Water Ingress Rx400H 2006

[paul marsden]

Got the RX back tonight.

In essence regrettably nothing Lexus GB could do to help on this occasion - an indefinite warranty can't be given.

Had rear seam re-sealed and packing, rr (the rear light cluster gasket?) replaced. Part number L81552-48141 and now have new hybrid Battery and new interior carpet. Nice but not what i had planned to have replaced.

For now this chapter is closed.

Good luck all

Paul

[NEV72]

Good to see you got it all sorted Paul. I received mine back on Friday, the Inverter has now been replaced by Lexus Exeter, at their cost of £3000, took it out today around 200 miles returned a decent 32mpg, so the ISC has been reset, as I've heard mpg can drop a tad if it hasn't. Didn't skip a beat, happy days, I'm looking forward to keeping it now till the F-sport 450h comes down enough to buy, was well impressed with the 450h.

[Nigsy]

Trying to sort out water in the boot. Would appear to be as described and appearing from rear lamp cluster. Anyone help me with how to remove the housing so that I can check gasket for leak?

[paul marsden]

Hi Nigsy.

There's a diagram one page back and a link to a website that may help - regrettably I can't as Lexus repaired mine.

Paul

[gogsck]

My 2007 RX400h SEL is full of water.

I am now in panic mode.

I had suspected blocked sunroof drains but maybe not. I have occasionally had some water landing on the load cover on the boot. Now there is water in right hand front and rear foot wells and left hand rear.

My car had a towbar fitted last year so maybe I need to check round rear bumper first. I don't have a garage that I can get my car into to work on it so it is difficult in the endless torrential rain we have had recently.

[ChrisKaye]

Sunroof front drains are common cause of the footwell issue...

[paul marsden]

Sorry to hear of your problems. My advice is try and prevent as much extra water getting in if at all possible. Get the car as dry as you can - lift the carpets out and thoroughly dry it out. There are a lot of electronics on the underfloor and water and electronics do not mix well.

Finally do not try and find the leak with a water test until you have got the water that is in there out.

[ChrisKaye]

If you have old bath towels, put one in each footwell to soak up moisture, then change them for dry ones whilst the others tumble dry off.

I'm hating this stupid constant wet weather at the moment, too.

A couple of dehumidifier 'boxes' from poundland (or Tesco) can help or failing that a load of uncooked rice in an open lidded Tupperware style box will help soak moisture up inside the car.

[Steve.ch]

Seems there has been a problem with Lexus for years with water leaks. that they don’t know how or can not be bothered to fix. Distgusting for a car like this. Three years ago I purchased a 2004 RX300. Good history only 45,000 miles. After couple of weeks screen started to steam up over night. Searched for over a year round front of car for water. Nothing on carpets, etc. Then left it. Still steaming up windscreen. Six months ago had reversing sensors put in by local mec. They started playing up. Stripped out back myself and found 2 inches of water. Have followed this forum and tried moonroof drains. Seemed to be ok but I duck taped the moonroof to elimanate. Drained water from boot - rained- full of water again. Cleared water from boot. Took rear lights out- seemed to be ok, but sealed with mastic and replaced. - Rained- Full of water again. Checked plastic one way rubber valve that lets air out when you shut the door. Sealed round it. -Rained- Full of water again. Checked seam above boot After reading the TSB's, it stated that RX's suffer from the seam cracking above the upper back door strut mounting, sealed it -Rained- Full of water. Took strut mounts off, resealed -Rained- Full of water. Got out my camera and took photos of everywhere that I could not easily see, (Mid 70’s bad back etc.) and these are some of the photos I got, pointing the camera towards the back of the car, very low down. You can see the water running down from seam. Hope they may help someone else who has the misfortune to have one of these cars. I have not sealed yet but I am going to seal from inside car with some type of seam sealer. (If it ever stops raining) I just hope this is the problem.

[Duncan Roberts]

It's many years since I had an RX300/400 but I certainly did not suffer this problem and so it was not something Lexus had to deal with. Is this not now a facet of what is  an old car in industry terms?

