Rain water leaking in from under dash / A/C system (1 Viewer)

[mickthekraken]

Hello all. New guy here.

I purchased an '85 FJ60 on 6/11/20. We've had clear skies in Houston up until Saturday, 6/20/20, when we had torrential downpours start up. I went out to the car to install new headlights and hood seals, and found that the (new) carpet was soaked in the sills (where the body slopes down in front of each door). It *appears* that the source of the leak is from under the dash, as that's where the moisture begins. I'm thinking that the only place for water to come would be the grill in front of the windshield, as the seals appear to be just fine.

Thanks for any ideas you might have.

 

[Seth S]

Water could be leaking in through your windshield gasket. Out west you get a lot of sun and while rust is less prevalent sun degradation on rubber and plastic is a bigger issue. You could run a bead of silicon around under the other edge of the windshield gasket and the body.

also if you run the AC a lot you might have plugged condensate drains. I’m guessing the 60 has these as most cars with ac do. When they get plugs the moisture has to go somewhere.

also you might have bad door gaskets or window scrapers.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Remove your front fenders and seal the seams.

 

[mickthekraken]

Water could be leaking in through your windshield gasket. Out west you get a lot of sun and while rust is less prevalent sun degradation on rubber and plastic is a bigger issue. You could run a bead of silicon around under the other edge of the windshield gasket and the body.

also if you run the AC a lot you might have plugged condensate drains. I’m guessing the 60 has these as most cars with ac do. When they get plugs the moisture has to go somewhere.

also you might have bad door gaskets or window scrapers.

Thanks for the quick response!

1) The windshield gasket/seal looks fine, and the door seals are in perfect shape. The window scrapers aren't so nice.
2) The condensate drains do appear to be clogged (at least somewhat), as we witnessed the leaks while we were driving.
3) Another thing I'm finding is that all kinds of debris (chewed up leaves and dirt) blows out of the A/C vents every time I turn the fan all the way up. I'm thinking wherever the A/C sources fresh air (the grate/grill in front of the windshield?) is the culprit. I guess I can easily test this by pouring water straight in (ugh). If it is, I hate to think what will be required to resolve things.

 

[georgebj60]

You have a build-up of debris around the fresh air intake. You need to remove the access panels and wiper linkage in the firewall to gain access to clean it out. Then lower the blower fan from inside the truck (passenger side) and clean it out. You can probably have a good look at the A/C evaporator core at this point to see if that needs cleaning too.

As @ceylonfj40nut has already suggested, now is a good time to remove the front fenders and seal up the overlapping body seams. This is a common leak source.

Lastly, there are tons of threads on this issue. Search in google ending your search with 'site: Ih8mud.com' to seach this site specifically. Happy reading.

**edit: Don't pour more water on the problem right now.

 

[mickthekraken]

You have a build-up of debris around the fresh air intake. You need to remove the access panels and wiper linkage in the firewall to gain access to clean it out. Then lower the blower fan from inside the truck (passenger side) and clean it out. You can probably have a good look at the A/C condenser at this point to see if that needs cleaning too.

As @ceylonfj40nut has already suggested, now is a good time to remove the front fenders and seal up the overlapping body seams. This is a common leak source.

Lastly, there are tons of threads on this issue. Search in google ending your search with 'site: Ih8mud.com' to seach this site specifically. Happy reading.

**edit: Don't pour more water on the problem right now.

Ceylon and George,

Thanks so much for your replies (and the search advice). I'll tend to these ASAP (and refrain from the water thing).

Take care.