Wet driver's side floor (under mat)

[HokieRunner]

Just went through this myself. After a lot of testing I figured out it was the A pillar metal on the windshield sides. For whatever reason, Toyota put three holes down the inside edge of the windshield and these were partially uncovered. I popped off the interior A pillar trim and sure enough, when pouring water down the edge of the windshield, water runs in those holes and drains out at floor level.

I had my windshield replaced in January and that's what triggered this. The windshield was sealed properly but the channel on the edge of the windshield (under the weatherstripping) had those holes exposed so water was pouring in. My glass guy resealed everything last week and filled the three holes and zero leaks since. Might be the solution.

 

[Johnny4runner]

As for the A/C relay - I can hear some liquid running occasionally when turning but no water appears after that - I thought it might be some water stuck under the windshield ...

If your AC relay goes bad the way mind did, that is not water, it's refrigerant in the AC system. Because the relay is stuck and the compressor is constantly engaged, too much liquid refrigerant is being pumped into your AC system--hence to excessive condensation inside the cabin and the sloshing.

When the fluid moves does it sizzle like water on a hot grill? If so it's likely your AC relay stuck on. Try yanking the AC relay and see if it makes it better. Or, in my case the relay finally died and got stuck open (compressor would not engage), and then it was pretty easy to figure out the AC relay was bad.

I'm not saying this is definitely the source of your problem, but if you are chasing a mystery leak and can't find it, it's worth checking out the AC relay (and easy to do).

 

[VladCZ]

Just went through this myself. After a lot of testing I figured out it was the A pillar metal on the windshield sides. For whatever reason, Toyota put three holes down the inside edge of the windshield and these were partially uncovered. I popped off the interior A pillar trim and sure enough, when pouring water down the edge of the windshield, water runs in those holes and drains out at floor level.

I had my windshield replaced in January and that's what triggered this. The windshield was sealed properly but the channel on the edge of the windshield (under the weatherstripping) had those holes exposed so water was pouring in. My glass guy resealed everything last week and filled the three holes and zero leaks since. Might be the solution.

Thanks for letting me know. I was gone for a month so will be getting back to address the issue. Before reading this, I actually popped the windshield wipers cover up and checked for some draining holes there but there's only 2 of them in the corners and poring the water in them doesn't seem to be the problem - no water inside. So I'll try take off the A pillar trim to see what's going on there. Windshield was replaced on my truck too, so might be same issue.

As for the A/C - I drive with A/C off and compressor is not running so shouldn't be condensate from the A/C, I think.

Thanks for all the input guys.

 

[kensley_jennings]

Hello!

I was just wondering if you had found anything out about this? My 2005 Sport Edition is doing exactly the same thing. I have also determined that it only happening when it rains. It's not a hose from the A/C or anything.

Thanks!

 

[VladCZ]

Hello!

I was just wondering if you had found anything out about this? My 2005 Sport Edition is doing exactly the same thing. I have also determined that it only happening when it rains. It's not a hose from the A/C or anything.

Thanks!

Hey, it wasn't raining enough whole Summer :-D But over those few days it was, I figured that I have a water appearing along the driver's side A-pillar right under the windshield caulking. It seemed just seeping through and I didn't see any run-off anywhere underneath. But, again, not enough raining yet.
Also, I discovered that the upper windshield plastic/rubber trim was lifted up at one place above the driver's side and back side was kind of squeezed and rolled - so I straighted this on and pushed it back over the edge of the windshield. Even though this trim is not suppose to seal the windshield, it might have been place where lot of water was running in and seeping through on the side.
In any case, I'm waiting for rainy season start to see if the leak will continue and it it really is the windshield seal.
As far as I Googled similar issues on different cars, wrongly sealed windshield while its being replaced can cause nightmare. My windshield is not original, so I'm assuming I will have to visit an auto glass shop and have it taken out and resealed if the problem prevails.

 

[Ridger]

I had that issue for a while, but fixed it.

 

[4-Legged-Runner]

Just went through this myself. After a lot of testing I figured out it was the A pillar metal on the windshield sides. For whatever reason, Toyota put three holes down the inside edge of the windshield and these were partially uncovered. I popped off the interior A pillar trim and sure enough, when pouring water down the edge of the windshield, water runs in those holes and drains out at floor level.

