2021 Crewmax Mildew Smell With Back Window Rolled Down

I have had my 2021 Crewmax since October of 2020. Over the past several months, have have started to notice a distinct smell of mildew whenever I roll down the rear window (the one by the bed, not in the back doors). There is zero odor in the cab of the truck normally. I can smell it if i roll the window down and climb in the back seat and put my nose up to the gap between the seals/gaskets on either side of the window.

I did some quick searching and nothing popped up with 2.5 gens (several threads about leaks in the 1st gens). Does anyone know if there is a drain or something that may be plugged that I can try to clean out? Anyone else have this issue?

I have also notice what i would describe as a "creak" coming from the back window when making low-speed turns that may cause some twist (think coming out of a drive way to the road that is a lower/higher elevation). Could these somehow be related?

 

I had a 2014 Tacoma before my Tundra and I had the some problem except the smell was from the front doors. Reading through the tacomaworld forums, this was common on the 2nd gen tacomas. The seals that keep water out of the door panels would hold a little bit of moisture and eventually start to get mildewy. I haven't heard of the problem on Tundra's but that doesn't mean it's not happening to you or others. I would try and clean those seals in the back window and see if that fixes the problem.

 

Is the weather-stripping in good shape? It could be failing and allowing moisture to get down in the window pocket. I've never heard of it happening, but I guess it's not impossible.

 

I have a 2021 TRD Pro Tundra and it has the same issue. I just noticed it last weekend. I'm still within my warranty period so I'm going to take it to the dealer and see what they have to say. It's got to have a drain tube clogged or something like that.

 

I am interested to hear what they have to say. Unfortunately, i have 42K miles and i'm out of the warranty.

 

I'll let you know. I had a 2015 TRD Pro and just upgraded to the 2021. Never had an issue with my 2015. Crazy.

 

I have a 2023 Tundra and decidedly have this issue. It smells awful. I've never left the back window open in the rain. But if you roll the window down the musty smell is awful.

 

Any update, @jonclark96?

For those of you outside of warranty, you should take the rear seats out and open the access panel on the rear of the cab. Do it with the window up. You probably have water getting into that space. Have someone hose some water over the rear window while you watch from inside the cab with a flashlight.

I opened that panel to add some killmat when I installed my ESP long box. Shouldn’t be a tough job. Find where it’s coming in, and fix it.

 

Never could find anything before and it’s just now getting to be open window season. I had the window down yesterday and didn’t notice the smell.