 

Have you tried a Lexus dealership if such a problem is commonplace they might well know the cause.

[Steve.ch]

Could be the age of the car but I don't think so as there are plenty of people on this forum with much newer Lexus with the same problem. This seam should have mastic sprayed on during manufacture. Hopefully the latest models have, but I am not convinced.  

[Jarlab]

Hi all first post since buying a 2007 rx400h last year.  Noticed the water ingress issue over winter. Thanks to all the great posts on here with the advice on where and how to fix. I found that despite sealing the many seams the ones that made the difference were around and behind the rear bumper. I sealed any and every visible bolt hole, fixing, clip, and seam (from the outside)  which finally stopped the boot filling up. I sealed under the roof rail fixings too as the seams looked like they were cracked  as well, although not sure it was needed but worth doing for peace of mind. Combination of black tiger seal and ltv gasket maker did the trick. Thanks again! 

[Bowserman]

If it makes anyone feel any better, I just went in the boot of our 9 month old Mini Cooper and that was full of water! At least we can throw it back at them for warranty repairs.

[ThomasN]

hi all.where can i buy tail light gasket ? 

[ColinBarber]

81552-48141

from a Lexus dealer. Or just seal the old one down with silicone sealant.

[ThomasN]

10 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

81552-48141

from a Lexus dealer. Or just seal the old one down with silicone sealant.

thanks

[ThomasN]

i ordered from lexus dealer.£42 both.but i must wait because come from europe 😯

[ThomasN]

water coming from gasket and that two holes.

 

[Steve.ch]

I have now sealed all back seams, and I still have water in boot every time it rains!

[paul marsden]

Hi all.

It’s been a while,  I am genuinely upset that more people are innocently discovering  this issue. 

To those people that are still having an issue please be reassured that there is a problem and one that can be resolved. 

I can’t confirm that the solution will be cost neutral - that will depend on your individual circumstances but there is s solution  

My history -

I’m not a wealthy man but I do aspire to the “trappings” of that lifestyle. When I purchased a Lexus 400H - this was, at least to me, one of those trappings.

I wasn’t naive enough to believe that this car was perfect,it isn’t as time has proven but we buy a belief : vision don’t we?

That aside, my heart rate increases when I discover that a problem is still a) being experienced by people several years later (some of whom may have my outlook on life and who have purchased a “quality” product) several years after my own personally expensive “education”and b) being CONTINUALLY dismissed / questioned  for whatever reason (Dealer / apologist?) by members(s) who have not owned the car for several years but still feel that is valid to  comment and portray this as a “guess you were unlucky as it never happened to me and I’m very informed,so sorry”. 

LEXUS call back the UK cars and fix them - you’ll get Kudos and the respect of current and would be owners. 

Has this issue manifested in USA/Europe/anywhere else? If so could you let us know how that was remedied and different approaches are in operation in different plants?

 

As an owner, if you have water in your boot or anywhere else, you have a problem with your car - it can be fixed. This forum has outlined what you need to do - SEAL EVERWHERE that water can get in. How much this costs you and how much time you must invest is down to your financial circumstances/ tenacity / circumstances/ brand reputation  

My resolution - I paid (via an interest feee credit card) to get it fixed (I could have bought a decent 2nd hand car for the price!)  

I now now drive a premium brand that isn’t a Lexus 

Would i buy Lexus again? Never  

Would I lease a Lexus - yep sure - any issues aren’t my problem  

Is this what the brand represents? - Need to ask Lexus / Togaota marketing but not to my mind -  but it appears to be the reality.

This is such a shame and a missed commercial opportunity for a company that (honestly?)!wants to do the right thing and is seemingly well placed in the electric vehicle / hybrid age  

My next car will be electric ( it’s the future 😀)  but probably a Tesla (based on my

brand perception and experience.)

Lexus have lost my faith and done very little to win it back - great brand, great vision - poor realisation when things go wrong.

