How do I locate a leak?

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mjbarbee516

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We've had 2 weeks of daily rain, pouring at least once a day. Today was the first nice day we've had. I wanted to start on the brakes today.
So I climb into the car where all my books and parts are stored and into a moldy, musty smell that wasn't there before. It's gross. I discover my owners manual, laying on the front passenger side floor is ruined. There's a puddle of moldy water on the rubber floormat.

I'm beyond upset right now. I don't know what to do. I spent $300 on brake parts but now I've gotta save the interior.

How the hell do I find the leak without risking more damage to the interior?

I wanna :violent1: the previous owners. Or worse.

It's a 68 Valiant, btw.

And my husband has turned against me on this car. He says it's too expensive to "fix it up right" and would rather dump money into a 2000 Dodge Durango and his 2005 Dodge Ram 1500.
 
If it is filling the front floor I would suspect you have cowl rust issues or a windshield bed problem. The cowl on these often filled up with leaves and crap turning into an acidic soup. It may only be a clogged drain flap and bad inlet donut though.
 
mguner said:
If it is filling the front floor I would suspect you have cowl rust issues or a windshield bed problem. The cowl on these often filled up with leaves and crap turning into an acidic soup. It may only be a clogged drain flap and bad inlet donut though.
Click to expand...

I've got to climb under there anyway to fix the wiper linkage. I'm hoping it's something simple like that.
 
You can also have leaks around the wiper arm shafts or their mounting gaskets but not sure you would get that much water from those....
 
mguner said:
You can also have leaks around the wiper arm shafts or their mounting gaskets but not sure you would get that much water from those....
Click to expand...

We've received over 10" of rain in the last 2 weeks. According to the NWS, it's 300% above average.
There's less than 1/4" deep, 12" wide puddle on my floor.
 
Wow! We got a lot here in the last month but nothing like that or what is happening down state. There can be too much of a good thing!
 
You need to get under there with a flashlight while someone sprays water on the windshield and wiper stubs to see where it's coming from.
Then decide what to do about it, and it could very well be the wiper pivot seals/gaskets
(If it is, the water will come from right at the pivot points for the two wiper assemblies that pass through outside to the wiper arms)

I bought the seal kit for mine because it was doing exactly that. (It was cheap) Probably because they felt sorry for anyone that had to do the job. :D
 
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