Possible Windshield Leak.... (1 Viewer)

[1974 fj40]

I've got water collecting on the driver side (left hand) floorboard.

There is a small trickle that comes down the left side behind the kick panel
and another trickle coming down the firewall in the left hand corner.

That is as far as I have traced it so far and was just wanting input on proceeding.

I have searched this topic and read through 5.6 million possibilities/suggestions.

If it IS the windshield someone suggested a Permatex windshield repair kit with
a type of runny silicone to run a bead around the windshield.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.......

 

[Devils Paw 80]

I had the same small trickle behind the kick panel. Turns out there is a seam between the left fender and the body that was the culprit. It's a difficult area to reach with caullk, but I was able to do it. The best fix would be to take the fender off first.

 

[cahilc]

Any thoughts ? Ok ...

Is it a factory windshield or aftermarket. Aftermarket may be cheaper ... but so is the fit.

If aftermarket ... may or may not be able to look at a factory windshield and detect differences in curvature. Good place to start. Yeah ... they are sometimes that bad. It's cooling thing.

Rubber seal. Any bad spots which are more faded or cracked ? Possible entry points for water.

Don't look, but run your finger tip on the rubber strip. Do you detect any bumps ? Irregularities ? Depressions ? ... which may cause leaks ?

HTH,
Cahil

 

[Waggoner5]

I had heaps of problems with my 62. I had replaced the winshield but not the gasket. The old gasket looked and felt new, but after replacing it with new, no more leak. I tried butyl sealant all the way around inside and out and it still leaked. My leak came in around the windshield at the bottom inside corner. Only a trickle, but enough to wet the floorboards. The new gasket with no sealant does not leak.
Gary

 

[euclid]

Waggoner5,

Did you use a OEM gasket from Toyota, or one from the windshield shop?

 

[Waggoner5]

OEM

 

[cahilc]

wet carpet ? AC condensation ?

Ok, I've had similar problems with wet driver side and sometimes passenger side carpet from what appears to be water dripping from behind the dash.

Finally, a cat & dog downpour last night and since I'm near DC maybe a Coyote or two in the mix too.


Carpet was bone dry before the down pour last night, and is bone dry this morning after the down pour.

Conclusion ? It seems my carpet is *wet* after using my AC for extended periods of time. Since I live in a humid type are would it be possible the wet carpet is condensation from the AC system ???

Cahil

 

[Tinker]

D O N O T U S E S I L I C O N E A G A I N S T T H E B O D Y !
Silicone contains an acid which causes steel to rust. A reputable glass shop should be able to inject urethane adhesive between the gasket and the body. In any case, the final solution is to cut the old gasket, remove the windshield, & reinstall with a new gasket, sealing the gasket to the body & the glass with urethane.

Silicone is Ok to seal the gasket to the glass, but not to the body.

From a 14-yr glass shop owner who has replaced many, many FJ60-62 windshields.

 

[ERICH]

Ok, I've had similar problems with wet driver side and sometimes passenger side carpet from what appears to be water dripping from behind the dash.

Finally, a cat & dog downpour last night and since I'm near DC maybe a Coyote or two in the mix too.


Carpet was bone dry before the down pour last night, and is bone dry this morning after the down pour.

Conclusion ? It seems my carpet is *wet* after using my AC for extended periods of time. Since I live in a humid type are would it be possible the wet carpet is condensation from the AC system ???

Cahil

Are you possibly missing the little rubber tube that comes off the bottom AC box, it makes sure the water drains though the fire wall.

1974 FJ40
This a copy of a post that I made on this subject that you might have already seen, but here it is...
I've had leaks of the windshield of 2 of my 60's. The next time it rains look on the inside lower corners of the windshield gasket, if there is water there then it is coming in from the water that sits in the same place on the outside of the window. The fix is easy and cheap; when dry take a small amount of lacquer thinner on a rag and clean the gasket where the bottom of the windshield comes out of the gasket, the rag will get black from old gasket material. Then get a small tube of black silicone, insert just the tiny tip into where the glass starts to come out of the gasket, run a very thin bead in there all the way across and a couple of inches up each side. Wipe off excess with a paper towel, then with a little lacquer thinner on a paper towel clean off the risidual silicone, just enough to make sure the glass is clean, you don't want to mush it and wipe it all out of the gasket. I think denatured alcohol will work too as a cleaning solvent.
Good luck.
ERICH

 

[cahilc]

Are you possibly missing the little rubber tube that comes off the bottom AC box, it makes sure the water drains though the fire wall.

Good tip, I'll check that !!!

Thanks,
Cahil

 

[sandcruiser]

so if we can't use silicone to seal where there is metal.... what sort of gooo can we use for things such as wires passing through the firewall?

Caulk? (non silicone)

And what sort of caulk to use on the rain gutters?

 

[Ming89FJ62]

Also check the gutters above the doors. Get a step ladder to view them from the top. The seam sealant cracks over time letting water into the A pillar - looks like a windshield gasket failure.

Harry

 

[lowtideride]

so if we can't use silicone to seal where there is metal.... what sort of gooo can we use for things such as wires passing through the firewall?

Caulk? (non silicone)

And what sort of caulk to use on the rain gutters?

I also second that....what do we use?>

 

[Waggoner5]

Use urethane, butyly rubber etc. In the gutters use 3M seam sealer.

 

[Tomy]

also found my water leak through the windshield gasket on both of my cruisers on the bottom corners; still to fix.

