RX 300 water ingress

[plastic orange]

My wife has owned this 2005 RX 300 for 4 years now and all has been good until 2/3 weeks ago when we noticed a bit of damp in front footwells. I dried this off and investigated possibilities of where it was coming from and had a good look on line for solutions. Water isn't coming from sunroof drains as they seem clear (I passed a strimmer cord down with no obstruction and water flowed freely) nor air conditioning pipe. Fast forward to a torrential downpour last night which has resulted in all footwells absolutely drenched. Normally, I would suspect water coming from the scuttle area with drains blocked, but I can't see any, so I'm at a loss. Any suggestions? I'm used to running cars of the 50's, and this RX leaks worse than anything of that vintage - is this progress? The last car I had that leaked like this was a lovely Golf GTi mk 2 (sold as soon as leak started). Strange that the leak only started 2 or 3 weeks ago which does suggest something blocked.

Cheers,

 

Pete

[rich1068]

I had a leak that started suddenly on my '06 RX 400h. There are plenty of mentions on here about the rear light seals leaking but I found no evidence it was coming from there. I removed, resealed and refitted the roof bars, tailgate struts, and the two screws that go through from the rear bumper into the body of the car at either side of the lower tailgate opening. I assume all these parts are similar to your 300. I also put some seal on the seam welds around the top of the tailgate opening where the struts are.

Not sure which one did the trick but no further leaks.

[Farqui]

Urgh, tracing water leaks can be a pain so i hope you get some good tips.

Checking the sunroof drains is a good start, have you tried easing back the footwell carpet and pouring water over the the (closed!) sunroof and checking for any water running in? The drain seals/boots can tear or become dislodged.

Has the windscreen every been replaced? If badly fitted, they can be known to leak.

Good luck tracking this down.

[Herbie]

Try searching this forum because I remember some poor bloke had to strip out the whole interior of the car, seats and carpets, to sort out his leak and dry the carpets out, and he did a great writeup about it. I know it was an RX300 but can't remember who it was.

[rich1068]

1 hour ago, Herbie said:

Try searching this forum because I remember some poor bloke had to strip out the whole interior of the car, seats and carpets, to sort out his leak and dry the carpets out, and he did a great writeup about it. I know it was an RX300 but can't remember who it was.

I think that was the one I was referring to but I thought it was a 400h because there was all sorts of Battery chat. 

I barely remember what I had for breakfast though so don't take my word for it.

[Herbie]

You could well be right Richard because, like you, I can't remember what went on last week!

Anyway, they're both the same bodyshell to all intents and purposes (AFAIK) so it doesn't matter.

[plastic orange]

I can't believe how much water is in the car as there was a veritable river coming out the floor bungs when I removed them. I've run 3mm strimmer wire down sunroof drains again and flushed water down and it's escaping quickly. I've looked at a few u tube vids on the process of sorting things, and basically it's a very poor design and will probably affect everyone. Apparently the sun roof drain doesn't go to the ground, but into a box section behind the wing which can't be accessed. It is when this blocks that water pours inside. I've poked wire down the hole on the inside of the car, but I can't see if I'm doing any good. I've also blasted compressed air down there to hopefully clear any blockage. I've repeatedly hosed the car and there is no water coming out this box section overflow, so I'm stumped. The best solution to be belts and braces is to remove A post trims, remove the sun roof drain hose from the box (cut) and extend it to go directly through the floor through a grommet. I can't see the car drying without a full carpet removal though, and i basically don't need the hassle, but will have to do it. Unfortunately, more heavy rain is forecast and I'm off to get a new centre silencer fitted to it tomorrow. I think it's time is up with me.

[plastic orange]

I think I've found the leak, and it's not where I thought. As has been suggested I had a look in the boot after reading about an RX400 with water ingress, and yes, It's coming from the rear. So, now to fix it, but not till next week. I did however clear out some light debris which had gone under the plastic trim adjacent to rear lights and water ingress seems minimal now. We've been plagued with torrential showers here over the last few days, and this has actually helped to pinpoint the problem. i don't relish drying the carpets though,

 

Pete

[Jaystar77]

Had a bit of fun with a rear water leak on my RX350 a while back, few pics here : Clicky

Might be worth checking those seams just in case.

