Chinese Water Torture

[Welshcakes]

Good Afternoon

I am now the proud owner of an Avensis, allbeit a second hand vehicle. Bought off a friend, the 2002 1.8 GS had been parked up on his hardstanding for 14 months so apart from having to supercharge the Battery and spend £95.00 on it, I was over the moon that it passed the MOT and even the SATNAV works - this is despite discovering that the tyre well was full of water and the carpets upon which the CD drive is sat, were sodden.

Now I have found where the dripping is entering the boot cavity - it's dripping in through the bumper cavity, through the nut hole and along the nut which attaches the bumper to the main frame.

For the life of me I cannot work out how, gravity being what it is, this is happening. The boot seal appears to be in good order and there's no visible rusting, paint chipping or unalignment with the bumper or the rear lights housing.

Has anyone heard of this being a problem or even simply come across the odd case of it?

A mechanic suggested I just apply sealant to the nut cavity but this wouldn't solve problems of water entering the hollow bodywork and could possibly cause bigger problems through a build up.

Any suggestions would be warmly appreciated as this is literally doing my nut in!

Cheers

Welshcakes

[SAM LOVERS HER TOYOTAS]

Hi there...and welcome to the world of avensis tortures lol!!! I'm a very un-proud owner of a 2001 51 1.8vvti Avensis SR for the last 3 months now...went for it because of its sporty-ish looks! Noticed the sodden boot carpet a few days after...actually thats the reason i discovered this website...theres loads of postings with these forums re.your/our problem. Basically i tried everything...removed the rear bumper and sealed off the vents behind it...I took off the weather strips on the roof and sealed them down properly...i checked the boot seals...i even sealed around the tail lights on the inside...i removed all those rubber bungs and left them off...and till today the sidewells still fill up but i must say a lot less than they used to...but now the carpet to the left side/passenger side does get heavilly soaked even though when you lift it the side well is dry? Basically iv'e accepted it and i live on...i mean drive on! Takecare...Sammy

[323]

Hi

did you find out where the water was from or the problem? i got a similer problem on my 03 Corolla, had for 3 yrs of owning it then a year ago i changed the boot seal then problem gone, now its come back slightly, grr!! my local car body repair shop said it isnt the rear bumper and i even took the rear trims,boot panel and carpets out, everyhting seems fine with no weld marks, no crumples, dents or re spray, its all original so not been involved in a crash or anything....i heard some older cars in its original state got this problem, also this is aim for both of you and also you said the passenger side its same in my case too!! i just regularly check it from now on & release the water from the plugs on the wheel well, damm i wish i live in a country doesnt rain very often lol

[Welshcakes]

I think I may go 'Blue Peter' and create a sponge bung around the nut and wring it out every journey! How I wish I believed in manmade global warming, I'd be out revving it up every morning. Ah well, I shall pop a bit of bicarb of soda onto the carpet and do my best to prevent it getting sodden.

After hearing the unsuccessful lengths so many have gone to, I don't think I'll depress myself by dismantling the back half of the car so thanks for saving me the trouble and irritation of a long pointless exercise.

[323]

I given up taking the carpet and trims apart now unless i reallly have to for whatever reason, only thing i can think of is unplug that hole on bottom of the wheel well and drying it out ha ha. Dont your car have that plug on the bottom ? it makes things eeasier. Althouhgh it did rain yesterday quite heavy and abit today checked the boot, well still dry no water got in :) not all bad since it appears to be very common even on other makes of cars + convertibles got it worse!! i know i had friends that owned convertibles and heard some shock stories !

[Roker]

I had a new Corolla in the 80s and the boot wells would fill up, I would have thought that they could have got it sorted by now. Can the Toyota dealer not advise?

[323]

I had a new Corolla in the 80s and the boot wells would fill up, I would have thought that they could have got it sorted by now. Can the Toyota dealer not advise?

The only thing i can think of those 2 plugs on the wheel well are to release water ?? cant think what else its for??so maybe they know lol, i seen and hear about things like this on lot of cars some arent even jap cars,, avensis, corolla, yaris, mazda 323f, mitsubishi colt, nissan skylines are only few of many i heard with this!! didnt buy from toyota + i owned mine for 3+ yrs so doubt they would do anything apart from trying to charge me a hour labour for their time to look at my car & some new seals, trims that wont sort it!!

[cmia]

if you have the hatchback

Does the boot shut correctly - ie

does the body lines on the exterior look correct ?

the boot lid to the bumper is the gap ok ?

[toyotavensis]

if you have the hatchback

Does the boot shut correctly - ie

does the body lines on the exterior look correct ?

the boot lid to the bumper is the gap ok ?

I've been berated for providing this answer before as I have a 5dr '05 Avensis not a pre-'03. However, I solved my problem of clean water in the well behind the rear wheel that slopped over into the spare tyre well by removing the hatchback gas strut mounting and resealing that with LSX, a plumbing silicone sealant. Result - dry car! Do prop the hatch securely open before attempting to undo the bolts - it is very heavy.