 

[euclid]

Use urethane, butyly rubber etc. In the gutters use 3M seam sealer.

On Garry's and board advice I used 8361 3M™ Ultrapro™ Urethane Seam Sealer


I bought the 3M applicator gun, but then I found out that the auto-body supply house also sells a cheaper applicator gun that is non-3m brand for much cheaper. The 3M gun was $45. I sold it to LoneRanger on mud.

I got about 5 plastic applicator tips for the gun so that I could cut them differently to make for different bead sizes.

I removed the chrome, then I used a flat head screwdriver to scrape out the old, cracked sealant. I didn't get it all out on the a-piller part of the gutter.

I wiped the gutter down with some brake cleaner, then I applied the urethane. After it dried for a few days I painted the drip rails with a can of color matched paint purchased from Automotivetouchup.com Touch Up Paint, Aerosol Spray Paint and Paint Touch Up Accessories then re-installed the chrome cause I ain't skered of bling.

After my research and talking to the 3m rep I think this is the best sealer solution. It is as close to the sealer they used in the factory, which lasted about 15 years before it started leaking. I find it to be a huge PITA to remove my roof rack, so I wanted the best solution. The applicator gun was about $45. The foil pack was $20. One pack did the entire rain gutter.

 

[AfricanToy]

any pics of the before and after? For me water leakage has been from the front windshield. The water seeps in through the rubber seal around the outside windshield.

 

[AfricanToy]

also found my water leak through the windshield gasket on both of my cruisers on the bottom corners; still to fix.

The water is not coming through the bottom of the gaskets, the water is leaking from the top and then collects at the bottom. Any ideas how to stop this?

 

[slcfj62]

Leaky seams under the front fenders.

I also have been fighting the battle with water leaking into the cabin and causing wet carpet and rusty floorboards. I dug all the seam sealer out of the rain gutters and resealed the seams. I still had wet carpet when it rained. I also checked the windshield seal, and it wasn't leaking. In desparation, I took off the front fenders and found the seam sealer below the corners of the windshield and just under the fenders had dried out and cracked. So, I cleaned the old stuff off and resealed the seams, including the vertical seam that runs just in front of the doors under the fenders. There are some downspouts under the fenders that drain the water that enters into the cavity below the windshield where the cabin air in-take is. I removed the down spouts and found leaves and dirt packed in around the air in-take which is on the passengers side. I had to remove the wiper motor plate and the plastic inspection plates to get all the dirt and leaves out. Once I cleaned out all the junk, I discovered the seam sealer around the base of the air-intake had also dried out and cracked, and in fact was the source of the water that had seeped in and dripped onto the carpet on the passengers side. There is a big plastic plug under the carpet on the footboard on both the drivers and passengers side. The water coming in around the cabin air in-take has been leaking in around the plug on the passengers side and caused a major rust problem underneath the plug.

Sealing all the seams under the front fenders and around the cabin air in-take has stopped all the leaks. A buddy that is an autobody shop supplier gave me some stuff called RUST MORT that I used to treat the rust spots before I sprayed primer and rubberized undercoat over them. It is ironic that there was more rust on the inside of my fj62 than on the outside.

So, bottom line is spend a couple of hours and pull your carpet out in the front and check for rust down the sides on the floorboards and under the plugs on the foot boards. I am sure that nearly every fj62 should have those seams resealed, and I'll bet most of them have leaves and dirt packed around the cabin air in-take which will cause leaking into the cabin when it rains really hard. Water + time = rust.

 

[slcfj62]

Water down the cabin air intake

I've received a couple of pings regarding my last post about sealing the seams under the fenders. If all you want to do is clean out the crud around the cabin air intake, then you could try taking out the passenger side hood hinge (fold up a towel and put between the hood and the body where the hinge is so you don't scratch up the paint). If you can't get it all through the hinge hole, then you can take off the windshield wiper motor mount plate for more access. This will also allow you to reseal some of the seam around the bottom of the air intake. Taking out the wiper motor was a bit tricky. I couldn't find anywhere in the Factory Service Manuals on how to do it, so I don't know if I did it the right way. That said, here is how I got it off: (This is for an fj62, 1988 vintage) Removed the nuts that hold the windshield wiper motor mount plate onto the firewall (leave the motor on). Pulled the middle plastic plug that covers the access hole on the firewall, right below the hood. Removed the center windshield wiper and the bolts that hold the mechanism in place (access from the top) so that it lowers into the cavity below the windshield. Then I slid the boot back that covers the end of the rod that goes to the motor. There is a big head silver screw that you remove to separate the rod from the mechanism. Once you've separated the rod, you can remove the wiper motor, plate and rod out the passengers side of the vehicle (the hood hinge will have to be removed to do this, but you already have it off to clean out the stuff). Now you can dig out all the gunk including behind the air intake so that the water flows in the channel in front of the intake where it is supposed to go. Once you dig it out, you can also flush it with the hose to make sure it is all cleaned out. Also make sure the downspout inside the fender is cleaned out by shoving something down the hole and rinsing it. You might as well take off the drivers side access plug and make sure all the crud is cleaned out on that side too. Now, you should be able to run the hose through the access holes in either direction into the cavity below the windshield and all the water should come out below the fenders in front of the doors. None should come out onto the firewall. I had some rust around the cabin air intake that I cleaned up, primed and sealed the seam around the base of the cabin air intake. That should stop any leak that has been coming down the middle of the footboards below the heater on the passenger side. Lift the carpet off of the footboards and check inside the big plastic plug for rust.