How to fix the sound of “water sloshing”

[Sufferin' Prius Envy]

This morning the fresh air being vented into the car wasn't so . . . “fresh” smelling . . . kind of moldy.
So I investigated.

The holes for the windshield drain were clogged by a smelly mess of biological sludge.

Checking the passenger side is very easy. The only tool needed is a finger to pry off the cover shown below.

[attachmentid=4318]

[attachmentid=4319]

Unfortunately I didn't take a “before” picture to show the ½ inch plus buildup clogging the drain hole – but if your drain doesn't look like this . . . time to get-a-cleanin'. I used an old paint brush and a garden hose.

[attachmentid=4320]

The driver side is not as easy!, but these are the steps I took:
Tools I used – 14mm socket, straight slot screw driver, flashlight, old paint brush (1.5 inch and preferably with a long handle), garden hose.

1) Remove driver's windshield wiper arm. Easy to do with a straight slot to remove the plastic cover and a 14mm socket.

[attachmentid=4321]

2) Just forward of the driver side hood hinge is this little fastener. Push in the center button (as shown), then reach under and push fastener out – be careful not to lose it in the engine area.

[attachmentid=4322]

[attachmentid=4323]

3) There are a couple of tab clips (part of the cover itself) located on the front edge of the cover. Push the tabs back and gently lift the cover to expose the drain (or bio sludge ).

[attachmentid=4324]

4) I propped up the cover near the hinge side with another paint brush to make for easy access while cleaning.

[attachmentid=4325]

5) Before and after pics. (the shiny horizontal bar is the windshield wiper linking arm.)

[attachmentid=4326]

[attachmentid=4327]

Be careful flushing out the area as you have the cover off and there are also fresh air vent holes which I don't think would be a good idea to allow water into. I removed the prop paint brush several times to do a good flush job.

The drains drain just behind the front wheels, and should be able to flow like this.

[attachmentid=4328]

Several other PriusChat strings mentioning water sounds:
http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=20878&hl=
http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=20883&hl=
http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=8171&hl=
http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=5576&hl=
http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=21170&hl=

[tumbleweed]

Thank you Envy that is good information to have. Maybe this needs a "sticky"?

[ralphh]

I have to try that on the Sienna, we park it outside and I get that "wet" smell in the morning.

[efusco]

Please submit this as an article in the FEATURES section. There are instructions there on how to do that.

Well done, only addition might be a wider shot of the driver's side area so we can see where you are on the close-ups.

[richard schumacher]

Very nice! Thanks.

One diagnostic question to help avoid unnecessary work: Was standing water visible from outside, before you started disassembling anything?

[Sufferin' Prius Envy]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(richard schumacher @ Aug 3 2006, 07:48 AM) [snapback]296942[/snapback]</div>

Very nice! Thanks.

One diagnostic question to help avoid unnecessary work: Was standing water visible from outside, before you started disassembling anything?[/b]

You're welcome.

From the outside, water or sludge is not viewable, but a strong fingernail is capable of pulling off the cover on the passenger's side (second picture down), then it is very easy to see either bio sludge or the drain hole. If/when it is clear, run the garden hose in there and see if it flows out from behind the passenger side front tire . . . it really pours out as depicted in the bottom picture.

Once that is done you can move over to the driver side and run the water on the windshield so it floods down into the driver's side of the drain system. If the water doesn't flow out equally hard from behind the driver side front wheel, then I would say you have a clog and should go through the steps I outlined.

If I weren't taking pictures, the whole process would have taken about 15 minutes total. It's very easy to do.

P.S. My fresh air intake no longer smells musty, and I no longer hear water sloshing. I washed the car the evening after I cleaned the drain clogs.

[DaveG]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sufferin' Prius Envy @ Aug 3 2006, 02:54 PM) [snapback]297315[/snapback]</div>

P.S. My fresh air intake no longer smells musty, and I no longer hear water sloshing. I washed the car the evening after I cleaned the drain clogs.
[/b]

Good tip - I checked mine on both sides and it was clean, however I still get the occasional musty smell, particularly after heavy rain or washing (although I suppose that makes sense).

I also ran a mild bleach solution through the drains to kill-off any nasties that might be lurking down there. I suppose there's also a possibility that the air conditioner coils inside the heater element may need cleaning as well, but as I recall, those can be tough to get to.

