Passenger side leak (air/water)

Hi,
At high speeds, both(?) windows (95% the front window, and possibly just the front window and not the rear at all, ill have to double check, hard to test unless I have someone drive for me) on the passenger side sounds like they are open but are not. And when I take the truck into a car wash with the windows all the way up water comes in like they are open(on the passenger side, for sure both windows) (water comes gushing in from the top)(and yes I've double checked that I rolled them all the way up before going into the car wash). Please advise. Phone is broken so unable to take pics right now.

Also a side note, the airbag light is on. That's it, how do I proceed turning it off? (fixing an airbag or simply a loose wire?)

P.s.s 2006 tundra double cab trd 4wd thanks!

Thanks,
Austin

 

Airbag: SRS (safety restraint system) has its own network in the car where it sets codes (DTCs). 1st you need to scan for codes to see what the SRS DTC is specifically. Commonly it ends up being squib circuit code, but ... get it scanned. Once you fix the problem the code is indicating, you need to have someone with a OBDII tool capable of clearing SRS codes clear the SRS codes for you. You can attempt having someone clear the code for you now, *just in case* it was an ephemeral problem, and see if it comes back. It could be that someone, like, unplugged an SRS (yellow) connector under the passenger seat (for example) and did that without unhooking the battery cable like a f'n dumbass. You should never remove any yellow plastic connector in car wiring without removing negative battery cable and waiting at least 5 minutes for exactly this reason.

Water leak/air leak: Check your door seals and cab-to-door seals to make sure they're not broken. They're expensive as hell FYI. Also, check the door alignment looking from above: Can you, say, slide a piece of printer paper that's folded over itself twice (or a piece of unopened mail) into the truck at any point?

 

Broken clock springs are common cause of airbag light.

 

Side note, not applicable here: Several years ago I thought it would be “cool” to replace all of my lights with LED. I mean every light down to all of the teeny tiny bulbs in the cluster itself. NOTHING WORKED. Airbag light was always on. Other lights didn’t come on, etc. I finally grew up and put the OEM incandescents back in. It was nice to have the airbag light off after so many years.
Took a random pic of the cluster in case the bulbs didn’t fix it and I had to buy an eBay replacement.

 

$137 Innova 5310 - OBD2 Scanner for ABS & Airbag(SRS) with Battery/Alternator Test, Oil Light Reset, and Live Data for 1996-2022 vehicles. Accurate, reliable, and easy to use.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZL746BR?smid=A338X9NNA1JLZE <--- would this one work?

Checked door seals with a friend, with a visual inspection they appear good. After work today I'll give them a more thorough inspection and also use your paper method to test for any gaps.

Austin

 

That looks like it'll read SRS codes, based on the description (I think?) but your best bet is to contact Innova to confirm.

 

update @shifty`

on the problem side of the car just the rear window the gap between the seal and the door was about a 1/4 " and on the other side it was flush, could get paper through on both sides but on the non problem side it took
a little fidgeting to push the paper through as on the problem side it went in effortlessly although both sides it stopped after about 2 inches down or so, not going through into the cabin. Sorry for the lack of pictures, again I am unable to at this time. Perhaps when I get my phone fixed I'll update this thread with pics.

Austin

 

@shifty`

Driver side

 

Passenger side

 

I can't tell but the roof looks repainted based on the Craquelure. Has the truck ever been in an accident, like a T-bone, that you're aware of?

It looks to me like that upper seal is sits as high as it should on the non-leaking side than it does over on the leaking side. That would make more sense than both doors being equally out. It could just be an optical illusion though, the photos are taken at different angles.

Look, let's do some basic logical deduction, it's a super important skill to have. Maybe it'll help to see what you should have.

You've got two rubber seals around the perimeter of your door, an upper and a lower. The door should seal against the top bubble to keep water from getting down to the lower bubble. The top is definitely a press-on seal, and it may just be the seal is off its L-shaped track! Easy fix if so. Let's call these "upper seal" where top of the door seals things up from outer elements at the body line. The lower seal maybe isn't as watertight.

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The upper seal is made up of one double-bulb seal, like two long balloons, let's call each one upper bubble and lower bubble. You need to check both the upper bubble and the lower bubble the full length of the door channel to make sure they're not torn anywhere, and the top edge of the door should sit flush up to the upper bubble.

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If both bulbs are intact the whole way, no rips that would let water get in, you need to confirm two things: Does the top bubble sit firmly, in a water-tight way, against the roof line? Is there evidence, as you see here on mine, that the top of the door is also pressing firmly into the top bubble seal?

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If yes, both seals are tight, you shouldn't be getting water past the top upper seals' upper bubble, which is designed to push water outside the door, to run down the window.

If one or the other isn't true - i.e. the top bubble isn't tight to the cab, which I suspect may be the case, or the top of the door isn't sealing tightly to the upper bubble, note the entire upper seal can be gently pulled back like this, to reveal an L-shaped lip the upper seal locks into. It's possible the seal isn't fully locked onto that lip.

The way it locks onto that lip isn't intuitive. You install from the bottom up ... kinda set the channel for the rubber seal against the lower-edge of the "L" then push the top half of the seal up and over the L-shaped lip and it should snap into place. If you gently pull back on the seal, it should be glaringly obvious whether it's properly seated or not. I suspect yours isn't, OR you have tears in your upper bubble. That lip is L-shaped on purpose; it's supposed to be a fail-safe to funnel any water bypassing the bubbles down to the fender area.

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Sorry for the angle of the picture but yes on the problem side there is a noticeable gap whereas on the non problem side there is none. To give some perspective I just went outside and on the non problem side I could not put my fingers between the door and the upper bubble and on the problem side I could put the tip of my fingers in between.

I’ll inspect further tomorrow and report back.

As far as any accidents, none that I know of, but me and my battery changing friend who works on cars, thinks it has been, a lot of signs pointing to that it has been. This situation, airbag light on, one of the panels is a different color and it looks poorly put back on. Among other things.

 

I asked about t-bone for a reason. You'll need to figure out why that gap is there, and you'll solve your problem. That's a weird one for sure.

 

Hey shifty. I'm aman805 created a new account since I got a new email. A weird one indeed. Just got it checked out by the toyota dealership today and got a call saying how weird it was. Both side airbag curtains in the rear are completely missing, and the rear passenger door has a bunch of bondo. The guy said it was definitely in an accident or roll over. That's all I know so far. Picking it up later and will report back.

Edit: also reading you're above post a little more in depth, that's a lot of information, ha! I'll keep ya updated.

 

wow that sucks. Do you live in a state that requires inspections? This could get expensive quick! Hope you can get it rectified easily

 

I hope so too. I was looking at oem airbags and a single one is 1,500. Honestly it drives great and I've been working on it a lot recently and not much is really out of the ordinary (so far) besides the air/water leak.

 

7200.... possibly parts aren't even available, toyota said they are on back order...

 

@Squeakyduck4

Where are you located? Lots of parts trucks in the North East.

 

Yeah, this is one of those things where finding a rusted out used truck is your win. You'll be hunting specifically for Double Cabs that have the ovular "RSCA" button in the dash to the left of the steering wheel.

 

socal

 

Yeah... might not work.

But I have to tell you... my last vehicle was a '02 4Runner. The frame rusted out to the point where it wouldn't pass inspection. I guy in Colorado wanted it for the body (sport hood, front fenders) so bought it for $1500, and paid $1200 for a shipping company to come pick it up. So for less than $3K he had the parts vehicle he wanted delivered to his door.