Water Leak, Drivers Side

[moviewithnotitle]

Here is yet another water leak on the Drivers side. Kinda baffled on this one. I have never had a leak in the past. Only the drivers side footwell has water and a bunch of it.

This could have been happening for a while but not sure. I have WeatherTech mats so I never noticed the moisture on the carpet. We had a lot of rain in the last week, but I also have been away and have not driven the truck for 10days. It's not super stinky yet, so I am leaning towards this being a very new leak. I have the carpet and padding turned up and exposed to get it dried out.

I don't have a Sunroof...

What are the potential leak sources I should look for?
Windshield
Door seals
Barn Door seals

Any other sources for leaks?

Thanks, MWNT.

 

[Big Mama]

Maybe the door wasn’t closed all the way? Does it smell like water or antifreeze? Can you replicate it either with a hose or, if it’s a coolant leak, with it running? Is your coolant level staying the same?

 

[moviewithnotitle]

I checked all the door seals (driver side and Bard doors) and all looks good.
We are expecting some rain today and tomorrow, so I placed some papertowel sheets around the floor by the kick panel and the firewall(carpet is turned up to dry). The idea is to see where water may be coming in. I could also speed this up by just running the hose over the truck for a little while and see it if produces anything.

Some other things I have been thinking about...
I did take a ski trip recently and was driving on snowy roads for about 4 hours to the Mtn, then all weekend, then home. After this trip I gave the truck a massive bath to get road salt and grime off of everything. I spent a ton of time rinsing the underside. Perhaps I got water in from underneath. Testing this should be easy as well.

 

[OR VietVet]

There are some threads here about water leaks coming in under the cowling cover where the wipers attach. Remove that cover and people have found other vents/ducts/covers that are letting water in because the seals are now bad. When you say barn doors, you are talking about the rear. Do you have water on the floor from the front to the rear or just at the driver's foot well?

 

[moviewithnotitle]

There are some threads here about water leaks coming in under the cowling cover where the wipers attach. Remove that cover and people have found other vents/ducts/covers that are letting water in because the seals are now bad. When you say barn doors, you are talking about the rear. Do you have water on the floor from the front to the rear or just at the driver's foot well?

Good advice on the cowling. I'm going to look into that ASAP. My wifes car had a similar issue a few years ago with leaves and debris clogging a drain duct under the cowl. (why didn't i remember that earlier)

No, no water in the rear, but...I have heard of examples where the rear door seals go bad, water leaks in, travels along the headliner and down the front A-pillar to the floor. I have also heard about the 3rd Brake Light leaking and water travels down the A pillar to the floor. Just trying to cover all bases.

 

[OR VietVet]

Good advice on the cowling. I'm going to look into that ASAP. My wifes car had a similar issue a few years ago with leaves and debris clogging a drain duct under the cowl. (why didn't i remember that earlier)

No, no water in the rear, but...I have heard of examples where the rear door seals go bad, water leaks in, travels along the headliner and down the front A-pillar to the floor. I have also heard about the 3rd Brake Light leaking and water travels down the A pillar to the floor. Just trying to cover all bases.

I get it now. Another way to try ad get an idea of where the water may be getting in at is to stuff some wadded up paper towels in different areas and see if they get wet so you can at least narrow down the route the water is taking.

 

[Big Mama]

And if this test is unsuccessful go with the hose while you’re in it with a flashlight. Ron is right on about the cowl. Especially with snow then a thorough spray down. Why didn’t I think of that X2

 

[OR VietVet]

It seems lately that the water leak under the cowl has been a "Pattern Failure" for lots of members.

 

[moviewithnotitle]

We got some mild rain yesterday but no new water on the floor. She's gonna get the hose again...

I get it now. Another way to try ad get an idea of where the water may be getting in at is to stuff some wadded up paper towels in different areas and see if they get wet so you can at least narrow down the route the water is taking.

Good suggestion.

 

[OR VietVet]

Let us all know when you figure it out. We all use this info for us and others.

