Allowing Rainwater To Drain From Car

[Yaristotle]

Hi there, this is my first post to this great site. I have a Yaris (PS1) 2002 (1.0) and my dad has a PS2 2004 (1.3).

It was noticed recently that underneath the valances on either side of the cars there are a row of nine black plastic stops. With a view to preserving the bodywork as best we can, I have a couple of questions. Would it be wise to remove these items in order to allow for any water to properly drain away or do they serve some purpose (of which are oblivious)? Or is sufficient drainage provided on these motors without taking this step?

Also, when rainwater comes off of the windscreen it runs down the windscreen-wiper apertures and to a lesser extent the holes in the black plastic cover panels. How is the water channelled away?

I should add that we have a copy of the Haynes manual but no reference is made to either of these points. Thanks in advance for any help provided. ;)

[T600]

Welcome.

Good question. I don't know the answer to it, but I'd like to.

I had a car once which, on removal of the black plastic bungs in the bottom of the sill, poured out about a gallon of water. Not good, and no doubt very bad for the inner sill.

I've currently got the ones on my MR2 removed, as I took them off to paint the sill and never replaced them. But that car never goes out in the rain, so I'm not too worried about it.

[armoredfist2002]

Also, when rainwater comes off of the windscreen it runs down the windscreen-wiper apertures and to a lesser extent the holes in the black plastic cover panels. How is the water channelled away

get a bucket of water, pour it on the windscreen and see for yourself, all I know is it drips down under the car but I have never looked to see where it comes from.

Don't know about the other question

[moonstone mart]

If you are talking about the plastic caps along both sills, i wouldnt advise removing them as there would be more chance of getting water into the sills this way. You could remove them, inject wax oil (or similar) into the cavity and then replace the caps.

Of all the Toyotas i have worked on the only time i have seen rusty bodywork if when a car has had crash damage/bodywork carried out badly.

When you work on Toyotas on a rainy day it definately seems that most of the rain water runs away from the car fine (a wet head and slippy tiled workshop floor lol)

Mart.

[Yaristotle]

Thank you for the responses, guys. My dad's Yaris is pretty much garaged all of the time, so it's less of an issue here. My motor, on the other hand, is parked in a leafy street and is prone to getting covered with leaves. Actually we do have some Waxoil in his garage so I might get that sloshed in sometime soon. Point taken though; there is not much visible evidence of rust on Toyota's, even pretty old ones.