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Soggy Prius syndrome - what that smell actually was

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by donbright, May 20, 2023.

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  1. donbright

    donbright Active Member

    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2018
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    Location:
    oklahoma
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    I have had a '07 for 4 years, it always smelled slightly moldy. To the point I let it do the "ozone treatment" for several hours one day and that killed most of it (and made my car smell weird for a day or three, Ozone is weird)

    This year i finally figured it out. The driver side floor mat had been hiding it all these years - big mass of water on the driver floor. Right where the floor mat would hide it perfectly. I had never noticed it be that damp but yeah. It's that damp.

    Now that i think about it the passenger back floor well had also been mysteriously damp sometimes. But of course i didn't notice it since i never sit back there, only noticed it when i was doing a deep vaccum / extractor on the whole interior. I had assumed I had spilled something accidentally and not noticed it. But it was actually just... the car leaking water down into the floor pan at random places. After reading some of the threads on here, it's the exact same kind of symptoms others talk about. Just kind of sneaky wet spots, second guessing myself whether something was spilled etc.

    To add to that discovery, now i have had what I thought was a minor rear end fender bender a few weeks back, turns out it actually twisted part of the body just enough to break the gasket seal between the tail light and the body and its leaking there. I can pour water down the left trunk channel and see it dribble down into the left storage well.

    The spare tire well is also full of water too. And the battery compartment.

    So i've got a "wet prius" , it's been leaking into the floor wells for years, and i never noticed it. And THATS what the smell was this whole time.

    Virtually every thread you find when you search "moldy smell" will talk about the AC. It was never the AC. It has been the oh-so-subtle leaks this whole time.

    And now with the back end leaks... basically the whole car is just ... a big soggy bottom machine.

    Think this might be nearing the end. Probably not gonna make it to 300k like this.
     
    #1 donbright, May 20, 2023
    bisco likes this.
  2. pasadena_commut

    pasadena_commut Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 2, 2019
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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
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    Does your car have a sunroof? Mine doesn't but maybe it was an option or higher trim model thing. Those are notorious for leaking. There are 4 tubes, one at each corner of the frame that holds the glass or panel. Sometimes they pop off at one end or the other. Sometimes they split somewhere along the path. The tube isn't anything special, if one has failed (split or shrunk) you can get a replacement at a hardware store. Routing it might be difficult though. To see the top of the tubes the headliner has to come down. At the bottom end they often go into a rubber sock sort of thing that goes through the metal. If the sock gets old and splits, or is packed with dirt, or the tube pops out then it drains right onto the floor. If I had to guess the most likely source of your driver's side water would be the tube pulling out of the left front sock, but only if you have a sunroof.

    There are lots of threads in this forum about fixing the leak at the seam near the top of the hatch. It is possible that there is a seam leak farther forward could drain down the A pillar and then onto the floor. Supposedly if the water in the trunk rises high enough it can slosh forward into the cabin.

    Check the drains in the doors, if they are all blocked on one door water can back up high and then leak out into the car.

    The windshield seal can leak. More likely if the car has had the windshield replaced.

    Pull up the carpet and the padding and make sure there isn't a hole or a lot of rust under the driver's side wet spot.

    There are companies like this:

    https://www.leakpro.com/automotive-water-leaks/

    which specialize in finding and fixing this sort of issue. Don't know what they charge. Might be worth it to employ one.
     
    #2 pasadena_commut, May 20, 2023
    donbright likes this.
  3. donbright

    donbright Active Member

    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2018
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    Location:
    oklahoma
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    thanks, appreciate it. the car doesn't have a sun roof. yes the windshield was replaced.

    from other threads, like one i linked below, its looking like a huge amount of work to chase this down. like days and days. i dont just have one leak, i have multiple, some ongoing for years unrealized. i have also noticed in the car body sheet metal some type of putty-looking stuff, almost like a previous owner had similar issues before.

    Massive amount of water in battery tray and spare tire well | PriusChat
     
    #3 donbright, May 20, 2023
  4. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Location:
    Durham NC
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    Dang I lived in okmulgee Oklahoma for a long time well a good minute anyway never had any rain problems down there that I remember I guess I saw it rain a few good times but mostly it was dry and hot and I wasn't driving a Prius back then but you'll chase those leaks down pretty quick I bet they haven't even done any damage May have been just a water bottle spilled usually under the seats and whatnot and right there is not really a thing back in the back in the battery tray and the sides that is a pretty known issue in a generally easy fix that would hate to think of leak back in the hat just coming all the way up to the front like to think maybe you spilled something up a water bottle you know a tall one 16 oz or better something and then if you look under that carpet and you don't see any rust or any kind of goings on and should be in good shape 600,000 here you come
     
    #4 Tombukt2, May 20, 2023
  5. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
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    The the drainage holes below wiper tray could be plugged, and overflowing into the front foot well. Remove and clean as needed.
    The leaks are easily fixed, and are mostly at the epoxy points where the quarter panels are attached, other leaks may happen at the hinges for the trunk lid, and again at the plastic rear bumper mounts on the left or right sides. Plenty of pics here that will show you where.
    That putty may just be sound deadening material applied to the body and quarter panels, it likely came from the factory that way. Any pics?
     
    #5 SFO, May 22, 2023
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