[Dess]

Hello all,

I have a 2008 Highlander base that seems to have developed a leak in either the door seals or undercarriage. We returned back to our car that had been parked outside overnight, which it rained heavily to find the front (drive and passenger side) floors completely soaked. The seats were dry oddly enough. Was not able to see anything immediately obvious during a visual inspection. However I had my wife sit inside and spayed along the perimeter of the doors with the hose. She noticed a small bit of water seeping in from the floor.

Anyone else had anything like this? I didn't find anything like this searching. I'll be taking it in during the week and I'll update everyone. Hopefully this will be covered in my extended warranty.

 

[ruest]

Not in the Front, but on my 2008 I had a water leak that soaked the rear passenger floor.

No indications of a leak -- just soaking wet floor. My leak turned out to be in one of the roof rack mounting holes, water was entering and dripping onto the rubber door edge molding (at the top of the door), running down along the door edge (inside the rubber molding) then exiting at the bottom of the door where the rubber ends under the plastic entry step and straight down into the matting under the carpet.

I did not get any wetness on the headliner so I am hopefull that all the water followed along this path and did not get into any of the side curtain airbags which sit right along the edge in the headliner right below the roof rack mounting holes.

 

[Dess]

That seems to be my exact scenario. No leaks that I can detect, but a soaking wet floor! Thanks for the info!

 

[Dess]

Stealership thinks its a leaking AC hose, claims they've seen it before Anyone ever heard of this? Even worse, it's not covered by the Platinum Extended Warranty...

 

[TrailDust]

Stealership thinks its a leaking AC hose, claims they've seen it before Anyone ever heard of this? Even worse, it's not covered by the Platinum Extended Warranty...

Two threads that may be relevant to your question/issue:

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=268266

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=295337

 

[JMSinMD]

If you have a sunroof, the drain hoses could be clogged caused the leak.

 

[Dess]

The links that Traildust posted ended up being correct...the AC drain plug hose was clogged with a spider web.

Thanks for the input!

 

[jpntaka]

I have the exact same problem.

I have all weather floor mats on, and my front and back floor was soaking wet. It was so wet that when I took off the all weather floor mats to clean my car, water was dripping off of everything that was on the floor.
I also noticed that my front window tended to have a lot of water condensation. A lot more than any other car in the parking lot. I had to actually use a towel to remove the water, since the defogger didn't help at all.

By the way. Thanks for the post TrailDust! I just hope I saw it when I first noticed the problem.

 

[dwhartwell]

Water soaked front carpets

I've found my issue after much investigation on our 2011 CPO highlander. HVAC housing is leaking. There is a seam where the left half and the right half is joined together. Seems to be a few screws holding it together and I've got no clue why it developed a leak. At the bottom of this seam, water drips out at a steady pace with the AC on and over time, soaks the front carpets/padding. Going to the dealer to find out what is needed to fix it. If they suggest ripping the dash out to remove and replace the HVAC, I'm not sure if I will do this repair. I'd rather try to seal the seam with a sealer or perhaps Butyl caulking used to secure windshields cause you know it is never going to be right after pulling apart the dash and all the AC and heating hoses. BAH

 

[JMSinMD]

The links that Traildust posted ended up being correct...the AC drain plug hose was clogged with a spider web.

Thanks for the input!

http://jalopnik.com/toyota-recalls-870-000-cars-because-of-freaking-spiders-1447758469

 

[sgoldste01]

The links that Traildust posted ended up being correct...the AC drain plug hose was clogged with a spider web.

Thanks for the input!

Is this something that can be easily checked while under the car performing an oil change?

 

[heartdisease]

Welcome to TN dwhartwell


I hope it is an easier fix than it could be. I would lean to a sealer myself and keep an eye on it.

 

[sweeneyp]

Is this something that can be easily checked while under the car performing an oil change?

yep, the AC drain hose is kinda behind the passenger wheel, in that area. You'll see the water dropping, its a ~1/2" rubber hose. It will be sticking down, somewhat.

 

[carmelo22]

Same problem here. Is this the roof rack hole in the thread? Taking the cover off and using sealer around the bolt holes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLIjtuyLk8Q

 

[cww]

2008 water in back passenger floor

I have found water behind passenger seat floor. I pulled trim at base of door during a rain event saw water coming across inside section at base from the upper rear edge following the edge of carpet trim.I have not found the source as roof rack or door trim or window. I will try a hose and watch, this is not a ac drain issue. I could not find a thread about a roof rack issue. If someone knows the link I would like to read it.
2008 highlander 4wd

 

[sweeneyp]

saw water coming across inside section at base from the upper rear edge following the edge of carpet trim.

Huh?

I can't make any sense of where your talking about....

 

[cww]

I am looking for the thread about a roof rack leak on a 2008 highlander. My rear floor is wet. I see water running down the carpet edge from rear of floor trim of carpet into passenger floor. I had hoped there is a thread concerning issue,thanks

 

[cww]

sorry for the confusion. I have water in rear passenger floor only if I leave the car in the rain. I am not sure how water gets in by way of roof rack. I was hoping someone had posted information of how this happens I am under the assumption the rack holes would drain inside the body the way the sunroof does and exit under the car. I have verified sun roof drains are clear and drain underneath car.
Thanks for your site by the way.
hl 2008 limited with sunroof

 

[shumif1]

If you have a sunroof , check your drain lines , they do get clogged from time to time.

 

[Daniellegust]

Soaking wet carpets due to sunroof

I have a 2008 highlander which I bought brand new...just recently I found my back carpet soaking wet! I also noticed my seatbelts were damp when I pulled them to put them on. We have located the problem to be the sunroof but now my carpets are moldy smelling and the smell does not come out after numerous carpet cleanings...we took all the floor molding off and tried to clean the carpets from underneath with no luck. Now I am left with a awful smell in my car! And it smells 10 times worse when it is hot and humid out.