Water Leak: A pillar

[yowsa]

I'm having a water leak somewhere in the A pillar on the drivers side. Of course I can't locate it exactly. 06 Runner and the windshield was replaced in July of 07. Minor bodywork done on the tailgate in Jan of 08. Shortly after the body work I started smelling a musty smell which would come and go in intensity. Finally 4 years later it was so bad I pulled the seats and all and found the drivers side carpet padding soaked. Did the water test on the windshield and found water pooling right below the wiring harness in the footwell. Called the windshield company and they came and replaced the windshield and are getting me a new carpet.

Did the water test on the windshield again today and it's still leaking. I'm really sure the windshield went in correctly this time. But when I pour water at the top corner of the windshield on the drivers side, I get water into the drivers footwell. I can trace it up behind the soundproofing to just below the A pillar and windshield but can't see the source because of all the stuff in the way and the curvature of the body.

It really seems to leak when the water is poured on the windshield moulding at the top of the glass where the moulding makes that bump over the top rubber gasket on the windshield.

Just wondering if anyone has run into a leak issue in this area? I watched this windhsield go in and it didn't seem to me anything was missed. He laid a good caulk line and it made contact with all the glass.

Thanks

 

[Presta24]

I have had a similar prob once or twice. When it rains real hard I have noticed water on the drivers side door panel around the speaker and where the door panel meets the side of the dash when the door is closed. Both times it happened at work during a bad storm so I didn't see it till it was too late. I thought maybe i hadn't closed the window all the way. Haven't had any probs in a few years

 

[04rnr]

have you installed anything like maybe lights or a cb antenna on the front, where you had to run wires into the cab ?

I ask because if you ran wires throught the rubber gromments, and di not apply some sort of sealant to the gromment, it could be leaking from there.
Just a thought.

 

[yowsa]

Thanks for the suggestion. Nothing installed aftermarket. But I was thinking that it must be one of the rubber grommets or boots. The L channel for the windscreen in the A pillar has no perforations so unless the water actually leaks through the windshield caulk it must be running to the bottom of the glass and then making it's way in somewhere there. I'll get into it more today. Mystifying.

 

[04rnr]

have you taken off the roof rack ?

 

[yowsa]

Nope, not the roof rack.

In fact we found it today. When the windscreen had been replaced the tech had removed the original caulking seal. It looks like the original sealant was spread further than just under the windscreen. The original sealant went up the vertical side of the L channel that the windscreen set into. When he scraped the original sealant off it exposed 3 holes that are about a quarter inch in size that are on the vertical section of the L channel. Normally these are covered by the moulding strip on the side of the windscreen. It was hard to see the holes as my paint is black, the caulking is black and of course the holes are dark inside.

So if you ever have a windscreen replaced make sure the perforations on the A pillar channel are sealed.

 

[04rnr]

glad you found the problem