Possible Windshield Leak....

[slcfj62]

Easy check

OK, one more post on this subject and then I will shut up. An easy check to see if you have leaves and crud built up around your cabin air intake would be to open the hood and take out the plastic plug at the top of the firewall in the center. Take a garden hose and point it towards the passengers side and turn it on full blast. If water starts running down the firewall out from behind the windshield wiper motor mount plate, you have got the problem. If all the water runs out the bottom of the fender just in front of the door, you don't. Also check to see if you have water trickling down the front of the rubber kick piece below the heater on the passengers side.

 

[djawahir]

I'm not sure I understand the silicone rusting metal issue. Are we talking about the same rtv type silicone tubes that we use to form gaskets and seal between two pieces of metal? (For example the oil pan to the engine...)

How does that cause the metal in the body to rust? Or are we talking about a different silicone material?

 

[slcfj62]

I don't know about silicone causing rust, but I do know that it doesn't stick very good. I discovered a 1 inch diameter plastic plug under the carpet just inside the drivers door that had come out and used some silicone to seal it back in. After reading the post above about silicone causing rust, I got nervous and decided to pull it out and get the silicone off. To my surprise the silicone pealed right off. I sealed around the plug with the same rubber seam sealer that I re-sealed my rain gutters, and all the seams under the front fenders. It was recommended to me by a buddy that has an autobody shop. It is made by Cumberland Products and is called "Rapid Seal Rubber Seam Sealer" with a part number of 626. It comes in tubes that will fit a regular calk gun, so you don't have to spend $50 buying the gun for the 3M product. The Cumberland stuff also only set me back $6 per tube (I used two to seal the gutters and all the seams under the fenders and still had half a tube left over).

 

[TemboTusk]

One area to look at is the hood/firewall cowl seal. It is a long piece of rubber that gets squished between the back of the engine hood and the top of the firewall when the hood is closed. This seal keeps water from running down the firewall and entering the cabin through any hole in the firewall.

As an example, the main wiring loom enters on the driver’s side and if the rubber seal around the loom at the firewall is damaged, water will follow or wick into wiring loom and drip into the cabin. The water can also follow wires or cables on the passenger side.

My cowl seal was missing and just washing the car would wet the inside carpet. Once the cowl seal was installed and the rubber seal around the wire loom repaired with silicon, all water ingress into the cabin stopped.

 

[Michael Hanson]

3M seam sealer worked for me,but it took a few tries.I also had a leak at the roof rack.Old rubber glass is hard to seal,buy new. Dont use LSI glass ,it delaminates. Mike

 

[Borick]

Cheap caulking gun; can be used instead of 3M gun

There's been mention in this thread (and others) of the "special" 3M caulking gun that you need to use with the 3M foil packs (like the UltraPro Urethane Seam Sealer).

I found the Astro 4531 Deluxe Caulking gun for $20.11 on handsontools.com:
Astro 4531 Deluxe Caulking Gun

A local shop (Auto Paint Specialty in Seattle) had the gun in stock for $27 and they had the sealer too so I bought both from them. Worked great.

Hope this helps other folks who're looking to reseal their drip rails.

 

[skoorbevad]

Not to dredge up an old topic or anything, but I just picked up a new (to me) FJ60 this weekend. No rust anywhere -- truly a specimen -- except this is the main issue I'm having right now.

I drove it about 200 miles home, mostly in sheeting rain, and when I got home I noticed the driver's side carpet near my feet was abnormally wet. Granted, my feet were wet too, but not THIS wet. And, it was wet under the WeatherTech rubber mat, so I figured something was going on.

I've got the carpet mostly pulled up near the driver's feet, ad the kick panel removed, but I really don't see where the water could have been getting in. The sheet metal near the firewall is pristine and looks brand new -- no indication of water anywhere. The carpet was only wet near the bottom, not behind the pedals.

At this point, I'm wondering if my floor mat may have been lodged in the door and the weather seal was broken because of it. Granted, I haven't just gone and removed the entire front fender, but the top gutters look clean, and the gasket around the windshield doesn't seem to have any obvious imperfections. The only thing that's a maybe is there the little Sirius antenna runs out... the gasket is lifted up just a tiny hair. I may try sealing that and seeing if it happens again.

For now I've got the carpet lifted up and a box fan blowing right on the floorboard to try and dry some of it out.

I don't plan on driving this thing in the rain, but given the extraordinary lack of rust on it, I'd like to keep it that way.

 

[Borick]

Hey Skoorbevad - FWIW, everything looked clean and tidy on my rig as well, except it also leaked. I went over the whole thing and couldn't find any water entry points. Sealed the gutters like lots of other folks and it's now completely dry even when in a downpour for hours.

 

[lehiguy]

Is there a small puddle in the INSIDE corner of the windshield gasket? If so, you need to reseal the windshield. I had the door gasket get cocked weird once and that too let in rain. The last culprit was a rust hole under the windshield gasket. Rain try rust can be horrible on these rigs, take a look there too.

 

[skoorbevad]

I'll take another look -- unfortunately it's kind of hard to test without driving it in buckets of rain, and since I don't really drive it in the rain, that's the tough part.

 

[yotagurl]

I'll take another look -- unfortunately it's kind of hard to test without driving it in buckets of rain, and since I don't really drive it in the rain, that's the tough part.

Have you thought about using a garden hose? I had the same problem and since it doesn't rain up here in the Sierras all that much using a garden hose was the best way to figure out exactly where it was leaking.

 

[Texas993]

Adding another data point for a well known problem.