I had my windshield replaced in January and that's what triggered this. The windshield was sealed properly but the channel on the edge of the windshield (under the weatherstripping) had those holes exposed so water was pouring in. My glass guy resealed everything last week and filled the three holes and zero leaks since. Might be the solution.

Thanks Hokie - you just confirmed what I have spent the last two days chasing.

I have bilateral wet floors beneath my floor mats. My first inclination was a failed heater core. However, the telltale coolant feature(s) were not there. Just a musty smell and saturated carpet - water saturated.

I had INITIALLY suspected the windshield I had needed to replace in August as the culprit. Non-OEM glass was the cause I thought. I poured water down the windshield, fully expecting the firewall to become wet. Nothing. So I gave up on the windshield as the cause. But I did not suspect the reveal molding on the sides.......

Long story short - I pulled the carpet (and all the trim) out of both foot wells. Then I turned on the HVAC with (and without) the AC compressor on for over an hour. NO LEAKING. I pulled the condensate tube, flushed it out - NO BLOCKAGE. Everything appeared to be functioning within the HVAC system properly. SO I checked that off of my list.

Then I thought that after our two week trip to the Outer Banks and running around Carova Beach that my super undercarriage wash at the car wash upon our return back flowed through the drain plugs and into the interior. NOPE - absolutely fine - no leak from them.

So I was back to the only thing in recent memory that was different - the windshield. This time I became suspect because of the evenness of the bilateral wetness. What about the windshield/installation would contribute to both sides being wet? Two sides - the left and right molding. I questioned my installer a number of time during the install if the reveal molding on the left and right sides needed replaced. He assured me not. However, this afternoon I tested the wind shield again. This time, I ran a hose from the front of the roof rack down. Remember: I still have the foot wells wide open - so I can see everything. Sure enough, as soon as the hose started running, water was seeping (at an alarming rate) into the interior and pooling on the floor. Over to partznet.com to find me some new molding (left and right) and guess what I see as part of the molding schematic: reveal molding FASTENER (one for each side) with three hole plugs in it. I'll be damned. I'll bet the holes are either unplugged or unfilled on each side. I wonder if the molding fasteners were junked as part of the removal of the old windshield?

2005 Toyota 4Runner Parts - Conicelli Parts Center

Item #10 on the link above.

So Hokie - I wonder if you are missing the same fastener that I am. Your situation sounds identical to mine - just curious: did you go with OEM glass?

Undecided at this time if I want to caulk or if I want to spend $$$ and replace all of the molding.......

 

[riceandpho]

when i had the windshield replace, the installer didnt take the molding fastener out, all he did was scrap all the old factory adhesive off the entire opening, then he apply the new 3m stuff all around, maybe the installer didnt use enough of the adhesive to glue the windshield in place.

 

[riceandpho]

if you pop the molding off, you can see if the installer use enough adhesive to glue the window on, also its your best way to really inspect where the water is coming in from.

 

[HokieRunner]

So Hokie - I wonder if you are missing the same fastener that I am. Your situation sounds identical to mine - just curious: did you go with OEM glass?

Undecided at this time if I want to caulk or if I want to spend $$$ and replace all of the molding.......

I am missing both the molding and the fasteners. The prior owner must have replaced the windshield and whoever did the install ditched the old trim. My installer came back out, cleaned up the molding channels really well, and filled everything with adhesive. Not a leak since.

I didn't get OEM glass. I want to say it's PPG. No waviness, good clarity and strength against road debris thus far.

 

[VladCZ]

Problem solved

OK, happy to inform you that the problem of wet floor is solved (with help of many people here giving their input - thank you guys for that)

I discovered, after pulling out the side windshield weatherstrip away from A-pillar, that there were 2 holes partially covered by glue when windshield was replaced (sometimes in past). However, they were not plugged by anything nor fully covered by glue. They were just open right to the A-pillar!!
Assuming (hoping) this could be the entry for the water seeping through I used marine silicone and sealed both holes, let it dry overnight and tested it with garden hose for over an hour - floor came out dry. No signs of any water anywhere.
When I was hosing down the windshield before, water appeared on the floor in few minutes. I could also see water seeping through between metal edge of A-pillar and the glue (of the windshield).

