Water leak...into spare tire area etc

Even though ih8spm said it doesn't matter, he went on to say why it does matter:

Disconnect the negative first, then you don't have to worry about hitting any earth (body metal) with the spanner/wrench.

 

Look at the water getting in, if it is all pure and clean, it's not coming off the road and your tires.

The most persistant leaks seem to come from somewhere high up along the back hatch channel or the rear quarter glass seams. It then runs down crimped channels along the rear strakes, and then drips down from a small divet about half way down the length of the hatch port on either side.

Also, check the lower end of your lift hatch. Sometimes water can leak in from between the lower edge of the glass and from under the spoiler.

 

I originally posted a thread Is my inverter coolant pump slowly failing? | PriusChat after the master warning light appeared, followed a few weeks later by vsc and brake lights. The dealer determined the hybrid ecu had failed. After 2 wks waiting for the part, he went in to replace the hybrid ecu and found the ecu sitting in water and corrosion on the HV battery wiring. Yes I had the common 2G roof water leak I found a couple weeks ago after the warning lights appeared (patched with silicone just before taking it in for the diagnostic). He is saying they will clean the corrosion best they can but if the warning lights return it will probably mean a new HV battery. I replaced this battery July 2016, so I'm still well within the warranty period.

Has anyone here had
(1) HV battery damage due to this roof leak most of us have?
(2) HV battery replacement under warranty due to that common roof leak?

I will know more on the problem by Monday, but am having a hard time relaxing knowing what may be coming. Am especially curious if the warranty would cover something like this.

ETA my dealer has never seen the 2G roof leak before, but I live in a very remote area.

 

I have had 5 gen 2's and never had water or rust issues in the HV battery area, always in the usual places..i live in florida so our weather is about the same,if your dealers says he has never seen it he is full of crap, all 5 I have owned leaked.. I have seen rust inside the traction battery case but it caused by acid leaking from one of the modules, you might have bought a flood car.. id look for rust under the dash and seat brackets..

 

2008 Prius owner here, with a trunk (boot) full of water! Have found two hairline cracks along the roof where the black trim sits, so have Permatex 81730 ready to go on the cracks to seal. I've covered the cracks temporarily with Gorilla Tape to see if that stops the leak, and as we've had wet weather over here in the UK so far it's worked, apart from a small drop on the passenger side (opposite to the 12v battery side). Dealer quoted me roughly £2,000 to sort as apparently that what was the last Prius took to sort, I've declined his kind offer.

 

That's the stuff! If you locate all cracks, prep the area well with rubbing alcohol and lay the silicone down carefully you will likely eliminate all leaks. It will be 4 years this spring with our '07 and I haven't spotted a drop of water back there since. I would have been happy if a yearly re-do was needed but that hasn't been the case.

 

Thanks for the reply, typically I forgot about the rubbing alcohol but gave the area a good clean first, if it comes apart I'l redo the area again, have plenty of the silicone left. We are due a wet period next week over here in SE London so that'll be the ultimate test!

 

all gen 2's leak ..you will need to seal the entire length under the black trim and along body where the hatch shocks are.. take out the rubber body plugs under the spare tire and 12 volt battery to drain the water...

 

Actually not true. Some Prius leak, maybe a lot of Prius leak. I have a Prius that does not leak, so not all Prius leak.

It may be around the seal, but that is not vey common. Yes, if you are having leaking issues, take out the drain bungs until you fix the leak(s). Try not to make what is true for you a projection on to others.

Not everything is black and white.

 

Agreed, I’ve owned two 2G which had no leaks.

 

then its a florida thing because i have owned 4 gen 2 all leaked and the few i have worked on for others had rust in the battery compartment.. guess it depends how long they live in the blazing heat and how much they sit outside

 

I found water in my spare tire well of my 2008 but only once, who knows.

 

I tend to think whether or not a given gen 2 leaks from those stress cracks in the gunnels may have to do with how hard of a hatch slammer the owner(s) is. Once I discovered the cracks in my purchased used '07, I became pretty obsessive about giving the hatch just enough velocity to get it latched. I've carried the paranoid, gentle close tendency over to my turd gens, too, even though they are completely redesigned in that area and I don't think we've heard of this problem with them. Of course I'm sure the re-design had nothing to do with Toyota knowing anything about the water leak issues with gen 2..

Having witnessed leaks in a few other gen 2's I've checked out, I do feel there are scores of 12 volts partially submerged in water out there. Good to hear it's not every single one.

 

The only issue I have with our 2010’s hatch area is the loose spoiler.

It’s a fiddly chore to remove the trim and fix the bolts.

Maybe that was the trade off.

 

My 2010's spoiler had some wobble to it at 150k miles but the 2014 does not at 26k. I'll continue with the careful hatch slamming and see if it develops over time. The turd gen spoiler is bigger and hangs well further off the back of the hatch than the gen 2. Probably creates a good deal more stress to the mounts when the hatch slams shut.

 

and a few weeks later, bone dry still. Have kept an eye on it recently as we have had a fair bit of snow, but the trunk is all dry. Lets hope it stays that way!

 

I've got a 2008 leaker!!!

Do the photos below suggest the spoiler leak? I've added the permatex at the top where hairline cracks were. Also had water coming in through the bumper cover seals. Last place water is coming in is shown in the photos.

Prius-Leak66 by Don402 posted Apr 29, 2018 at 8:01 PM

IMG_20180411_152938 by Don402 posted Apr 11, 2018 at 4:04 PM

 

Please post photos of the suspected roof leak entry points.

 

those holes are where the plastic trim clips in dont fill them, the leak is most likely coming from the split in the rubber gasket at the center of the picture , if there is a gap its not keeping out water.

 

remove the black strips on the roof and run sealer down the entire length of the car then over all the seems in the hatch back area.. one $6.00 tube is enough , get it at any wal mart.