Funky odor coming from my G5's window slots.

About a month ago I noticed a strange odor circulating in the car when I opened the windows for some fresh air. I found my wash mitten in a bag in the back and it was still wet and thought, "Aha! There's the culprit". Unfortunately it wasn't.

If I roll the windows down, and smell into the door's crack (sounds bad lol), there's a very strong odor, similar to moly grease perhaps? I know there's a sulfur component in that. The reason I thought of grease, was because I used a similar smelling lubricate for the slide on my pistol. Going for my tire rotation the other day, the service person thought it smelled like old water. They pulled a plug at the bottom of the door and nothing came out.

Could some of you folks smell your G5 door's crack (lol) and get back to me on any funk? My car doesn't sit outside, but it does get washed and wiped down. And I haven't submerged it in a lake either lol.

I'm thinking there are some parts that get lubricated inside the door and somebody may have been short on the typical lubricant due to a supply chain crunch and made a stinky "executive" decision...

But why am I only smelling it now....

 

Yeah, the electric window retraction slot.

After doing some Googling, I'm seeing suggestions of mold growing on the inside of the door panels. That can't be... right?

Read this!

https://community.cartalk.com/t/mold-smell-when-windows-down/33955

 

I took another look at the bottom of my doors today after rolling the windows down and getting another big whiff of funk. It looks like both rubber plugs are IN on the front doors, and on the back doors, only the front of rubber plugs are in, while the back are out. I took them all out and it seems the smell might be improving.

Can anybody/everybody check to see if they have the same plugs in that I did? Could these be something that are supposed to be removed after shipping? Are there other avenues for the water to drain out of the door besides those two plugs? If not, I would guess the plugs should be left out?

I'm clueless on the mysteries of automobile door drainage.

 

Did the dealers leave rubber plugs in door weep holes? | Toyota Nation Forum

17:45

 

That's exactly what I'm thinking. I definitely have an odor coming out of the window slots. There was no water drainage when removed though. I'm going to check today to see if the odor has improved.

Where is the water supposed to drain if the plugs are in though?

 

The bad thing for me, is that my rear doors had the back plugs removed already. Yet still there is a formidable scent wafting into my cabin with the windows down.

Next step will be a full wash with plugs out (lots of soapy water on windows) in hopes of effecting a change.

 

Hmmm. I've inspected them closely, they seem to seal fairly tightly. And like I said, the back ones were already out in my rear doors. Something is up.

 

Wth! So they are just adding them hit and miss?

 

That's how mine came from the factory/dealer.

As I mentioned previously, all plugs are out right now. I washed the car last night and hit the windows hard. Smell remains today. I've read that mold can grow on the inside of the door panel. If that's what I'm dealing with.......

I'll be visiting the dealer again soon and perhaps having them take a closer look. I wonder if they can reach everything by removing an interior panel? Nobody's taking the door skin off, that's for sure lol.