Wet on the inside

[87octane]

Finally found the source of that weird shape shifting smell. The carpet padding and the floor is drenched, evenly across the entire cab. And yes, it's been raining cats and dogs, and yes, the rig is parked out doors.
Do I look to door and window seals? Do I look to firewall?
The sheet metal is basically cancer free, so I'm not expecting to find surprise rust outs, but would be good to know what rots most often.
Any help?

[camoit]

Ah the famous flood truck. Welcome to the world of first gen...
First go get the windshield resealed. DO NOT USE SILICONE. Then on each side of the truck under the rounded cab area find the 2 bolts. (see picture) Now there going to snap off. Thats just life but it's not a problem. (optional part) { Remove them along with 1 or two inside the splash area. Try not to break them. You will want to reuse them later. } Now gently,,, and I'm talking gently,,, (it's only a beer can for Gods sake) pull the fender away from the cab. Stuff a peace of wood or screw driver handle in there. Stick a long and I mean long screw driver / metal rod or something up there. Now remove the 30 years of dead leaves, grass, mice, skunk meat, and other nasty crap that has built up in there over the past 30 years. (NOTE:) You will see a small bump out area between the bolts at the bottom. That is all they give you for a drain. So it doesn't take much to plug up. Just like the bed drains in the back. But there large in comparison. Now you can take the hose and flow water down the vent in front of the windshield and flush out the last of the crap. Finally replace the bolts. But if they snapped, and I bet they did, just whip out the cordless drill. Now use a 1/4 inch bit and drill the holes out. Now through bolt it with 1/4 20 bolts. This way the next time you have it cleaned out 30 years later someone else can replace them with out having to find metric bolts. Your done. Or at least you have slowed down the flood.


4202

[Fordubishi]

Also look up under the dash and make sure the cowl area has seam sealer still there. They can also rust at the top of the fenders where the wiper assambly is, the drain holes at the top of the fenders can get blocked and cause the water to run into the heater box inlet.

[87octane]

Excellent. Thanks gents.

[87octane]

New windshield and new gasket, no rot found, no improvement to puddling on the floor.
New front fender, no rot found on inner shell, no improvement.
Now staring at door rubbers, 1/2 inch short on both ends, but I don't understand how it gets inside if the door gasket is good.
Baffled and sloshing. Any help?

[camoit]

When they put in the windshield did they use the black stuff to seal it? When you come by to grab the doors and tail gate we can look at your truck, if you dare to go this far with it. Or we can look at mine to get an idea where to go from there. Since I have trucks just sitting around we can try to figure it out. I gave up years ago and just put in a drain hole,,, LOL. It's got to be the glass or the vent system. I know my vent would always allow leaves to get in.

[minnisp]

did you guys figure this out? Mine ('86) is leaking heavy and it looks like it's coming from the doors around the speaker holes

[minnisp]

nevermind. mine is leaking from the windshield $$

[Malaking_TT]

Do you have the plastic intact and sealed behind the door panels?

[minnisp]

hey i'll have to check that plastic. I did find that my windshield is clearly leaking so that's 1st on the list to fix...
thanks!

[Malaking_TT]

I've been chasing this problem lately also. I had several issues. The biggest one was the windshield which seems to finally be fixed. I also was missing plastic behind the door panels. I replaced that now it looks like there is a leak at a body seam under the dash near the windshield where the sealer wasn't done properly.