 

[east302]

Another thing to check, mine leaks at the top strip and runs down into the sill plate area. Blue arrow at top shows where it comes in...

 

[moviewithnotitle]

We had some a ton of rain last night and one of the paper towels was wet this morning and a small pool of water was in the rocker sill.

Here are some thoughts...
- This leak has been here a while and I never noticed because of the WeatherTech mats. The amount of water I sucked out of the carpet and padding was way more than the pic. Orders of magnitude more.
- This looks to be an issue with the Driver Door seals in some way.

I'm going to have to sit in the truck and have someone (the kid) spray the truck like crazy and see if we can locate the source.

 

[Tonyrodz]

We had some a ton of rain last night and one of the paper towels was wet this morning and a small pool of water was in the rocker sill.

Here are some thoughts...
- This leak has been here a while and I never noticed because of the WeatherTech mats. The amount of water I sucked out of the carpet and padding was way more than the pic. Orders of magnitude more.
- This looks to be an issue with the Driver Door seals in some way.

I'm going to have to sit in the truck and have someone (the kid) spray the truck like crazy and see if we can locate the source.

View attachment 241422

The kid will enjoy that lol.

 

[OR VietVet]

I still think it is coming from under that cowl but I could be wrong. To get past that door seal that rain would have to be as hard as a drive thru car wash. If it is the door seal there should be an obvious spot that you can see where the seal is bad or pulled away. I have a very small drip at the top center of my driver's door seal that only shows when I go thru my local car wash. I have new door seals for both front sides but am lazy.

 

[Big Mama]

where did you place the towels that stayed dry? Another way to check is a flashlight from outside.

 

[moviewithnotitle]

where did you place the towels that stayed dry? Another way to check is a flashlight from outside.

One next to the Kick=panel
One Just below the boot for the steering column.

The Kick-panel one was wet after the rainstorm.

 

[Big Mama]

As Ron said it sounds like the cowl drain.

 

[moviewithnotitle]

FOUND IT! ...sorta

I found where the water it is actually entering the cabin area. It's the Hood Release Cable grommet at the firewall. And it was the tiniest little leak ever in the history of leaks. I soaked the drivers door and windshield for 10min with the hose and only after it sat for a few minutes, did I finally see some water pooling, but not much. I had about a dime sized pool after that. Confirming my thoughts that this leak has been around for a while and I never noticed because of the WeatherTech floormats. Not to mention, my carpet is OEM and has the rubber backing under the carpet, that separates the padding below. Which is where 99% of the water really was. Seems simple right...but no, it's more involved.

The bigger issue is how the water is getting to the grommet on the firewall. It's a two-parter. The "Cowl Drain" and the "Hood Hinge Seal"(never heard of this before). But mostly the hood hinge seal. The Hood Hinge Seal is mounted to the hood (pic below) it's a rubbery foam mounted to the hood that seals against the cowl/firewall to keep water from entering the engine compartment from up top. This location is directly over the cowl drain and the grommet. The Cowl Drain (the black plastic box thingy) has a seal from the cowl to the firewall, I'm not certain, but it appears to be leaking as well. (So +1 to whoever mentioned the cowl as the culprit, I owe you a Coke!). So between the two seals, I'm confident this is the issue and what needs to be fixed.

LMC is the only place I have found this part...but I gather its avail at the dealer or elsewhere. I will also cleanup the grommets and put some silicone around all of them to help seal things better. You have to replace the entire cable in most cases just to get a new grommet(AFAIK).

Thank you all for the advice to this point, I appreciate it.


Here are some pics...

Hood Hinge Seal (this one is dry and crumbling)

Where Hood Hinge Seal mates to Firewall (notice the lack of clean surface, it's not sealing to well)

Cowl Drain

Cowl Drain box thingy/diverter

Hood Release cable groomet (wet)

 

[OR VietVet]

After replace and then in the rain/water again, please post if it is in fact fixed. Thanks.

 

[moviewithnotitle]

After replace and then in the rain/water again, please post if it is in fact fixed. Thanks.

Absolutely.