Dave

[hobbit]

I dealt with this a while back after the inordinately wet spring in
New England: http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=20878
but didn't get into nearly as much detail on how to fix it!
.
Taking the whole wiper cowling off isn't hard, and allows access to
all the goodies behind the engine [and the hole where a block heater
can go in...] but just for this problem, I'm wondering if there
might be a better method since it seems to happen fairly often.
Such as drilling a very small hole in the front of the gutter on the
driver's side, and having a tool that can reach in through there and
poke the guk out of the drain holes ... just at the very least to let
the standing water out, not necessarily clean everything. Really,
I don't want a full remval and cleanout to become a *yearly* ritual,
but given where I park it might have to.
.
_H*

[Lola&#39;05]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sufferin' Prius Envy @ Aug 2 2006, 03:24 PM) [snapback]296476[/snapback]</div>

This morning the fresh air being vented into the car wasn't so . . . “fresh” smelling . . . kind of moldy.
So I investigated.

The holes for the windshield drain were clogged by a smelly mess of biological sludge.

Checking the passenger side is very easy. The only tool needed is a finger to pry off the cover shown below.

[attachmentid=4318]

[attachmentid=4319]

Unfortunately I didn't take a “before” picture to show the ½ inch plus buildup clogging the drain hole – but if your drain doesn't look like this . . . time to get-a-cleanin'. I used an old paint brush and a garden hose.

[attachmentid=4320]

The driver side is not as easy!, but these are the steps I took:
Tools I used – 14mm socket, straight slot screw driver, flashlight, old paint brush (1.5 inch and preferably with a long handle), garden hose.

1) Remove driver's windshield wiper arm. Easy to do with a straight slot to remove the plastic cover and a 14mm socket.

[attachmentid=4321]

2) Just forward of the driver side hood hinge is this little fastener. Push in the center button (as shown), then reach under and push fastener out – be careful not to lose it in the engine area.

[attachmentid=4322]

[attachmentid=4323]

3) There are a couple of tab clips (part of the cover itself) located on the front edge of the cover. Push the tabs back and gently lift the cover to expose the drain (or bio sludge ).

[attachmentid=4324]

4) I propped up the cover near the hinge side with another paint brush to make for easy access while cleaning.

[attachmentid=4325]

5) Before and after pics. (the shiny horizontal bar is the windshield wiper linking arm.)

[attachmentid=4326]

[attachmentid=4327]

Be careful flushing out the area as you have the cover off and there are also fresh air vent holes which I don't think would be a good idea to allow water into. I removed the prop paint brush several times to do a good flush job.

The drains drain just behind the front wheels, and should be able to flow like this.

[attachmentid=4328]

Several other PriusChat strings mentioning water sounds:
http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=20878&hl=
http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=20883&hl=
http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=8171&hl=
http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=5576&hl=
http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=21170&hl=
[/b]

Now you just know I am not going to do this. Baby will continue to sloosh.

[Sufferin' Prius Envy]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Lola'05 @ Aug 3 2006, 05:34 PM) [snapback]297385[/snapback]</div>

Now you just know I am not going to do this. Baby will continue to sloosh.[/b]

Sloosh . . . Is that how it is pronounced in Pennsylvania?

Someone here on PriusChat mentioned that they were not going to have the work done for the steering recall because they didn't see the need, and were willing to accept the risks.

It's not so much the sound of the sloosh, or the smell which bothered me, but more what the slooshing and smells can lead to. The water has to go somewhere. I'd rather have clear drain holes and not have the water spill over into who knows where. The smell was kink of icky . . . but my worry about the smell aspects were geared more toward the possible health consequences.

If you wish to take on those risks, who are we to tell you how to live your life.

P.S. [friendly advice] When you are adding a comment to the batch of posts, and not responding to any one thing in particular, you can click on the “Add Reply” button at the bottom of all the posts and prevent duplication of prior posts.

If you do wish to respond to a particular item, click on the “Reply” button at the bottom of that particular post. At that point, for clarity sake, you can also remove parts of the post not relevant to your comments.

With the post you did, I feel sorry for the PriusChatters who are on a dial-up internet connection and had to wait twice as long for the pictures to download.

If you care to, you can go back to your post and “Edit” out the quoted pictures, etc.