How to find a water leak?

[DadGum_Teen]

I have a leak in the car that lets in a little water whenever it rains. The floorboard does have a rust inhibitor atleast 8)

A small puddle will appear up from underneath the carpet when I press and hold my foot on the spot for a while, which is a little left of the brake pedal, and at the point where the floor starts to incline. So I think it could be trickling down the firewall. Before I go on a wild goose chase, where would be the best places to check that would cause water in this area? I am not familiar where all the seals are in the car, so I need a little guidance. Thanks.

 

[Longgone]

Cowl vent seals and wiper arm shafts are both known to be leakers. Check the cowl drains and clean the cowl well to insure that debris there is not causing water to pour over and down into the fresh air vent. Wiper arm shaft seals are available many places including Schumacher.

 

[bamacuda]

what comes to mind are three things. 1) the pivots on the wipers have a seal that can deteriorate over time and leak. 2) the windshield gasket may have shrunk/cracked and is leaking. 3) the cowl box is leaking near the air box.

Let others throw out these or add to these as is needed

These are all a pain to fix. Trouble shooting is tiresome, but doable. I would remove the carpet and dry it all out. First, take the advice from longgone above, then run water into the cowl box and watch for leaks. (two man job) run the water from side to side. If that is not it, run the water hose over the windshield, making sure that the wiper pivots are protected from flowing water to separate them as a cause. Thirdly, trickle water around the base of the wiper pivots. Try this also with the wipers running as sometimes they only leak while oscillating. If none of this yields results, also check the door jams for leak by running the hose along the door jamb with the door closed. Each of these tests can be repeated, and done so that one does not give a false result by leaking later during a different test.

Good luck, everybody else chime in and help like only FABO can!

 

[ramenth]

Running water over the car for the cowl vents is the way I'd check those. But there's an easier way to check for leaks on the pivots and windshield. Run the car with all windows closed, defrost on high. Spray the wiper pivots and the windshield gasket down with soapy water from a spray bottle. If it starts making huge bubbles like from a kid's bubble wand toy, then air from inside the car is coming out, showing where the water is coming in.

You can turn the water leak test into a one man job with a little duck tape and rags. Pull the hose over the top of the car, using the rags underneath to protect the finish and duct tape it in place where you want the water to flow. Then you can let the water run while you get inside to check if the water is coming in.

 

[Brad4406]

The way I used to find mine was get in the car when it was raining hard and lay on the floor with a flashlight. I replaced the seals around the wiper arm pivots twice on my Duster before I found out it was actually coming from inside the pivot shafts instead of from around the outsides of them.

 

[RedFish]

We had a rain maker ( 4 shower heads on a pipe and stand ) at the ford dealership. The proceedure was take the front seat or seats out along with any plastic under dash covers as needed. Turn the rain on and lay in the car with a flashlight.
You can only hope your leak is at wipers or vent boxes. If the leak is at the bottom of the windshield the glass will need to come out to fix it. There are 4 places along the fence where a cut and bend created a tang to locate the windshield gasket. The holes are covered by the gasket and butyl sealant so they weren't supposed to leak. Good luck