[Guest]

Has anyone else noticed that whem they park their Insight facing up a steepish hill that in heavy rain water leaks into the cabin beneath the rear side windows towards the back edge? I comes in between the carpet & the plastic trim around the window.

 

[brad]

I haven't noticed this problem, but I have noticed water getting into the seatbelt reel storage area on the passenger side during heavy rains. There are several folks that have had water leakage issues in various places (through the roof antenna, through the plastic molding over the doors, etc.). A search into past threads might give some insight (sorry...) into possible solutions.

Brad

 

[jtmco]

In heavy storms, I get a leak beside the rear window on the right side leaving a wet area on the carpet. Most of the time, I park in flat areas so I don't think the angle matters on mine.

Jim

 

[joecvt]

Wow...I thought I was the only one with a water leak behind the rear
passenger window. This happend to me after any good amount of rain.
After the first few times I tried to seal different areas where I thought
the water was entering. Areas I tried where:

1) The passenger molding above door was missing a clip so there
was a square hole that I sealed up.

2) Under the hatch had a few areas where the metal parts meet had
some small gaps the I sealed up.

3) The small plastic piece on the edge of roof (above the side rear
window) was removed and sealed again.

None of these things fixed the problem. My next thought was, If you
can't beat them, join them....I took the large plastic piece that
surrounds the rear window out and found there are ridges in the
molding that trap and hold water. I cut the rigdes out (razor blade)
and glued tie-wraps length-wise to create a channel for water run-off
and directed the water down to the smalles part of the window (in the
rear portion). I glued a hose to the plasitc molding to drain the water.
The hose runs down the side behind the side carpet to the small cargo
area above the muffler. I drilled a hole in the metal above the muffler
(towards the front of car) and placed the other end of the hose through
the hole (sealed it up good) and runs down torwards the spare tire area.

I did that two years ago and never had a leak to the interior since.
Best part is after the molding is re-installed, it still looks stock since
all mods are on the other side. The hose I used was non-kink 3/8
diameter. I also spliced the hose (behing the side carpet) so I could
take out the molding again (if needed) without removing the other
side of the hose.

Some may be thinking: What about exhaust fumes?...The hose dia is
small and not close to the exhaust tip. Under the bumper there are two
vents (one per side) that allow air to those vents inside the car in the
rear hatch area (side carpet). That is about a 3 in hole on each side.
If any exhaust were to come in...I believe it would come in from there
before anywhere else.

JoeCVT - Just your average CVT owner

 

[originalbadbob]

Thanks Joe,
I've had the same problem on occasion, and was looking at the antenna and rear window squirter, but never had the wet seat belt problem like others have mentioned. There is a small stain on the rear capet under my right side window. It only happens when we have a torrential rain.
I'll look there.
robert

 

[rtm242]

New 2001 Insight owner, think I might have same problem

I just bought my Insight last night at a Toyota dealer not far from town, its a 2001, 48k miles.

It was a bit "wet" smelling inside and the dealer said it still needed to dry out after the detailing and he had the heater blasting which I promptly turned off for the drive home.

This morning I noticed the passenger side carpet was sopping wet! I've taken it to a car wash vacuum to suck out most of the water, and paper towel mopped up what I thought was the rest, but after another brief drive it seems to have gotten a tad damp again. Not sure if I missed some, or if it is leaking back in again.

The car came with a 3k mile warranty which was cool, but after reading this thread I'm not sure if I should bother fighting with the dealer to get it fixed, or if its just such a common problem I should just cut my losses and start taking apart trim / carpet and finding places to seal leaks myself.

This is Washington state, so it does rain here sometimes. :lol:

-Shawn

 

[originalbadbob]

Hi Shawn,
I think in this case you might be better off doing it yourself. Having someone who has no idea of where to start with this car, and no dog in that fight, might not put the kind of care into it that you would.
Let us know what you do and how it turns out.
robert

 

[rtm242]

After doing more digging around on this forum I found some other posts which mentioned the passenger seat belt retractor area.

I pulled on the seat belt to extend it and sure enough the hidden part of the belt was soaked!

It looks like the grey plastic trim is loose there, the belt gets stuck inbetween the trim and the body when trying to retract. I guess I'll remove the seat, carpet, and trim to see if I can dry it out completely and seal it up better. Maybe I'll also try out the sound insulation mod I saw on here for QuietCar.net, it would be a good opportunity with the carpet out.

It might be a few days till I get to this... I'll post results with pics in case anyone else tries it.

-Shawn

 

[darwin9x]

QuietCar

Did you ever install for QuietCar?

James Meskill
Concord, NC

167k and still rolling....
I still get 67 mpg from greensboro and concord NC

 

[jack9994]

my carpet was soaking wet - the water was coming down through the doors onto the door seal and into the cabin. The problem was the weatherstrip between the door and window which had a huge gap on it - replaced that and sealed the pvc liner behind the door liner. Also put some pvc over the speaker recess as well - problem solved.

Regards
John

 

[talonmike]

Did anybody find the problem to the leak under the rear windows between the plastic and the carpet? I also have this leak. I changed and seal all pillar clips. It stil leaking.


I suspect the antenna or swquirt or hatch hinges.


Is it possible to have a leak under the small roof molding between pillar and hatch? I am scrae to broke it if I remove it.



Thanks

 

[baboracus]

my carpet was soaking wet - the water was coming down through the doors onto the door seal and into the cabin. The problem was the weatherstrip between the door and window which had a huge gap on it - replaced that and sealed the pvc liner behind the door liner. Also put some pvc over the speaker recess as well - problem solved.

Regards
John

When ou replaced the weather strip around the door cover did you just buy a bunch of generic stripping and glue it together at the ends? Or did you buy a kit designated for the insights? It's clear to me now tha tmy car is leaking through the weather strip seals on the passenger side of the car.

 

[talonmike]

Cargo leak fixed.


http://www.insightcentral.net/forums/problems-troubleshooting/15488-all-water-leaks-fixed.html