Duster is leaking water, but where is the source?

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Vamisk

Vamisk

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Alrighty so considering that winter is the rain season for PA i became aware of a very alarming problem.
Water was pooling on the driver's side floor.
All of a sudden it made sense why the floor pans were replaced at least 3 times.

Today i pulled off this plastic panel to find this. Undoubtedly this is where the water is traveling to end up at the feet.
Where exactly does this source to?
By the time i post this i will have sprayed some rust converter junk over it but surely it's going to be rusty along the whole frame that the water traveled from.

Good news is the rockers are in pretty fine shape. Only minor paint bubbling.

Right now it isn't feasible to take the door off. it's a pretty wet time of year but the hinges need replaced anyway so i want to clear the interior all in one go.

WP_20170127_002.jpg
 
9 times out of 10 its the gaskets around the wiper pivots,they dry up shrink and allow water to get in through the cowl..
 
Thanks, at least i have an idea of what to look for. It's a bad feeling knowing how much rust is on the inside of the cowl i guess.
 
Or the windshield gasket. Could also be that the cowl is full of leaves and junk and the drains are plugged, causing water to sit in the cowl and seep through the seams or even overtop the flange. Although the latter usually causes water to come out the fresh air vents.
 
Well it is parked under a tree. Is there a way to access the cowl and such? I'm quite new to bodywork unfortunately.
 
Vamisk said:
Well it is parked under a tree. Is there a way to access the cowl and such? I'm quite new to bodywork unfortunately.
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Not really. I pulled the fresh air vent on the drivers side and dropped the heater box and pulled stuff out by hand. I've also seen people drill a large hole in the front of the cowl with a hole saw, empty the cowl and weld the plug back in. The drains are at the sides of the cowl above the foot boxes, the fenders cover them though so they're hard to clean without removing the fenders.

This is all the crap that came out of my car, and it's a rust free California car.

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You can see the drains in this picture, just to the left of the hinge arm for the hood hinge. They're not what my focus was for the picture, but they're in there.

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Lots of possibilities... What year is this on? Newer ones don't have a fresh air outlet on the driver side. Mine had leaks many places. The water that was coming down that side panel was from 2 possible sources. The metal near the bottom corner of the windshield could have a hole. Mine also had a hole under the cowl drain outlet that is hidden behind the fender. Water drained out of the cowl and right back in under the flange and down that side.
 
72bluNblu said:
Not really. I pulled the fresh air vent on the drivers side and dropped the heater box and pulled stuff out by hand. I've also seen people drill a large hole in the front of the cowl with a hole saw, empty the cowl and weld the plug back in. The drains are at the sides of the cowl above the foot boxes, the fenders cover them though so they're hard to clean without removing the fenders.

This is all the crap that came out of my car, and it's a rust free California car.

View attachment 1715012274

You can see the drains in this picture, just to the left of the hinge arm for the hood hinge. They're not what my focus was for the picture, but they're in there.

View attachment 1715012275
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That looks kinda familiar. Except no access on drivers side for 75 - don't know what year that changed. I got a vacuum hose in mine up through the passenger side air hole. Then spent hours with a hose running in the top of cowl while I worked a coat hanger in the drain holes on the sides to help pull the junk out as the water flushed it. Same crap in heater box. That was an emergency cleanout when it started smoldering. :eek:
 
Thanks 72bluNblu i can see what i need to do now.

zkx14 it's a 74. Eventually the windshield needs to be replaced and the dash removed. The ultimate goal right now is to find the source of the leak to prevent further rusting but It's going to be raining this upcoming week i think.
It's like trying to pull a cart uphill with square wheels almost.
 
Yeah it's not a fun job. I replaced my wiper pivot seals, cleaned the cowl and still have a leak at the corner of the windshield (gasket problem, metals good).

As for the vents I think it was '75 they stopped having drivers side fresh air vents. My Duster is a '74 with a June build date and it has one.
 
