Water leak...into spare tire area etc

Have heard water sloshing in 2006 Prius--sounded like it was in the back of the car.
Found water in the spare tire well. Drained that but sloshing continued.
Repair shop found water in the tray under the battery (not clear if this was in the back of the car or under the hood? will call to clarify.) and wet vacuumed water out. Told me to bring to another shop to find the leak.

Have called three repair shops, none have seen this problem.
Appreciate any advice.

 

Have heard water sloshing in 2006 Prius--sounded like it was in the back of the car. ​

Found water in the spare tire well. Drained that but sloshing continued.​

Repair shop found water in the tray under the battery and wet vacuumed water out. ​

Told me to bring to another shop to find the leak.​

Have called three repair shops, none have seen this problem.​

Appreciate any advice.​

​

 

Yes, the 12V battery is located in the right-rear hatch area. If you want advice regarding how to locate the source of the leak, I suggest you remove all of the hatch trim and the hatch floor so that you can see the body metal. Then crawl into the hatch area and have a helper spray water on the right hatch area while you look around to determine where the water is entering.

Also, search PC as there are several posts on this subject where other owners have identified where water was entering their vehicles. A leaking body seam or water entering around the taillight assembly are likely suspects.

 

Hi all, got rid of our 2007 Pius , leaking all into spare wheel area and also 12 v battery area. Thats not good..electricity and water dont mix well! When you have had a water leak it gets into the electric circuits, then you DO have problems. These cars of this era are now called 'swamp cars'. Toyota needs fining millions to us poor owners through shoddy workmanship. Our leak was where the roof was welded to the side panels, faulty weding joints, had it fixed at body shop but didnt work. Good luck to you all, a super car ruined by bad workmanship.

 

Found a leak in my 2009 prius in the tire well. did the following to fix it:
* Removed the two plugs in the tire well (so if there are future leaks the water just go down the hole.
* Removed the plug under the left storage compartment plastic bin so that any water there also drains.
* Found a hairline crack in the weld joint in the upper left quater panel corner. This was the main leak source. Applied marine adhesive 5200 fast cure (from home depot) to the area and then painted over with touch up paint. This fixed the main leak.
* Found some separation in the sheet metal joint under the hatch lid - remove the rear tail lights to access this area, and applied 5200 adhesive there as well.

So far leaks seem to be gone, but will watch the area. 5200 is good stuff for this - sticks well and remains flexible.

 

Thanks ... I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to electrocute myself or the like. I mean, I know I'm not, but I also didn't *know* that ... I hope that makes sense.

I feel like such an amateur! (Which is exactly what I am. Actually, amateur may be exaggerating my abilities.)

 

Don't sell yourself short. If you think "I am a amateur" you will always be that way. Be positive about your abilities and grow from there. We all have limitations, but we are also gifted in many ways.

 

we had this in our 07 prius. Garages tried to fix but couldn't. Said it was the welding of the roof to side panels not done right. Advised to get rid of it! I couldn't stand repeated emptying and worry so got rid. Sorry couldn't be more helpful.

 

I started digging into my trunk today to check the age on my 12V battery, to see if maybe I should replace it before I get caught with a dead one (it's a 2008 manufactured in 11/07 and, as I suspected, it's still the original battery). I'm glad I checked, because what I found first was the spare tire and battery compartments flooded with about 3 gallons of water. Looked on here and read about this problem so many are having. I removed the black plastic trim from the right (passenger side) edge of the roof and, after careful examination, found the crack shown in the photos I have attached here. I haven't sealed the crack yet, but I feel pretty good about my chances of success, now that I read here about what is going on. Thanks to all who posted on this! I'll report later on my fix with the leak.

One thing I will mention is that I had the spare tire out a few months ago and there was no sign of water in there then. I've never seen water in there before (but never looked around the battery until today, either). In October I did buy a bike rack and hauled our two bikes around a few times. I am wondering if this triggered the problem. Wondering if anyone else had done anything similar before their problems started. Also had been wondering why the windows were so bad to fog over so fast anytime the a/c compressor was turned off. Maybe all this water explains why.

 

Update: My leak returned again. This is years after buying and installing the left and right Rear Bumper Side Seal that my dealer forgot to install on the Pre–Delivery Service. See attached doc. I found cracks on both top corners of the hatch as mentioned by others.
(My Prius is getting old )

And sealed them with GE Silicon II Caulk.


Hopefully this is the last time that I see water in the spare tire well.