Only thing is I had no water in the front so it might not be your issue.

Happy hunting and keep us posted on progress!

[rich1068]

Here's my thread on it where Jay helpfully chips in too 

 

[plastic orange]

Thanks for replies folks. Torrential rain here again today and car is leaking like a sieve at rear. I've drilled a couple of holes in floor to let water out and stop it travelling forward. Hopefully get it stripped out and sorted next week. This shouldn't happen on any car nowadays. On the bright side, I had the front silencer replaced with a stainless one by Pipe Dynamics of Leven - another great job.

 

Pete 

[plastic orange]

I removed rear lights and used  tigerseal to put the gasket back in as it wasn't the best. There was a bit of water round the lights, but not a lot. Once put back in and left for a while, i hosed the rear of the car and water ingress again. It seems to be coming from behind the bumper area, so that's my next task. I did drill a few holes and took grommets out to at least prevent water entering the passenger compartment. i also made a small wall of tigerseal at rear of seat base to hopefully dam any water trying to get through. I think this car will be getting moved on and don't think I'll get another. On the other hand, my Lexus LS 400 managed the storms just fine. Dilemma is what to buy, as my wife likes the higher seating position of the RX. Modern cars just don't do anything for me and some are just shockingly unreliable. May look at a Suzuki Vitara as we don't need a large second car really.

 

Pete

[Herbie]

As far as I know the RX450h don't suffer from water problems so that would seem to be a natural progression. It was for me, even though we had no water problems with our 300.

[plastic orange]

Managed to get bumper off before the rain - again. I was surprised how clean it was behind there and I couldn't see anything obvious. So, I removed both the clips that only seem to be there to hold the fog light wires, and tigersealed the mounting holes. i then ran tiger seal over every seam I could see, although they were all very clean. Now we'll wait and see what happens. If it leaks, then only thing I can think of is that the lights aren't sealed properly.

Incidentally, the u tube vid I watched on bumper removal doesn't mention the 4 nuts holding on top of bumper which are accessed from inside the boot.

Will report back on progress.

 

Pete

 

 

ps,

 

Herbie, I don't think I need another large car, and I could do with something for my wife that does reasonable mpg. My mate is a manager at a Suzuki garage and he swears by them, so we'll see.

[plastic orange]

Heavy rain last night and still leaking, although not as bad. Today I put tigerseal on the body seam just above the tailgate strut mounting as it looked to have a bit of a gap. One side was better than the other, but i did both. I'm just waiting for this to dry then i'll do the hose test.

 

Pete

[PaulDD]

If you can find the source of your leak this may help fix it. I had a windscreen seal leak on an RX300 I owned this cured it and I have successfully used it n other situations. It works as described.. http://www.captaintolley.com/product-info/
Available via eBay

[plastic orange]

Yes, I've used it before with mixed results. It's not great if it gets on your paint though. I've still got leaks despite my best efforts, but so long as boot area doesn't fill up, and it doesn't reach carpets I'll be relatively happy. It shouldn't happen though and what a waste of my time. I'd thought better of lexus.

 

Pete

[PaulDD]

Just one thought (I know you mentioned Tiger seal) did you change any rear light bulbs before the leak started? 
I once developed a boot leak on my 2004 model RX300 after replacing a rear light bulb.  I hadn't got one of the the seals seated correctly on a rear light cluster. The seal was a circular grommet type one in the bodywork where part of the plastic light cluster actually went through the body work. Re-seated it and hey presto leak solved. 

I  found Capt Trolleys has worked for me, but you are right about having to be careful with it. It really can make a mess if you have over spill and don't clean it off.  I found trying to clean it after its dried not really an option with the caravan may be different on car paint but I wouldn't want to risk it. 

Edited August 12, 2019 by PaulDD
spell correct

[plastic orange]

Car is all back together and whilst leak is less, it's still present. I've drilled some small drain holes strategically in the boot area, so water shouldn't reach the cabin now. I then sprayed Bilt Hamber clear underbody wax copiously in the boot, so shouldn't rust (wasn't rusty in any case). Not an ideal solution, but It will be getting moved on next year. I didn't change any light bulbs prior to leak commencing, but I think it's been present for a while and it was only with the Florida style rain we've had of late that highlighted the problem,

Thanks for all comments.

 

Pete