 

if I can offer any additional pointers to resolve then I will - there are legal constraints on the detail I can provide with regards to my individual circumstance - as stated earlier it can be fixed - requires effort / money to get it fixed  

 

Options as I see them

DIY?

Dicuss with previous owner / garage/ Lexus ?

Petition Lexus to do a recall?

Drill a hole to let the water out?

Dry it out, trade it in and make it someone else’s problem?

Paul

[Jaystar77]

I'm one of those innocent owners who has had a few leaks in the same spots as yourself.  Thankfully I'm in a position to tinker with such issues so it hasn't bothered me too much.  I would certainly agree the body seams are substandard to say the least, a huge surprise after changing from a first gen RX.  If anyone is in the same (leaky) boat I feel for them.  It's put a damper on what I thought was going to be a relaxing vehicle to own.

The only thing is I work in a VW dealership and see on a daily basis how easy we have it in terms of reliability overall. 

If you think this is an issue you should see some of the stuff I've dealt with!

[welland]

I also recently discovered water in my rx400h boot, which later migrated into driver's and right hand rear footwells. 

Is it possible for water to move from the boot to the footwells (e.g. on very steep hills), or is it more likely that i have two leaks?

Is there a guide anywhere for how to:

1) remove boot trim and storage boxes?

2) release footwell door trim in order to get newspapers under the carpet?  

[ThomasN]

9 hours ago, welland said:

I also recently discovered water in my rx400h boot, which later migrated into driver's and right hand rear footwells. 

Is it possible for water to move from the boot to the footwells (e.g. on very steep hills), or is it more likely that i have two leaks?

Is there a guide anywhere for how to:

1) remove boot trim and storage boxes?

2) release footwell door trim in order to get newspapers under the carpet?  

i take out everything from boot and inside.the water was everywhere.I dried everything and went to the car wash.water dripped from the trunk.so yes this is possible but you have to see yourself.i take out ewerything 2.5 hours and put in inside same time.

[paul marsden]

@welland water will flow through the car. What I think happened with mine was water collected in the lowest part of the car - from memory this would be the maintenance area in the boot. Once that filled up it overflows. 

From schematics I found ALOT of electronics are in the bottom of the car. These were unaffected by my problem and my car was soaked through. My hybrid batteries were non usable and carpets were replaced although I guess you could dry them out and anti fungicide applied. 

In hindsight what I noticed was:-entertainment / sat nav system shutting off intermittently (most noticeably when driving in a downpour). 

Windows being foggy in the morning. 

 

If you have a sun roof it is possible that this could be a cause of the leak. All the information I found indicated issues at the rear of the car around gaskets / seals and seams. The boot seam was the problem I had. 

I don’t have any info re removing items - sorry. 

 

Paul

[Superleiv]

Thank you for all the information you provided! Really helped me a lot in the process of finding the leak. As with many others, I realised I had a problem when the carpet in all the foot wells were drenched in water. I stripped the car for carpet, panels and seats and started the search for the leak. I don’t have a sunroof and soon understood that the leak must have come from the back (trunk area) and poured down to the foot wells. I also had a lot of trouble finding the leak, due to the double and triple(!) panels. My girlfriend sprayed the back of the car with a hose, and I sat inside observing water Pouring down both the sides ( c-pillars), but not being able to see where from because of the double panels. I then bought a inspection camera and slid behind the panels. And happily found the source to my trouble! The clips and Phillips screws holding the rear bumper up, just below the black plastic trimming next to the tail light was totally open! The water just flowed right trough it. I took out both the screw and plastic clip, taped the hole with duct tape (temporarily) and voila! No more water. 
 

I also used the inspection camera up along the c-pillar to inspect if I had a problem with the body seam above the gas strut. But from what I could see inside the panel cavity it looked like the main problem was leakage from the two bolts holding the gas strut. Will probably make a rubber gasket and lay between the body and strut and I think that will fix the problem. Hope this will maybe help someone out there! 
 

The picture is from thomasN post, but is the clip and screw I took out and taped the hole. Remember to use degreaser, so that the tape sticks well.