 

I would make a complaint with the nhtsa and hopefully Toyota will address all of our cars water issues

SM-N900P ?

 

A water leak is irritating but I don't think it has an impact on vehicle safety so I doubt that the NHTSA would care...

 

I think nhtsa will at least look into the problem if the complaints are loud enough. We have safety equipment back there that shouldn't be exposed to water.

SM-N900P ?

 

If interested, I've been researching an interior flood in the wife's 2008. Here's what I found today, as posted on my thread:

Here's an update. Someone earlier suggested I check the spare tire well for water build up. I secretly thought he was nuts (sorry), but I thought I would check every lead. Guess what...it was flooded to capacity back there. So I tore everything out to try to find out why it was full of water (after sucking it out with the wet-vac), and to figure out how it was also filling the floor pans. Pulling out the rear seat first, I found water soaked into the bottom of the padding; easily 8 or ten inches higher than floor level. I ripped out all the trim and found water at an even higher level....up in the quarter panels. So, I took to the hose, and started soaking the car on the outside, while all the trim was removed. Here's what I think was going on based on water leak test performed. Refer to photo: there are two grommets, for wires (et al) to pass to the hatch, at the top of the rear deck frame (in red). Water is apparently getting in through them (they are loose fitting, man), channelling down through the frame rails (path in yellow) and literally raining down behind the trim panels, collecting in the wheel well (blue). When enough water had built up around the tire over a long period (she didn't even remember there was a spare in there), it overflowed. With no other place to go, it started running under the rear seat (soaking the padding) toward the front of the car, and spilling over into the floor pans. That's where it sat, soaking into the padding. When utterly saturated, the level on the floor finally got high enough for her to notice pools. What a trip. There is no leak in the front of the car anywhere. All the water came from the damned trunk. SOB. Now; I have to figure out how to fix it. Maybe simple gasket sealer. I tell ya'.....this one was baffling, but I'm fairly certain I solved the mystery.

 

I went out there just now; two pairs of eyeglasses, a flashlight, and a toothbrush to clean the area. It's tough to be certain if they go all the way through, but I have hairline cracks in the exact same locations - both sides. I'm going with black RTV sealant (I have some already). I'll slather it into those little cracks and seal underneath the grommets. Thanks. I looked earlier today right at that spot, but the cracks are so slim, I missed them on first inspection.

 

Since my battery died from sitting over vacation i wanted to share with you guys that upon taking my dead battery out, there was tons of water in my fan duct work leading to the battery and on the battery itself after a number of rainy days. I don't know if this was a contributing factor in the battery's demise, but it sure was a ton of water, and surely water don't mix well with electricity. My trunk had water in the exact locations you guys are reporting in this thread along the body seem, the crack in the upper right of the hatch area. Somehow i'm thinking maybe the condensation of the water from the 12v auxiliary battery's compartment is the culprit for so much water on my HV battery cause thats were the duct work ends.

I would advise that for you guys who has the Gen 2 with the same body cracks on the body hatch, check your fan ducting and HV battery to make sure they're dry and not soaking with water after a good rain pour.

I'm curious to see how many people does have a HV battery fail because of water. Just like this thread here
hybrid battery water damage | PriusChat

This can be a major saftey issue with Toyota, if this is the cause of how water is able to get onto the HV battery.

P.S. if your car is fogging up, then it's time you check for water leaks.

 

thanks for the heads up. this seems to be a major issue with the '07's for some reason.

 

I have a 2008 Prius (Original Owner) and for the past few weeks I have been finding water on my rubber mat which covers the entire back hatch area. I kept thinking some water must have dripped off the hatch when I opened it after a rain, but then with every rain I would look inside and try and see if I could find the leak and nothing. Then one day, I found water dripping out of my hatch light on the drivers side of the hatch area. I popped out the light and stuck my fingers up in there and the backside padding of the panels were all wet. After searching YouTube videos, I found a video of a guy with the same problem overseas and then I found this thread. Both confirmed the cracks in the roof area as the cause of the leak, but just to be 100%, I took apart the entire back hatch area and ran water from a hose onto the roof (right above the crack) and watched the water coming from that very same area. I put clear silicone over the entire crack and about 3 inches further in both directions, waiting an hour between coats to ensure a good coverage.

I did not reassemble the car as of yet, as I want to go about a week in the FL rain to ensure it is fixed. Well, about 4 hours after I sealed it up, we had a severe thunderstorm which dumped about 7 hours of heavy rain down upon my car. So far so good and the silicone hasn't even fully cured yet as the tube states 24hrs to fully cure, 1 hour for tack drying.