I went through the gutter reseal process. It turned out nicely. But it didn't stop my leak. It was the windshield leaking.

I took it to a local glass shop that Michael Hanson recommended. They removed the old glass, replaced the windshield gasket (I provided an OEM seal $80) and re-installed the old glass. They used sealant between the gasket and body - as it should be done. It was leaking because sealant was not used when the windshield was replaced sometime in the past. Labor was $120.

Got a good rain yesterday and no leaks!

 

[fjinva]

For a fast and easy repair, I used the Eastwood tank sealer and am happy with the results. Removed the chrome; cleaned and dried the gutters well; taped the body below the front ends so no dripping would get on the paint; put the truck at a slight downhill angle so it would flow better; started at the rear and did about 3 feet at a time. I used a a small artists brush to make sure the sealer uniformly covered. Let it dry over night and went back to touch up a few areas, especially from the front doors and forward. Waited another day and put the bling back on. A benefit of the Eastwood sealer is that it dries white to almost the exact color of my white FJ62 (045), no touch-up paint needed! A have blasted all angles with water and the inside A pillar and lower carpets are dry for the first time in a year. I'll let you know when/if this fails, but it looks perfect and seems solid for now.

 

[theophilus]

Apologies for bringing up an old thread, but I've got water in my floorboards and I've taken a few pictures of my gutters (83 FJ60).

Are these tiny cracks and missing chunks of something that seems like it might be sealant enough to cause leaks? Or should I look elsewhere (fenders/windshield?)

Thanks

image1 by theophilus76, on Flickr

IMG_4465 by theophilus76, on Flickr

 

[fjinva]

I would say that those gutters have failed and need to be re-sealed.

 

[SteveH]

You may have separate windshield leaks causing floor wetness, but those gutter leaks WILL cause your roof sheet metal to rust out. Time to get some 3M sealant (the correct one for that seam) and carefully remove all the failed sealant, clean well, and apply the new. Even if your gutter bottoms are white (due to the sealant), you will have at least stopped water intrusion.

I found a glass guy who applied sealant up the driver's side edge of the WS gasket (under the gasket) and that totally solved my small leak (without removing the windshield). He even did it for free. In a perfect world, you would remove the WS glass, buy a new gasket, and follow the Toyota FSM method for installing the new WS.

 

[theophilus]

Thanks for the advice. I guess I'll start with the gutters. Water flows down hill, so I might as well start at the top. I'll take a few pics along the way in case it helps the next guy.

 

[theophilus]

Finally finished the gutter reseal. I'll offer a few pics and suggestions for the next guy who finds this thread.

1. If you use the 3M Ultra Pro Urethane sealant, don't leave it on the concrete floor of your garage for a week at 45 degrees and then pick it up and drop it in the gun and expect it to flow. I was really pissed at the Astro gun that kept breaking, so I superglued it together, but never thought to warm up the sealant. Whoops. I can see maybe going with something more liquid, but there were locations where it's viscosity did help (a-pillars and back gutter).

2. Plan plenty of time to get the old stuff all the way out. If it's failed, it'll pop off in 5 seconds with a thumbnail, if not, it'll take some banging. I used a lead filled dead drop hammer, and a vice grips around an old tiny flat head screwdriver (the kind for eye glasses). See pic below.

3. If you have the wire wheel in your hand and see a tiny bubble in the paint and think to yourself, "Oh, I'll just hit that real quick and prime and paint it fresh". DON'T. (or do, but be prepared to weld or fix holes).

4. You might want to be extra sure it's your gutters that are the culprit. I would recommend taping your windshield (both metal to gasket, and gasket to glass) and seeing if the leak stops FIRST. (After I spent hours and hours replacing mine, priming, painting, I washed my rig and it was still leaking.) Also, consider anything drilled through the A-pillar (like my antenna). I eventually went to a local windshield place (Associated Glass in Lynnwood), and they crawled all over with a flashlight while they hit it with a hose and found I had 'weeping' rust spots in both lower corners of the windshield that were all the way through (and the PO hadn't had the windshield sealed - either glass to rubber, or rubber to metal).

5. Make sure you check the seam under the gutter rail on the a-pillar. Mine fell off as soon as I touched it and had quite a bit of rust underneath.

I used a rust converting primer by Duplicolor that was sandable and paintable after wire wheeling. I used a gray primer and a bottle of single stage custom mixed OEM color touch up paint.

Here's a few pics.
Magic tools:
Untitled by theophilus76, on Flickr

Massive funnel under a horribly fitting antenna (never seen a 60 with the antenna on the A-pillar till this one)
Untitled by theophilus76, on Flickr

Underside of A-pillar gutter (front door jam) - OLD sealer and rust patch when I picked at it with my thumbnail.
Untitled by theophilus76, on Flickr

Whoops
Untitled by theophilus76, on Flickr

How to keep from scratching everything when wheeling the gutter out
Untitled by theophilus76, on Flickr

Taped and wheeled - you can see the seam right at the edge of the gutter
Untitled by theophilus76, on Flickr

Whoops - before sealing
Untitled by theophilus76, on Flickr

After priming/rust converting and applying Ultra Pro
Untitled by theophilus76, on Flickr

Whoops after Fiberglass/Bondo - hope it doesn't leak
Untitled by theophilus76, on Flickr

Whoops completed
Untitled by theophilus76, on Flickr

Gutter after painting
Untitled by theophilus76, on Flickr

 

[luvdamud]

Nice thread...very helpful!

 

[gregnash]

Nice thread...very helpful!

Ditto... this is something I have a feeling I am going to end up having to do sooner than later.