Water leak mystery

[jwldane]

Hello,

I need some help tracking down a water leak on the drivers side footwell. I have checked and cleaned the sunroof drains and no water is pooling in the tray. I have siliconed the rubber seal on the windshield, the rain channel by the roof rack and the metal crease along the A-pillar. Still get large amounts of water after a good rain.

Is the another possible entry point? Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[TXLX100]

I had a similar issue. Sunroof was fine, windshield is factory (not leaking), all other seals were good. After tearing into it, someone had the roof rack off to paint the roof and didn't screw the bolts back in all the way and was leaking. Hope this gives you another thing to check.

Has the windshield been replaced? If so, did it get all new moldings, rivets?

 

[PADDO]

Hello,

I need some help tracking down a water leak on the drivers side footwell. I have checked and cleaned the sunroof drains and no water is pooling in the tray. I have siliconed the rubber seal on the windshield, the rain channel by the roof rack and the metal crease along the A-pillar. Still get large amounts of water after a good rain.

Is the another possible entry point? Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

I've had success using foamed up soapy water from one of those foaming hand cleaner bottles to locate leaky seals. Close up your vehicle, fan blower on high and fresh air intake selected, this pressurizes your truck then slather soap foam around over your gaskets, seals etc. With some luck you'll find what you're looking for. Image of leak locating in my cargo compartment.

 

[DFXR]

^ that is a great idea that I never, ever would have thought of.

 

[TTO5]

Had the same thing. My rocker panels weren't draining. I could hear the water sloshing in them. I removed one if the plugs on the underside of the rocker and what seemed like a gallon of water came out. I decided to leave it out. All is well now. Check it out

 

[lancalot]

try sealing roof rack bolts, the ones that go into the roof itself they can leak past the threads

 

[TTO5]

Is the truck parked level or nose up or down. When my rockers were full of water it would soak the floors when the truck would be nose down. The water would actually soak the whole driver side footwell. The top of the rockers under the sill plate are not completely sealed from the factory. My fix was to remove the plastic plug under the rocker. I removed the furthest forward one and have left it out. I really think this is what you have going on.

 

[jwldane]

Thanks for all the tips. I'll check it all out and report back. IH8MUUD is such a great resource. Thanks again.

 

[yotasavg]

Ugh, sorry for bumping an old thread but I'd l've got this going on right now after the last rain. Driver footwell is soaked... Sunroof hasn't worked since I've had the truck, but the headliner is completely dry, so it's like it's coming from below. I'll check out the rocker plug with fingers crossed.

If anyone else has input, please share it!

 

[yotasavg]

Well I did some looking last night. My problem is not the rockers, it's dry as a bone in there. It's for sure leaking from above. Since my sunroof is stuck shut, I guess I'll have no choice but to take the glass off. Problem is, this is not a great time of year to do that as I have nowhere covered to work on the truck.

If I take the glass off, will I have problems sealing it when I reattach it?

 

[hoser]

Check your windshield as well. Get a hose (w/o spray nozzle) and pour water around the windshield edges.

 

[yotasavg]

Thanks Hoser, I'll give that a shot as well.

 

[OG 91 LC]

I recently deleted my roof rack and sealed those holes with hex bolts, gaskets, and flowable silicon. I had water entering through roof rack hole openings that would run down the A-pillar molding and hit the inside corner of my dash, down my kick panel, and onto the carpet. I pulled the inside A-pillar molding and sure enough it had signs of water running through there for some time. Remove the inside molding and see if there are signs of water. Good luck.

 

[yotasavg]

Thanks @OG 91 LC, does that A-pillar panel just snap off like everthing else after the grab handle has been removed?

I realized last night if I had the Weathertech liners this would be a non-issue as it would drip onto the plastic tray... man I need to pull the trigger on those so bad.

 

[OG 91 LC]

Yup. Remove grab handle. Gently snap off the molding.

Water entering your truck is an issue regardless of Weathertechs.

 

[yotasavg]

Yup. Remove grab handle. Gently snap off the molding.

Water entering your truck is an issue regardless of Weathertechs.

Well, yes, but I wouldn't be ruining my carpet is my thought. I'd much rather diagnose knowing it's all ok but needs to be fixed. As of right now, this is urgent lol.

 

[camino70]

I don't think the water would drip on the weather techs, the carpet would still get wet and you probably wouldn't have noticed it.

 

[michael99b]

If your rockers are bone dry that might mean water is never getting there, which could mean the front drain tubes are blocked. Another potential cause might be the rear drain tubes are blocked and the water is backing into the sunroof tray, overflowing, and then running down the A-Pillar and hitting the driver side floor. Or, as suggested above, it could be your windshield. Mine ended up being the windshield. Poor installation job, rivets were not replaced, water was running down the A-Pillars and underneath the carpet...it never dripped down from above. You could try sealing around the rivet holes, but that is not a long term fix. The right thing to do is to replace the windshield by using a windshield guy who knows how to handle a cruiser. See this thread. Sunroof Leak

 

[yotasavg]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll do some diagnosing this weekend and see where I can get with it.

 

[Thunder90]

Any luck on this Yotasavg? I have the same issue - going through all the diagnostics on this thread now.