response to this thread. You could have had this figured out very quickly with a little bit of "Troubleshooting 101". You shouldn't have cut class that day Shooter.

Since sunroof drain cleaning was brought in this thread, here's the video [MENTION=102606]infamousRNR[/MENTION], [MENTION=144752]MarkamisPrime[/MENTION] and I made investigating a leak in Mark's rig.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qalXo4etX3Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[ShooterMcGavin]

Thanks Tim

How does that grommet get unseated anyways?

 

[mtbtim]

Thanks Tim

How does that grommet get unseated anyways?

No clue. On that dude Eric's rig I was working on it was just partially unseated. I'm guessing a previous owner messed with it? I really don't know how it could become unseated on it's own because it's a bit of a hassle to get it back on.

 

[dustinb14]

Thanks for all the tips! A few weeks ago I started getting a small amount of water dripping into the driver side floorboard after a hard rain on my 2008 4Runner. Gradually got worse until it was a steady stream after only a mild rain. It was dripping out from the far left side of the footwell, almost by the door, but I couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. After reading this thread, first thing I did was check the sunroof drain holes (I didn't even know that was a thing). The front driver side hole had 1.5" of water standing above it. With a flashlight I could see there was something in it. I pulled a large bug out of the top of the drain hole and all the water drained right out and into the garage floor. A couple of hard rains later and no more leaks!
Thanks!

 

[Back4More]

Makes sense

I've got the same thing, bought a vehicle and driver side carpet was soaked. PO had some janky wiring going on. Will be inspecting and sealing. One down...numerous more to go... :moping: