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Water in spare wheel well

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by harryarcos, Apr 8, 2021.

  1. harryarcos

    harryarcos Junior Member

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    Long time since I looked at the spare wheel and amazed to see that there had been many gallons of water in the wheel space area, which had overflowed into the battery compartment and recess on the other side. I know this because I had put a newspaper under the spare wheel and there was paper mache everywhere. Still about a gallon of water in the bottom, but obviously drying out after all the heavy driving rain we had a few months back. Tailgate seal looks good, so any ideas where this is coming from?............................................................................. IMG_0895.jpeg
     
    #1 harryarcos, Apr 8, 2021
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2021
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    yup, it happens. plenty of threads here detailing it, but entry points are under the rain gutter plastic, or hatch hinges, gasket, etc.
    does it rain much in london? looks pretty good for 17 years.
    there should be a rubber drain plug under the wheel
     
  3. harryarcos

    harryarcos Junior Member

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    Thanks for your reply. Yes, we do get a lot of rain sometimes. I tried a high pressure hose all over the back of the car, but not a drop a of water came in. Unlikely, but I suppose it is possible that the tailgate was not closed fully at one time when there was heavy rain.
    Toyota did not make it easy to keep an eye on the well for the spare wheel, with all the plastic to pull out, but I will endeavour to look at it when next we have heavy driven rain - not for some months I hope!
     
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  4. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Takes 10 seconds to open the hood and take the hatch out.

    Leaks very very common. Open the hatch in the upper left and right hatch corners
    There are cracks where the roof meets the quarter panel. It’s spot welded there and filled with putty. Hairline cracks right there Pull the black strips off that run down the roof on both sides the cracks run from the hatch corners up those strip valleys.

    Lots flex there in the body and slamming the hatch does not help.

    Take the 12 volt battery out clean that hole out and see how rusted it is.
    there’s a rubber plug in the bottom. Drill a weep holein that plug and the one under the tire if the car lives outside,
    Don’t remove the plug you may get mice in there that’s really common.

    the one really bad thing it does is it may leak right down on the hybrid battery fan power connector. It rots it out and car will throw the red triangle of death.
     
  5. harryarcos

    harryarcos Junior Member

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    Thanks. I cannot understand why my original search did not throw up anything, because this has clearly been a long standing issue. According to many of those posting on the subject, the cracks do not appear obvious and even hairline cracks will draw in huge amounts of water. Thankfully, it never got as far as the HV battery.
     
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  6. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Your welcome.
    Its a very common issue I have it on my bought new 07 too.
    Its a very stressful area the hatch hinges are close by its a very heavy hatch and not alot of structure there where the roof & quarter meet.

    Lilke I said check the connector on the hybrid battery fan. You should be in there cleaning it anyway.
     
  7. rm04

    rm04 Member

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    Had this problem in my 04 when I first got it 3 years ago. Took it to a body shop, they took out all the rear trim and did some tests with pouring water in different areas to locate the leak(s). They removed those two plastic strips that run down each side of the roof and filled them in neatly with a firm black putty like substance that they told me was windshield adhesive. They also filled in various areas along the hatch area on the external frame where apparently there were hairline cracks. Looks a little messy when the hatch is open but who cares as its closed most of the time and it keeps the water out. Total cost $100.

    From what Ive heard Toyota messed up some welding on some gen 2 models and this is the result