Water Leak in Cabin!

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1970Dart198

1970Dart198

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I'm new here, but i'll cut to the situation

My Dart has a water leak coming from somewhere in or around the dashboard. I bought the car about a year ago and removed the old carpets to put in new ones, only to find surface rust on the floor pans!!

I used a drill with metal brush attached to remove the rust from one of the floor pans, but every time it rains more water accumulates on the floor.

My friends believe the leak is coming from the windshield because it has the original rubber. I spoke to a specialist from an auto body store and he said to check the heater core and see if there is any corrosion because that is how the water is getting in.

I also question the two air vents below the dash and how they go to the vent outside (is that maybe how the water gets in?)

Any advice or experience will be much appreciated.
 
I replaced the rubber bushings on the exterior side of the two wiper arms. I never really understood where the water goes once its inside the cabin air vent.
You know, that grill-like opening before the windshield?
 
So the water comes from the vents under the dash?
If so then the drin holes must be clogged and are located on the sides of the cowl between the fenders
 
I see what your saying, I guess I can take a coat hanger, bend it and pull out all the rot that's in there. Any better ideas? Leafblower?
 
the coat hanger method works well....I filled my cowl area with water (not enough to go over the lip that leads to the vent) and then just wiggled the wire around in the drain holes. I did this several times until stuff stopped coming out.
Replacing the wiper seals is also a good idea. I had my son spray down the car with the hose while I stayed in the car with my head under the dash until I tracked down the leaks
 
Depending on where the car was stored this is where they usually leak. You can get these cars cheap when the owner knows of this problem. There is no paint under the cowl. Which make them rust when they are 40+ years old
 

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I had a friend use a hose and spray water over the car. He aimed directly at the fresh air cowling and water just poured into the cabin.

The drain holes are in a pretty odd spot. When I open the hood both gaps with the hinges have a small hole on the side just large enough to fit a cigar into. I used a wet/dry shop vacuum aimed directly over the hole while my friend poured water down the cowl. This acted like a flushing action that got out a handful amount of pine needles and old pollen rot.

I can see how just a small amount of stuff can completely clog the small drain holes and get water into the cabin.

Now water still comes in the sides from the windows and below. I realigned the driver side door and put new pins and bushings which helped a ton. I guess I'll just have to work with the door and the rubber seals around it to get the best water protection.
 
got the same problem on my sport, and been seeing a lot of posts about the wiper seals. where abouts can I find these?
 
spikekid999 said:
got the same problem on my sport, and been seeing a lot of posts about the wiper seals. where abouts can I find these?
Click to expand...

The wiper pivot seal kits are in lots of vendors catalogs. The simplest source is ebay.
Keep in mind that the huge foam collar in the pivot post is just a filler where the body panels might not line up perfectly, they didn't need to. Any water that goes past that seal will go same place rain goes through the fresh air vent, into the cowl. The part of the wiper pivot seal kit that seals the cabin is the foam gasket and rope caulk collar at the pivot post mounting flange.
Another member kept finding water in his left fresh air vent and dripping out that interior door. Turns out a screw had been removed that held a window washer part in place. Water went directly into the vent box from that open screw hole.
 
The rust holes are a good answer for some leaks if you chk everthing else first.
Wiper pivot seals and windshield gasket are the most common places, and should be looked at before ripping into the cowl.
 
RedFish said:
The wiper pivot seal kits are in lots of vendors catalogs. The simplest source is ebay.
Keep in mind that the huge foam collar in the pivot post is just a filler where the body panels might not line up perfectly, they didn't need to. Any water that goes past that seal will go same place rain goes through the fresh air vent, into the cowl. The part of the wiper pivot seal kit that seals the cabin is the foam gasket and rope caulk collar at the pivot post mounting flange.
Another member kept finding water in his left fresh air vent and dripping out that interior door. Turns out a screw had been removed that held a window washer part in place. Water went directly into the vent box from that open screw hole.
Click to expand...


too the best of my knowledge, its leaking from the windshield gasket, which I have already ordered. and since im ripping the car apart to do bodywork next summer, I mid as well replace the wiper seals as well
 
I experienced the same thing you did (water coming in by the dash) many years ago and assumed it was just leaves clogging the drain hole...I'd blow them out occasionally and wipe up the water. Now, 18 years later and after tearing my dash out to fix rust and getting frozen up vent doors fixed I have a few suggestions. Not saying your problem is the same I had...just sharing some ideas...

1. If you suspect the windshield seal, pay the $75 to have a pro pull it or go buy the tools and do it yourself. Last week i pulled the windshield on my 71 Duster. When my window seal came out there was no butyl...(no nothing sealing it). You may be able to reuse your seal...at $100-200 a pop for a windshield seal I'd reuse it if it's not all dried out. Clean all the gunk off it (paint thinner/solvent) and give it a good rubdown. My glass guy finishes with armorall, but others here have used zep as a final washoff. Mine actually looked real good for being 20 yrs old...plan to reuse it and use butyl.

2. Look up under your dash and hopefully you don't see any rust. If you do, treat it now before it gets worse.

3. Lube them vent doors up (assuming you have them)! Water doesn't help those cheesy hinges any and they'll eventually freeze up.

Fix water leaks early...it's not going to get better and waiting will likely cost you more $$.

Hope your water problem fix is easy!
 
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