Water Leak at Firewall

[Tonka]

As I've mentioned in another thread, i purchased a new interior and i am in the process of replacing the old one. When i ripped out the old interior and carpet i found water along the drivers side of the vehicle on the inside.

I got rid of the water, sanded all the rust back, rust painted the floor pan in all the low lying areas.

Anyway thats where i got to, then the rains came.. for a solid week its been pissin down. My truck is parked on the driveway outside. Anywhoo the suns out again today and i went out to start on the truck again, give it its last coat of rust paint.

The waters back.. all along the drivers side from front foot well to back drivers side arch along the sill. I can't work out where its getting in.

Any ideas any one?

or do i have to talcum powder the whole side.. and hose it. messy process

Edited July 7, 2012 by Tonka

[Rumcajs]

The windscreen seal possibly or remove the panel covering wipers mechanism(the piece between bonnet and windscreen) there are some grommets under there which tend to leak after a while and also the little drains in the corners get blocked with debris/dirt. By any chance you didn't have a windscreen changed in the past?

Cheers

[Tonka]

not to my knowledge no. i didn't think of looking there thanks

[gottheshits]

Straight down the fire wall and in through the big grommets, where you would run uhf cable boost and pyro cables. Put a hose on the screen get inside and you will see it pouring in.

[Tonka]

Im waitn for the wife to come home to help me, if thats the case how do i stop it. How bout that fill foam stuff in a can?

[Tonka]

Yep front drivers side grommet confirmed. How do i fix

[Tonka]

Ok just re read rums post, ill try that

[richo17]

I had the same problem and sealed it up with silastic...Works well

[Tonka]

just around the outside of the grommet right? on the inside

[BigGQWesty]

Check your roof gutter seam join.. It's inside the gutter and a roof rack can wreck it. It has mine and when the car is slightly nose down water runs inside the car along the gutter and comes in at the top of the pillar. I thought it was my window seals untill it was replaced and the leak was still there...

[Petefire427]

Hey mate, use sikaflex or something similar. Give it a good going over outside and in. The d/s one is harder to get at due to the brake booster so maybe easier from the inside.

[GPSTI]

When I took delivery of my new Patrol, the useless dealer had popped the grommet so they could run the spotlight switch cable through, leavin a gaping opening.

When correcting the situation, I got the impression that the bulk of the large cable harness would easily overpower the rather understrength rubber grommet, and cause leaks down the track. Not to mention potentially harmful engine bay fumes getting in as well.

I wouldn't use silicone to seal it since a lot of silicone variants will peel off rubber. Using windscreen Sikaflex is the way to go, as it grab onto rubber and steel like the proverbial, and retains some flexibility.

[Tonka]

Guys i made a mess of it, i had to run my boost gauge hose and egr cable thru the grommet before i sealed it up, so i punched thru with a wire coathanger, bent the end of the hanger then taped the egr cable onto the end of it. As i pulled it thru it grabbed the harness and broke 1 of the wires in the harness at a place i cant reach.

I dont know how im going to fix it

[Rumcajs]

If you know which wire than pull it out in the other side, join it with heatshinkable joiner or solder longer piece of reasonable length wire to it than pull the whole thing back inside to where you can rejoin it all again somewhere more reachable. Hope I make sense.

Cheers

Edited July 4, 2012 by Rumcajs

[GPSTI]

Are you sure the wire you broke is actually used?

There are a lot of plugs and their associated wiring which are not in use - with a bit of luck, you picked one of those.

[Tonka]

No i dont know if the wire is in use. I tried locating a harness wire colour scheme but couldnt find one. I could fix it at the source if i could get the booster off, which currently evades me.

Thanks for the replys guys every bit helps

[gottheshits]

Can't help with the wire but I'll post a pic when I get home of my solution to the water.

Aluminium angle mounted on the firewall to divert the water away from the grommets (has worked a treat for the last 18 months).

Have done it to both sides as I had water coming in both.

[Tonka]

That sounds interesting

[Tonka]

Just did a water test and watched the water running directly onto the grommet. Id love to see how youve diverted it gottheshits

[gottheshits]

Left my phone at work last night so couldn't take pic.

Should be home in hour or so. Will take and post then.

[Tonka]

Thanks mate

[gottheshits]

Passenger side.

Aluminium is siliconed and pop riveted to the underside of the flange on the fire wall.

Its long enough that the water runs along and drops of closer to the tunnel.

[gottheshits]

Drivers side.

Harder to see behind the brake booster.

I had to pop rivet the aluminium to the top of the flange because of access .

Edited July 6, 2012 by gottheshits

[Tonka]

So the water runs sideways toward the wheel arch? Thats a bloody clever idea. Ill be doing the same

Very nice tip and thanks for the pics!

[Tonka]

Im taking the booster off tomorrow to fix the wire, so i dare say it should be easy