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Water filling driver side floor pan.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by kfhaggerty, Apr 27, 2014.

  1. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Maybe you want to put a complaint in with nhtsa so they know of this water incident near your cars electronics.

    SM-N900P ?
     
  2. kfhaggerty

    kfhaggerty New Member

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    I'm going to need to investigate that repair. This is my first cruise working on a hybrid, and I don't even know where the traction battery is. I have the Haynes manual, but it's not their best publication ever. I am aware of the special gloves for doing such work, but dobpn't have any as yet. But I appreciate the advise. I will post progress when I can get the gloves. Autozone have them?
     
  3. kfhaggerty

    kfhaggerty New Member

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    So far, it hasn't caused any safety or drive ability issues, so I would think a complaint would be premature. And, internet research suggest set that this problem is rare. There is no Toyota issued recall; not any technical service bulletin either. She bought the car from a Toyota dealer, and I may end up sending her there to start any complaint. There is also the issue of the carpet, which will never dry while still in the car. There might be some legal recourse. It just depends how far she wants to take it. Thanks.
     
  4. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    No this has been common with people complaining of water in the cabin. Cracks right there where the roof meets the quarter panel at the hinges. Its not epidemic but somethings causing it. Slamming the hatch without a door open?
    Running on hyperinflated tires on bad roads? Just driving on Mass roads could do it. I would keep my tires deflated to door placard pressure level damn the mileage. Was in Boston last month and holy shite its teeth jarring pot holes everywhere. Just beating the hell out of the car.

    But usually your alerted to the water sound sloshing around in the trunk before it gets so filled up it spills over into the front. I mentioned that in post #3. Its pretty noticeable.

    And Pat is right there too about the Hybrid pack.

    A cheap fix is to buy a car cover on Ebay for $20. Takes 1 minute to take it off in the am.
    They sell waterproof ones that work pretty good.
     
  5. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Referring to your photo of the hatch area, the traction battery is in the very large, rectangular sheet metal enclosure in front of the spare tire well, and behind the rear seat.

    I doubt that an auto parts store will sell those gloves. I personally would just use rubber gloves intended for dishwashing, but you need to decide what you are comfortable with.

    The main concern is that you need to avoid contact with the traction battery terminals and wiring even when the interlock switch is removed. It is not safe until at least one of the orange bus bars on both sides of the battery modules that provide the series connections are removed.

    You also need to allow 5 minutes after the car is IG-OFF for the capacitors in the inverter to discharge. Until that happens, there will be some residual high voltage potentially present on the battery cable that runs from the traction battery to the inverter.

    Throw away the Haynes manual and subscribe to techinfo.toyota.com so you have access to the factory repair manual which encompasses ~4,000 pages.

    When reinserting the orange traction battery switch, you need to pivot the lever 90 degrees. Then you need to slide the switch down to lock in place. Many people forget the second part of this, which results in a no-start situation and the dashboard lighting up like a Christmas tree.
     
  6. kfhaggerty

    kfhaggerty New Member

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    I think I'll look for gloves rated for the suggested 500 volts. I checked out that tech site. As tempted as I am, it's cost prohibitive to subscribe at this time ($400 per year). It looks like it's worth it; I simply don't have the dough. The Haynes manual does suck. They used to be decent DIY manuals (certainly not Chilton Professional caliber....), but this one is woefully inadequate. I'm going to investigate further today, and make some sort of decision about it later. First order of business will be to seal those crack and grommets, and retest with the garden hose before going through the drying out process. No point yet; just in case my repairs don't totally solve the problem. I will report back tomorrow with the results of my RTV application.
     
  7. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Regarding techinfo, note that you can subscribe for a two-day period for $15. I believe that covers two business days, so if you subscribe on a Friday I understand the subscription will be good until the following Monday.

    Over a four-day period, you can retrieve and download a substantial amount of information if you are motivated to do so.

    The New Car Features section is important because it provides a theory of operations which is especially important in learning how the hybrid drivetrain operates. The repair manual tells you how to work on a system but generally does not explain how that system operates.
     
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    LOL, some of our roads are the worst, especially when you're used to florida. but it's not the roads or the tyre pressure, as we have been moisture free for 10 years.:p must be a manufacturing defect. i've never heard of the grommets the o/p's car is leaking from being an issue, usually it's a welded seam and that has to be defective. perhaps the rubber weatherstripping is defective and not the grommets. might be why the water got all the way into the cabin, it must have been a waterfall every time it rained.:eek:
     
  9. kfhaggerty

    kfhaggerty New Member

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    She won't give up the car long enough to apply my leak sealing compound. I will report the results as soon as soon as I can.
     
  10. kate.lutz@yahoo.com

    [email protected] Junior Member

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    I figured out where the water is coming from!!! My husband took my car to the car wash and the floor of my back seat on the passenger side is soaked. I live in California so there's no chance of rain. I talked with the dealer who had no idea what was going on.
    I very much appreciate you guys figuring it out. Thank you.
     
  11. kfhaggerty

    kfhaggerty New Member

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    I applied two THIN coats of black Permatex RTV to the roofline cracks with a little spatula I made, and a tiny paintbrush. I applied a coat to the bottom of the two grommets at the top of the hatch frame. The left side was easy, right side....not so much. I vacuumed all the water out I could, leaving the main battery alone. Since the repairs I haven't had so much as a drop of water collect in the cabin. And, believe it or not, over the subsequent weeks (leaving windows open often), the carpets finally dried out. I didn't think that would happen, but it did. And the stink is now gone.
     
  12. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    That's great. (y) :)

    FYI, you don't have to quote your long OP every time you post something to this thread. ;)

    SCH-I535
     
  13. Daves09prius

    Daves09prius Active Member

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    I know this is an old one... but I just came across it last night and when I checked my Prius this morning, sure enough I had cracks where the roof meets the top of the rear quarter panels by the hinges under the rear hatch! I added clear silicone over the cracks so hopefully that keeps the rain from dripping into the spare tire area.

    Others with older or high-mileage should check those areas for cracks.
     
    #33 Daves09prius, Oct 4, 2015
    Last edited: Oct 4, 2015
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  14. Toppcat

    Toppcat Member

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    I wonder if body braces would have prevented this?
     
  15. valde3

    valde3 Senior Member

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    I don’t think any available brace will help against this. I havent seen any that connect anywhere close to this area.
     
  16. Ascegan

    Ascegan Junior Member

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    Thanks for the pictures! This thread describes my situation - 2008 Prius Two has water on passenger front floor due to A/C condensation as well as a few cups of water sloshing around the spare tire/ 12V battery well. I too have cracks in the roof near the hatch hinge, may have been caused by an accident - my car was rear-ended, the bumper was cracked when I bought it, no other mechanical issues but could be the driver for the water. I tried to seal the cracks with joint compound, also drilled a drainage hole beneath the spare tire.
     
  17. Ascegan

    Ascegan Junior Member

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    Thanks for this picture - my car has the same cracks.
     
  18. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    You didn't need to do that, there is a rubber drain bung you can remove to let the water out (and leave out until the leak is fixed). I hope you treated the bare metal so you don't get rust problems down the track.
     
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