Vamisk said:
Thanks 72bluNblu i can see what i need to do now.

zkx14 it's a 74. Eventually the windshield needs to be replaced and the dash removed. The ultimate goal right now is to find the source of the leak to prevent further rusting but It's going to be raining this upcoming week i think.
It's like trying to pull a cart uphill with square wheels almost.
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I have felt your pain. LOL
Spent a lot of time looking up under my dash trying to find leaks. Even AFTER I replaced the windshield/gasket, repaired corners, cleaned cowl, did wiper pivots... Only when I was satisfied there was no water getting in I replaced my carpet. A short time after that I changed seals on my doors and the new ones leaked. :wtf: Soaked the new carpet a couple times till I got the doors sealed right.:BangHead:
 
I'm honestly debating having a shop do it, i don't want to do it wrong 4 times and have the car pay for it. Thanks for the help though guys, a lot of useful info.
 
Vamisk said:
I'm honestly debating having a shop do it, i don't want to do it wrong 4 times and have the car pay for it. Thanks for the help though guys, a lot of useful info.
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Do what? the windshield? leak repair? None of it is terribly difficult, but it does take patience and perseverance. The other way requires very deep pockets - if you actually find someone who can do it. You can get all the help you need here...
 
The windshield i mean, it seems very daunting honestly. I figure if one seal has gone then it's just a good idea to replace all the seals while I've got my mind on that task.
 
Vamisk said:
The windshield i mean, it seems very daunting honestly. I figure if one seal has gone then it's just a good idea to replace all the seals while I've got my mind on that task.
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As long as you find someone that knows how to do it that is a job you can get someone to take care of for you. Just know that a lot of guys that do new cars have no clue what they are doing on these. Its a one piece rubber that wraps around the glass. Needs to be caulked, not glued. Their may be other repairs needed to the metal flange around it. particularly the bottom corners are prone to rust out. So may need to pull the glass and do other work a while ahead of the glass install. Screws that hold dash on are under the bottom of the glass. I took glass out just tarped it while I worked on dash, heater, etc.
 
Are you talking about the dash pad or the whole instrument panel as well? That needs to come out as well, it looks like a battlefield.
 
Vamisk said:
Are you talking about the dash pad or the whole instrument panel as well? That needs to come out as well, it looks like a battlefield.
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You can remove most of it piece by piece. But, if you need to rework the whole thing it is best to remove the entire dash frame as a unit. There are screws on top front that are only accessible with the glass out unless you cut them from underneath. You can then reverse the screws to be removable from underneath. I have not done that, but there are others on here who have. Just seems like a lot of extra work if you need to remove the glass anyway.
 
Yeah i did see a screw on the top of the dash. My fingers can't even reach it. I suppose that's one of the screws you're talking about.
At least it won't be a boring job.
 
You don't need to take the dash out unless you have welding repairs to make to the windshield channel. Although, if for any reason you were considering removing the dash frame the time to do it is with the windshield out, because you pretty much can't get to the screws that hold the dash frame in while the windshield is installed.

But just to change the windshield and gasket the dash can stay in place.
 
Man it seems Chrysler designed those screws to be as inaccessible as possible. I was hoping to pull the instruments out without the dash but as i look at it it doesn't seem possible.
 
Vamisk said:
Man it seems Chrysler designed those screws to be as inaccessible as possible. I was hoping to pull the instruments out without the dash but as i look at it it doesn't seem possible.
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The instrument cluster will come out. Just screws around it, Disconnect speedo cable behind, You need to lower the column for clearance. Take your time easing it out and talk nice to it. :lol:
 
That's good news! At least something can come out! I'll probably be cussing by the end of the day though.
 
Loosen the steering column and let it drop down some or you most likely will break the instrument cluster trying to get it out.
With the cluster out you can change the drivers wiper seal but it is not easy.
Remove the heater box and the passenger side is super easy.
 
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