So I hope I'm done with this issue. I post few pics of the holes - 1st of the pics was taken from the roof-down direction so don't get confused. Somebody here mentioned 3 holes - I saw only 2, maybe 3rd one was covered by the glue already ... Either way - how could glass guys replacing the windshield miss that???

BTW, an interesting article about quality of glass replacement shops: Why auto glass service isn't all it's cracked up to be - The Globe and Mail

 

[VladCZ]

Another pic of the A-pillar hole

 

[VladCZ]

And this is the second hole in upper part of the A-pillar

 

[HokieRunner]

And this is the second hole in upper part of the A-pillar

Thanks for posting pics - was kicking myself for not doing the same when I had them filled. The 3rd hole sits higher up but they aren't equidistant.

Off topic but you have what appears to be an alligator on your dash - be careful man! See what those leaky windshields can attract?!:fishing:

 

[VladCZ]

Thanks for posting pics - was kicking myself for not doing the same when I had them filled. The 3rd hole sits higher up but they aren't equidistant.

Off topic but you have what appears to be an alligator on your dash - be careful man! See what those leaky windshields can attract?!:fishing:

He he :-D That gator travels with me from one car to another since 1998 when I puled him out of the huge, big a.. bowl of margarita drink, licked the margarita off and threw him in my girlfriend's purse while she wasn't looking ;-) I think it was in Razzoo's Restaurant when I use to live in States

 

[KBToys]

how hard is it to re install the weather strip?

 

[Ezspike]

Hey, it wasn't raining enough whole Summer :-D But over those few days it was, I figured that I have a water appearing along the driver's side A-pillar right under the windshield caulking. It seemed just seeping through and I didn't see any run-off anywhere underneath. But, again, not enough raining yet.
Also, I discovered that the upper windshield plastic/rubber trim was lifted up at one place above the driver's side and back side was kind of squeezed and rolled - so I straighted this on and pushed it back over the edge of the windshield. Even though this trim is not suppose to seal the windshield, it might have been place where lot of water was running in and seeping through on the side.
In any case, I'm waiting for rainy season start to see if the leak will continue and it it really is the windshield seal.
As far as I Googled similar issues on different cars, wrongly sealed windshield while its being replaced can cause nightmare. My windshield is not original, so I'm assuming I will have to visit an auto glass shop and have it taken out and resealed if the problem prevails.

Yep had the same problem and turned out to be the Caulking around the windshield in my case...drove me nuts
:embarassed:

 

[kenm09]

Since originally posting this, I did indeed seem to fix the problem. My issue was not with the windshield.

I ended up removing the running boards to find there is a small drain hole at the rear of the front fender well (behind the mud flap and just above the end of the running board). I also pulled away some of the wheel well.

I ran water down at the base of the windshield and found that a lot of debris had collected within this drain. The majority of the debris was maple tree seeds. I bought the car used so I am assuming it sat under a maple tree and these things just went to work over the years. When I say it was clogged, I mean it WAS CLOGGED. I thought I would be finished, and then would go back, move some of the plastic around, or direct the water a little differently and then another set of seeds would come rushing out.

Ever since I cleared all of this out, I have not had any problems. This still doesn't explain to me where water was getting in, but at the same time, the padding has been dry.

 

[4-Legged-Runner]

I absolutely, guarantee if anyone has had their windshield replaced and the reveal molding fastener was removed/not replaced - you will get water on your front floors. If not, the each vertical side of the windshield would have to be filled with a toothpaste tubes worth of caulk.

I cannot believe the engineering that went into the design of the A-pillars. There are THREE holes that the reveal molding fastener snaps into - two holes near the TOP of the A-pillar and one hole near the bottom.

Vlad - the A-pillars have three holes!!!

I have purchased the molding fastener and now must have the windshield removed to place the fasteners into position.

More to come...

 

[VladCZ]

how hard is it to re install the weather strip?

I just basically pressed it back - it holds there even without the fasteners. Apparently, while replacing the glass, they spread the glue everywhere where the weatherstrip suppose to go and then pushed the strip in - that created perfect fit for strip to be pushed back in place - I suppose they didn't want to deal with buying new clips/fasteners so they cheated it this way.