Water leak on driver side is driving me crazy

[Leandro]

For the last few months, every time it rains, the carpet on the driver side is soaked, plus other electrical gremlins like horn blaring in the middle of the night, AC fan not blowing, radio amp acting up.
the sun roof drains are clean, I throw water on them and it goes right thru draining under the rocker panel.
The windshield is not the factory one, was replaced who knows when or where. I put silicon sealant along the edges to see if stops, it didn't.
Last year I replaced the factory roof rack with a short ARB one, leaving the front rectangular opening in the gutter uncovered (without the molding, of course I put bolts and sealant in the holes). Where does that gutter drains? Thru the front or the back?
After the rain, when the sun comes up again, you can see condensation thru the little window that shows the VIN.
I don't know what else to look for.

I read thru every related post I found and almost tried everything posted.

My last resource will be to take it to a body shop and get the windshield removed and resealed, but I rather save those $$$$

any advice will be greatly appreciated.

thanks in advance.

 

[mtrdrms]

Try pulling the cowl and make sure the drains there are clean. I believe if it doesn't drain properly, the water can get into the outside air intake. Maybe coming in through the vents?

 

[Leandro]

Found the leak. It's coming thru the pinch welds rust in the A pillar.
Will seal it with silicon until the day the windshield needs to be replaced, then will attack the rust.

 

[Julian Stead]

That is from a bad windshield install, I had this exact issue after they replaced mine. It is caused because there not being enough adhesive on the outer edge of the glass. You are better off removing the trims around the outside of your windshield and having a look. No good sealing the inside as the moisture is still getting in and it will continue to rust until it becomes a major repair. I would act sooner rather than later, if you are going to apply sealant at least put it on the outside, take some photo's of the adhesive around the windshield under the trim so we can have a look. You are supposed to have foam strips on the inner, this allows the adhesive to go outwards when the glass is put in place, where the glass sits the metal isn't sealed, the adhesive is put on fairly thick and when the glass is placed down the adhesive will squash outwards covering the metal joints and pinch welds to fully seal it, you scrap the excess off with a knife at a 45 deg angle to the A pillar. It is in the FSM.

PLEASE don't seal it from the inside.

 

[Julian Stead]

See in the bottom picture how the adhesive covers the open fold in the metal and is shaped to 45 deg, this is what my installer failed to do 3 times, it drove me crazy. Every time he said he rectified it, I still had electrical issues. I got him to remove it and I installed it myself with the manager of the body shop I was getting the work done. I done it as preventative due to a small bit of rust, but it opened a can of worms. Good luck, I feel your pain.

 

[FraserIslandV8s]

A/C gremlins with windshield leaks can often be traced to water running down the inside of the shield ( Due to failure of Silicone being applied to Windshield "A" pillar trims during screen installation) along the lower shield panel to the opposite side of the dash, causing the water to run to the heater resistor in the front of the heater box. 2 phillips head screws under glove compartment hold the unit into the heater box. Often the "Bakerlite" resistor has failed or cracked upon removal. Check for corrosion in plug and resistor

 

[2001LC]

Unfortunately the factory glass with it's two mounting block at top are rarely used, nor is the factory procedure. Regardless it seems the real issue is installer nick the paint exposing body metal during removal of windshield & excess urethane, which ultimate will rust. They sometimes well also block the channels trapping organics & moisture.

Some members have factory installed glass still in. I'm eager to know if they every find rust.

I'd get the windshield out now and repair, time is not your friend here. In my case is was more preemptive, in yours I'll bet you find perforation and will need to go to body!
Bye Bye to The King

 

[Leandro]

Getting an Appointment to fix it this week. They remove the windshield, clean up rust, prime and reinstall.
Sadly will be too late, we had 8 inches of rain on saturday, it was a mess....

 

[2001LC]

How much did they quote you?

 

[Leandro]

$175 if the can save the windshield, $300 with a new windshield.
I'm pretty sure is gonna be $300

 

[2001LC]

I found installer will not remove all rust, only that which is visible. The rust even in mild situation will travel under paint and urethane. Many also use the wrong paint to cover which is nothing more the a urethane adhesion promoter.

if you're just buyer a few years go for it. If your looking for lasting result read the thread I linked you to.

Body shop will be from $1k to $2,500 depending on how much if any metal needs replacing and new paint is needed on bodies exposed areas.

 

[Leandro]

I saw your post before, great work.
the guy told me that he will remove all rust and prime it, otherwise the bond won't stick.

is really hard to find a body shop around here that wants to deal with rust. most of them just reject the work. One shop told me that they need to cut the A pillar completely and replace it.

 

[Julian Stead]

I am not sure about the US but in the UK you have 2 types of body repair shops, one does car restoration, more expensive but the craftsmen are more skilled, they specialise in bringing cars back from the brink of death, they will hand make body panels if required if you are unable to buy them, this is for exotic cars mainly as the repairs can be more than a new car. The other does crash repairs and paint, this is normally on newer cars. I took mine to a restoration shop for my windscreen job and they fitted new fenders and painted the sides. The windscreen guy let them down by doing a poor install but that wasn't the shops issue. They blended the paint halfway down the roof and clearcoated all of it, with the wings and sides, the paint and clearcoat came to £700, job was £2000 in total. I had bought the windscreen trims and fenders before hand, that came to £1000. So it did cost £3000. £500 for all the trims around the windscreen, scandalous.

 

[2001LC]

I saw your post before, great work.
the guy told me that he will remove all rust and prime it, otherwise the bond won't stick.

is really hard to find a body shop around here that wants to deal with rust. most of them just reject the work. One shop told me that they need to cut the A pillar completely and replace it.

It is near impossible to get in a body shop here as well, and we have many. They just want insurance $10K jobs, and no rust.

If the primer he uses is the Sika 207 primer, which most are using. I say this because I've watch many installers use it after de-rusting. One gave me a box of sticks and a large can of the Sika primer. It's what he was going to use after de-rust and recommended I use. I sent him on his way after see him just start his de-rusting, and just did job myself (he like that).

I got a call back from a Sika rep. a few days later. He told it is not for bare metal, bare metal must go to body. It's a urethane adhesion promote primer, not actually a paint. It will not hold back moisture and metal will rust.

I used POR-15 as you know, which I've very little experience with, so hoping for the best. It is what the auto paint store and a body shop recommended. May be a good idea to have a small can of POR-15 on hand, if this guys will remove all urethane.

Good luck!

 

[Leandro]

Just got the truck back.
The A pillar was disgusting.
They had to grind off the rust and primed it with Betaprime, according to him, the best product around designed specifically for that purpose.
For the brand of the previous windshield he assumes it was replaced by Safelite. They did a terrible job, he couldn't find any signs of primer under it. He also mentioned that the moldings were screwed instead of riveted (that showed me that the guy knew his s**t). He couldn't rivet it again because the holes were too big now.
Very glad with work done and the honesty. He said that couldn't warranty that rust won't ever come back, but at least I won't have worry about it for a few years.

Some pictures

 

[2001LC]

Doesn't look too bad in picture, except the A pillar paint indicates bad issue. $175 ($300) is dirty cheap for the job...

BTW: oversize rivets are available..

 

[Leandro]

Total was $300 with a new windshield (PGW)

 

[Alex1118]

Good deal....beat you could ask for

 

[wknd wrlrd]

OP, where is this shop located?

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Hasn't posted on Mud in 3 years, don't know if they'll be much help.