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Leak through trunk handle

Discussion in 'Prime Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by bhjm, Nov 28, 2021.

  1. bhjm

    bhjm Junior Member

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    Hello everyone,

    Although living in UK, I got one of the very rare plug-in models, which are slightly different to the prime models in US.

    Homeowner, I hope that the truck section is the same.

    It was a bit snowing today and I open the boot, water poured through a handle, I'm sure this cannot be right.

    Any ideas?

    Link to uploaded video:
     

    Attached Files:

    #1 bhjm, Nov 28, 2021
    Last edited: Nov 28, 2021
  2. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Yup that isn’t right. I’ve had water drip from the corners when the hatch is opened but never through the handle. There must be a crack somewhere that is letting water through from the exterior.

    you could remove the inner plastic part of the hatch to see where the water is coming from. It is held my clips (but be aware, they may be hard to remove if past generations are any indication)
     
  3. bhjm

    bhjm Junior Member

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    Do you think you'd could be covered by any warranty? Car is from 2017
     
  4. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Is it within the warranty period? In North America, the new car warranty covers 3 years and 36,000 miles from the in-service date. I’m guessing yours might be out of warranty but it doesn’t hurt to ask.
     
  5. Hidyho

    Hidyho Senior Member

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    Not too many places for water to seep in there, rubber wire protectors in upper corners and window seal are about it.
     
  6. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    I had this issue too. Just once; I couldn't reproduce the leak on my driveway. I used my hose and sprayed my entire trunk area, all the seams, at every angle, and couldn't get it to leak again. I chalked it up to condensation, trunk was dry and charging cable storage area was dry. I back into my driveway on about an 8 degree slope, so water does collect on my bumper/tailgate sill when it rains.

    There may be a solution to this. I just received my new registration tags and had to remove my license plate to install the tags. There are several large holes back there and no sealant of any kind back there to keep water out. Could this be the location of our mystery leak? I'm going to tape it up with HVAC aluminum tape and some duct tape over the license plate screw holes, so I can punch through with my license plate screws and still get a decent seal.

    Can someone check the assembly diagrams to see if license plate area is sealed-off from the interior trunk space?
     
    #6 BiomedO1, Feb 5, 2022
    Last edited: Feb 5, 2022
    bhjm likes this.
  7. bhjm

    bhjm Junior Member

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    thank you - all checked. All in perfect condition.
     
  8. bhjm

    bhjm Junior Member

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    same here, went to Toyota showroom and they could not figure it out
    same here ! as above - no chance to get it leaking the same way ever again.

    very interesting Point ! incline or decline? Is the front or the rear of the car higher? the day of the the leakage, i was parking elsewhere. The front was higher than the rear. I could try to replicate this in my home driveway. Here, the car is standing on even ground and tried to replicate it - but failed to do so. And never had the issue with the leak.

    no water ingress on mine from there


    Do you also have the carbon fiber trunk?
     
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I doubt it’d be the holes the license plate bolts screw into. Just for the heck of it put a drop of oil on the threads of those bolts though.
     
  10. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    That plastic handle in your video is a snap in fit. You can remove it by hand. Same as all the other plastic moldings around the inside boot window. If you start with the handle and remove it (it snaps back in easily) the other moldings can be pulled off so you can try to find the leak, (the upper moldings may need to be removed before the lower moldings, I can't recall exactly which order, so keep that in mind if you do pull them).

    Beware, leaks back there can be bewildering to find. I had a trunk leak with a Dodge Intrepid, had it fixed at a body shop for a couple hundred $$, but the shop couldn't find the leak after 4 return visits and actually gave up. I found it eventually by chance one day noticing the trickle snake around the tail light assembly. It was an easy fix once I found the source.
     