Luckily, I found this rather soon, my 12V battery was sitting in a pool of about 4 inches of water, my spare tire was completely submerged in water and the area under the cargo area to the left of the spare tire was also flooded. All that from a week of rain storms.

My question to everyone, is what is Toyota going to do about this? Right now I would like everyone who has these same cracks and water intrusion to either post here or notify me in email as I am getting ready to contact Toyota Factory in Japan with a major complaint on this. Silicone is not a permanent fix as far as I'm concerned and I don't think this is an isolated few cases as I have 4 friends that have the same generation Prius and I called all of them today and asked them if they had water in the back and they all did! Yes, I told them the source of the water, but we all need to stand together on this and get Toyota to pick up the tab on this issue.

Thank you for the post as it was very helpful to me in confirming this issue and thank you all in advance in contacting me so we can stand together on this issue. If Toyota is unwilling to do anything afterwords, I will take it to the next phase and I'm sure Toyota does not want that publicity especially after the Gas Pedal/Floor Mat issue with sudden acceleration.

 

I have not read all the posts here, but just noticed the carpet on rear passenger, behind driver is soaked with water! Car has been closed during rainy days, have not had rain in days, did not go through car wash recently, and car is garaged kept. I soaked up the water in napkin, and cannot tell from the smell where it is coming from, did not smell anything. Seems "soapy." Any thoughts before I go to the dealership again? I have an 07 and bought used, close to 150k miles.

 

Bobby T,

The problem is the weld seam on the roof opens up allowing water to seep into the channel which runs down both sides of the hatch area and ends up at the lowest level of the car. The battery well, tire well and the drivers side rear well under that small hidden storage compartment. When those wells fill up, then your hybrid battery, back seats and the rest of your car is doomed! Easy fix! Clear windshield silicone, very lightly spread over the cracks and the surrounding area. Before you silicone, wash area with plain water and a paper towel and get it all super clean, then wipe down with denatured alcohol to remove any residue so that the silicone can make a superior bond and not come up prematurely. Very thin light coat, let dry 1hr. Apply 2nd and 3rd coat with 1 hour intervals if your really paranoid like me. Let cure for 24 hrs and do not get wet or drive the car if you can help it. The longer it cures dry and without movement, the stronger the seal. That's it! My leak is 100% repaired. We had a torrential rain 1 hr after the 3rd coat and for the next 3 days and not a single drop of water intrusion..

After some investigating, I have determined this is a manufacture defect which affects almost every Generation 2 Prius and maybe more. I have 5 friends with this same Gen2 car. I called them and they all have the same leak, I then went to 3 different Toyota dealer lots and checked their used vehicles 2006-2008 and they all have the same crack. So what does that tell you? I have a call into Toyota on this. We need to stand together and make Toyota cover this and any damage caused by this defect.

Here is what's happening, the water seeps into those 2 cracks, it runs through a metal corridor which has several round body holes where it drips out of. Some exits early and soaks the padding on the backside of your trim panels, the rest rides the wire that exits on the 12V Hatch lamp and it drips down the outside of the lamp. On the other side, same thing, only it drops on the battery clamp and then fills up the battery well. It also will make it's way down to the taillight access panel and just above the battery and soak the panel then drip inside onto the carpet through the panel. Once your two side wells fill up, it overflows into the spare tire area affecting the back hatch latch and then overflows into the hybrid battery and then your back seats and the rest is history. I was lucky, I caught it early within 3 weeks and only minimal damage. No damage to the electronics, just surface rust starting and smelly panels which I sprayed with a bleach/water spray and let dry in the hot FL sun for a day.

Please spread the word so that others can fix their car and hopefully let everyone else know what to expect. If you don't have the leak, you will soon, if you have fixed it, then check that area every few months and just make sure the silicone is still on there good. I think this should hold and last the life of the vehicle. I plan on keeping mine for as long as it will run.

BTW: Look at the image of the drivers side back of the vehicle where the panels have been removed. You can see the wire hanging with the white connector at the end. This is the rear hatch light. The water will run down this wire and exit into the hatch area, the rest of the water runs down that gutter up at the roof line and drips everywhere along the way soaking everything. That little black box on the wall is the keyless entry sensor, (VERY EXPENSIVE) it gets water dripping right onto it. So there you have it folks, get busy inspecting your Prius and save it!