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A water leak in the back, maybe...

Discussion in 'Prius c Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by kdd, May 10, 2018.

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  1. kdd

    kdd New Member

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    So Cal
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius c
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    II
    I bought a 2015 Prius c a couple of months ago and it is terrific. However, we had some rains in So Cal right afterward and I started smelling a musty smell but I couldn't find any water. Today I was cleaning my car out and looked at my back seat in the sunlight and saw water stains all across it. There are no water stains on the roof liner. It must be coming from the trunk? The seals around the hatchback are fine. Where should I start looking and how?

    Thanks!
     
    #1 kdd, May 10, 2018
  2. ztanos

    ztanos All-around Geek!

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    Vehicle:
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    Four
    Water on your back seat coming from the trunk? That would be a long way for the water to travel and jumping over the rear seats... that would have to be a significant amount of water and would be noticeable. I would get the garden hose out and douse the car to see what I can find.
    Place notebook paper or something similar down on the surfaces so that you can see when something gets wet.
     
    #2 ztanos, May 11, 2018
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I notice if I open the hatch when it's wet with rain, sometimes (practically always, to be fair) some water ends up dripping on the rear seat back, not dripping into the hatch frame trough. Different car, but that might be what's causing the water stains, which would be better than a gasket leak at least.

    Also: musty smell, might be due to AC use, particularly constant, day-after-day AC use, where the AC is used right up to the car being shut down. What happens then is all the collected water vapour tends to sit, in the interior of the vent system, and things can start to grow.
     
    #3 Mendel Leisk, May 11, 2018
  4. kdd

    kdd New Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius c
    Model:
    II
    I discovered what the problem was. My dad and I found that my car had been hit on the back right corner and it wasn't on the Carfax. There was no damage visible other than a small crack on the bumper near one of the bolts holding it on. The hit popped some holes in a couple of the welds on the body. They were hidden because they were under the bumper. When it rained, water ran down the back and around the weather stripping for the hatchback and right into the holes underneath the bumper. The water then poured into the spare tire well. We found the holes a week after it had rained and I still had standing water back there. I guess the back would fill up and then overflow onto the backseat or maybe when I hit the brakes it splashed up there. That'll teach me for ignoring a problem hoping it just goes away. We got some clear silicone sealant and plugged up the holes it has been dry as a bone ever since.

    Mystery solved!
     
    #4 kdd, Feb 2, 2019
    bisco likes this.
  5. frenzee

    frenzee Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius c
    Model:
    Three
    Wow...the person who sold it to you must have been a real stand up guy, not disclosing the accident. In my experience, Prius owners are generally nicer, more respectful and overall better drivers than the average Joe, but I guess there can be bad apples in any bunch.. Sorry you had to go through that.

    If I were you, I would pop open the rear seat and make sure water didn't get into the HV battery or the relays.
     
    #5 frenzee, Feb 2, 2019
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