Avensis T27 Estate: Water Gathers in Spare Wheel Well

[UlleB]

Hello everyone

On Friday I happened to check the spare wheel well and it had around 3-4 cms of water in it. 

I drained it out and dried the area. I removed the trunk weatherstrip, removed debris and reinstalled it. Today I drove through heavy rain and water doesn't seem to be finding its way in from above. I'm not sure this was the issue to begin with but I don't really want to dig any further as it seems to be holding dry for now. So far so good.

However, in the spare wheel well there's these patches. They are wet and I think they are getting wet from below, water splashing from the road and perhaps also from the underwater spray in car washes etc. When I touch these patches, they are extremely crusty and fall apart with the lightest touch. 

Does anyone know why these patches are there? Since they are crusty and disintegrating, what would be a good way to repair them (if they need to be repaired)? It just needs to be a practical and relatively cheap solution since it's well hidden out of view anyway.

Thanks.

Pictures of said patches: 

[avensis_2018]

Enjoy.

[avensis_2018]

Do it well once and kill it at ones.

[UlleB]

So I think I solved this problem and just wanted to pass on the information to anyone finding this thread in the future. The boot has remained dry for a while now despite heavy rain and trips to the car wash.

For me the problem was the boot vents, the one in the right side in particular. Toyota quoted me £65 per vent for two new vents so I decided to just seal around the vents with some liquid gasket stuff (Sikaflex) from the inside instead before purchasing new vents with new seals. 

This has seemed to do the trick. I accessed the vents from the inside by removing some trim in the trunk and pulling up the carpet to allow access around the vents. 

Before doing the vents I also replaced all gaskets around the rear lights. They didn't really look like they needed replacing despite the car being a 2009 so it wouldn't be the first place I would look if I were you.

This video here was helpful in locating the vents and showing what trim you need to remove to access the vents. You don't have to remove all of the side panels, you can simply pull the carpet a bit up. 

If you're struggling with water ingression I would advise your plan of attack to go like this:

1. Check the two boot vents 
2. Check tail light gaskets 
3. Check the weather seal around the boot
4. Check hinges for gas struts (holding up the bootlid)