Water coming out of door drains after rain. Normal?

[cutty01]

Everyone gets a free pass to ask a dumb paranoid noob question on this forum, right? Well this may be mine...

I have owned a 3rd gen and numerous other cars, but I have never noticed that water drains out of the holes at the bottom of the door (see picture) after it rains. My car is parked on a decline, nose down, and after a heavy rain, I notice water pouring out of holes in the front and rear doors when I first open them.

<a href="http://s860.photobucket.com/user/ncuthrell/media/IMG_2297_zpsfbk7qqle.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab161/ncuthrell/IMG_2297_zpsfbk7qqle.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2297_zpsfbk7qqle.jpg"/></a>

I am assuming this is normal, but if my truck sits for a while, couldn't a pool of water sitting in the door cause rust? Is the metal inside the doors corrosion protected? I don't even know why water is getting into my interior door panels as that is what I thought the weatherstrips were for. Can someone please say something reassuring so I can sleep better at night.

Disclaimer:
I did a Google search on site:toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs with keywords: door, holes, drain, leak, before posting, but couldn't find what I was looking for .

 

[Blitzkrieg]

I've never noticed that amount of water coming out of a door before.

You sure your seals and window sill seal are okay?

 

[05Rrunner]

I don't thinks its a stupid question that's for sure. I have not noticed this on my 4runners but of course I live in California where it never rains. I'm sure it's normal but I agree it seems kind of weird to let water set in the doors if you never move the car where would the water go ? What about the door speakers getting wet and how is that much getting in all four doors. Must be the perfect parked angle letting it in somewhere.

 

[<<<<]

It is Normal. When you open your door on good dry day you will see that those channels are slightly dirty which means water is being drained trough there a lot during rains. If you had no drainage it would be abnormal. Don't worry.

 

[philsey]

..... Can someone please say something reassuring so I can sleep better at night.
QUOTE]

There there.

 

[1engineer]

Water runs down the outside of the windows and some gets through the outside dust seal between the window and door panel. It is not designed to be waterproof nor is it even possible. Every door on every vehicle that has a movable window is like this.

 

[Knight-Errant]

Every door on every vehicle that has a movable window is like this.

THE 4RUNNER COMES WITH MOVABLE WINDOWS NOW?!!!! :wow2:

I really need to read the owners manual

 

[cbreze]

That seems excessive to me. I notice some drippage after the fact but never anything like that. I would tend to want to investigate the source of , or entranceway of the water. Maybe something not sealed as well as it should be? Also, your door is becoming full of water until it's opened? A little, probably fine, that much?

 

[Knight-Errant]

I've never noticed a stream of water like the photo though....I'd check to see if the other drain holes are clogged up.

EDIT: I noticed you said it was parked nose down on an incline.....perhaps water is pooling in an area of the door because of the incline?

 

[1engineer]

That seems excessive to me. I notice some drippage after the fact but never anything like that. I would tend to want to investigate the source of , or entranceway of the water. Maybe something not sealed as well as it should be? Also, your door is becoming full of water until it's opened? A little, probably fine, that much?

No. The water drains all the time whether the doors are open or not. The only way to get a door full of water is if the drain holes get plugged. Perfectly normal.

 

[Danimal]

I think the fact that you're on a decline probably allows it to store some amount that would normally drain. When you open the door, it levels the door out and it drains the stored water.

When pulling the moisture barrier on my doors to put in vibration damping material on the inside of the door skins, I was surprise to see a what looked like a water line inside the door that was about 1/2" above the drains. But we've had some big rains and I hand wash the car frequently. All normal stuff.

Dan

 

[cutty01]

Thanks everyone for your input. My drive way is fairly steep so that is probably why the volume is higher than most expect. Those drain holes are there for a purpose and I guess they are working. I travel sometimes and was concerned the water would just sit there. I will mention it to the dealer next time I am in for service just in case.