  11. bhjm

    bhjm Junior Member

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    thanks - the interior was absolutely dry - only happened once so far
     
  12. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    sure, anytime. One thing I forgot to mention, it;s 100 times easier to pull the plastic panels in warm weather. I just mentioned that last week in another thread and completely forgot about how plastic in cold weather has an innate tendency to crack and split when it's cold and brittle, like on snowy days. And I just cracked two plastic snow shovels in as many days by leaving them outside in single digit F / -15 C nights.
    I'll keep my fingers crossed the boot stays dry at very least as long as the cold weather persists.
     
  13. bhjm

    bhjm Junior Member

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    Do you own a normal Prius or a prime / plug-in?
     
  14. bhjm

    bhjm Junior Member

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    Now happened a second time. Car was parked on level ground
     
  15. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    It's more than likely simple condensation. I washed the car last week and cleaned the lift gate glass. There were white spots on the inside glass along the lower defroster heat grids, when boot is closed - upper grids when boot is open. They appear to be calcium deposits, from hard water - I didn't test it but it came off easily with windscreen washer.
    I also noticed a weep hole in the center carbon fiber lower hatch deck. Any water incursion behind the license plate would end up draining out there; outside the boot gasket sealing off the trunk area onto the bumper deck lip.
    The grab handle are slightly higher than the weep hole area and I believe any moisture is channeled toward this center weep hole. If one side of the car is higher that the other, right to left or left to right, the water channel is disrupted and we get water leaking out of the grab handle on the lower side of the car. That's my guess. The water coming out around the grab handle could only be measured in drops. That's why I speculating that it's condensation. We haven't had any major rain storms or high humidity days since the last time my handle leaked; but I'll be keeping an eye on it.
     
  16. bhjm

    bhjm Junior Member

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    Thanks for your reply. I wish I could believe it's just condensation, but I'm very doubtful trusts the case, considering the amount coming out. And if it would be condensation etc, I would see this far more often after a car wash etc.






    First time. Car was parked on a slight incline (front higher) with loads of snowfall (for UK loads mean 2-3cm ) melting temperature when I opened the trunk

    Second time. Car was parked on even ground, and level, it rained during the night.
     
  17. bhjm

    bhjm Junior Member

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    It's time for an update !

    After several unsuccessful attempts to replicate the issue. At home, at other places and with Toyota. The showroom has take the car in for further checks and testing. They acknowledged there is a leak.

    They weren't successful in replicating the issue issue either. Car is now with them for another day of checking. They told me, they have scheduled a car with the quality or engineering department ( cannot remember which) and to do a VR session with them. I haven't had any confirmation on this either.
     
    BiomedO1 likes this.
  18. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    Thanks; Keep us informed on where that leak may be coming from.
     
  19. bhjm

    bhjm Junior Member

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    Car is Since Thursday Morning with the Showroom. Yesterday (Friday) they had a hosepipe running over the trunk nearly the entire day, as this was the apparent recommendation by Toyota (I am in bit of a doubt on that). They sprayed water from different angles all over, left right, up and down. No ingress of water, everything bone dry. They wanted to keep the car for further investigation. They left me with the courtesy car now over the weekend.
     
  20. bhjm

    bhjm Junior Member

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    Hello Everyone. I`ve got my Car back after a week !
    Positive: Toyota did not charge me for anything and waived the cost for the Loaner car completely:
    actions taken: sprayed he car with water with a Hose pipe, perhaps hundreds of liters / gallons of water were used, washed the car with a pressure washer, the number plate was removed, no water ingress could be identified.
    negative: a so called compass case was opened, but allegedly I as a customer had to reopen the case, as toyota closed the case immediately. So I spoke with Toyota Customer Service and they appeared very confused by this procedure. Also, negatively impression about the procedure, no contact details were added to the so called compass case my the showroom, neither were any details added such as photos, videos, link to youtubes etc
    next steps: A Case Manager has been assigned and they will in touch with me, I asked for a timeframe and no timeframe was given, "as soon they have more information for the next steps" was the answer.
    Case Number: 1754481

    I will provide further details, photos and observations to this post.