Water in Cab

[Maxedoubt]

I've got this problem that's been driving me bananas for some time now:
My girlfriend has a 1985 Ram 50 that collects water on the floor when it rains (and this is SEATTLE!). I've replaced the window "squeegee" seals in both doors with new units, to no avail. She says it only collects water when it's parked facing uphill. Problem is, the truck has a very nice bedliner and the BED fills with water if it's facing downhill!
I can't seem to detect any leaks or trickle stains anywhere, but there's no denying the big puddles on the floor.
This is a very nice vehicle otherwise, and it would be a terrible shame to let the floor rust out because of this issue.
Any ideas?

[royster]

Couple ideas: the drainage system under the wiper cover bonnet or whatever it's called could be blocked with leaves and crap. I think yours' drains into the inner fender (as do 2nd generation) and it might be worth poking around to see how the drain system's doin. It might lead to taking the passenger side fender off, and insuring that the lower drain provisions aren't where Jummy Hoffa ended up. If it's plugged up down there, it would be hard to detect from the outside.

I think you have to remove the wipers to take that bonnet off. A 1st generation owner can tell you better than I can.

That, or put Pampers (or Depends) on the floorboards :grin:

[geezer101]

I'm about to plan your next weekend with your GF - pull the dash and glovebox out. Romantic? Not particularly, but you will need to take out the air ducts going to the dash side vents to get a good look at what's going on in there. Guaranteed you will get to the source of the problem by looking through there into the front vent air channel. I found tons of crap in mine and there is literally no other way of getting in there to clean it out.

p.s. buy a roll of that self adhesive weather strip foam so you can replace the black, crumbing foam that seals around the duct entrances and give the ducting the clean out of a lifetime. :thumbup:

[camoit]

Royster is correct. Use a long screw driver between the fender and inner cab. Behind the front tire you will find a small slot. If it's not that it's the heater duct / fresh air. Water in the cab is always a problem.

[pennyman1]

Also look at the windshield gasket - it shrinks and lets water in at the lower corners that runs down the A pillars onto the floor. These trucks are notorious for doing this behind the fuse blocks causing electrical problems.

[elsupremo]

Also look at the windshield gasket - it shrinks and lets water in at the lower corners that runs down the A pillars onto the floor. These trucks are notorious for doing this behind the fuse blocks causing electrical problems.

Mine leaked and I resealed it with a tube of sealant. Shortly after that I took rock to the glass and had to replace the whole thing.

[zacatiz]

Happens to mine too, but only on the passenger side. I haven't found the root of the problem but I think it has to due with the air ducts because it doesn't leak as bad when I have the air set to inside air instead of outside. If just been hesitant to remove my whole dash.

[lush90]

I'm also in Seattle area and had same problem with my '90: puddle on passenger side after every rain. My remedy was remove the nut on each wiper, remove the wiper arms and pop off the two piece plastic valence. Vacuumed out about a half a gallon of pine needles and debris and then put a water hose down the channel on each end of the collector basin. Water dribbled out the driver side slot at the bottom of the fender, behind the wheel but not on the passenger side. If you open either door, you can see into the back of the fender, and the debris that collects there. I pulled out as much as I could with a hooked wire and then pushed the wire up from the bottom to dislodge a few decades worth of build up. I'll bet there was a cup of debris in each side. Ran the hose again and water flowed freely! That slot at the bottom is only about an inch long and maybe an eighth inch wide so it clogs easily. I imagine a blast of compressed air on a regular basis would prevent this from clogging. Hope this helps somebody!

[85Ram50]

Everything everyone has said and the windshield gasket. I had the same issue. First thought it was my rear window. Then did the front. Turns out the water inside evaporates and condenses on the inside of the glass. Also check the vapor barrier behind the door cards of your doors.

[rowdy44]

ihave the same problem but i think mine is door seals. can you tell me where you got yours. i've tried for hours on the web and everything i get is too short. dave

[79d-50]

Hi, I’m looking for all new seals for my truck, you know where I can get some

[85Ram50]

If you mean the window seals Rock Auto has the first gen seals. I got mine from Steel Rubber, Did the rear myself and found out from the installer he could get the front one cheaper than I did. You might check if you are not doing it yourself. Also cleaning out the bottom of the fender wells close to the door helps prevent water infiltration. That is where the drain from the cowl goes and once it gets full of junk the water can no longer drain and finds its way into the cab. There are two bolts at the bottom and a couple in the fender well that need to come out to let you pull the boittom away so teh gunk can fall out. I suggest rinsing it before closing it up.

EDIT- Having taken my dash off I now see there are clean out covers on each side of the firewall. 2 8mm nuts and its off. You can vacuum it out.

[geezer101]

Hi, I’m looking for all new seals for my truck, you know where I can get some

Try ebay. Most of the Gen 1 rubber is coming out of Thailand. It's very unlikely you'll be able to get a front windshield rubber with the locking strip groove in it but I was able to get a plain rubber seal for mine (I paid $80 AUD from a supplier here in Australia - not cheap but they were closer to $100 AUD rrp). Look for seals under L200 express, Animal and Savanna with the corresponding years from 79-85

[tortron]

Locking strip ones are NLA anywhere. I've looked good and hard. (You might get lucky and find a 40 year old NOS one in someone's stash, but that's pretty old rubber) I managed to match some off the roll at a rubber extrusion place, you could vulcanise the corners in. I don't know that I'm that keen on it, a few screws will attach the trim too

[pennyman1]

try newoldcars out of Brisbane austrailia - they claim to have the weatherstrips with the locking strips. I was going through boxes in my basement and found a windshield gasket from precision that is a locking strip gasket. I bought it 5 years ago - looked up the number online and now it is a non-locking strip one.

[85Ram50]

https://www.ebay.com.au/str/mazdaphilsrotaryproductsrubber
Scroll down and click on Mitsubishi in the left column.
I think this may be what Pennyman is talking about

[geezer101]

They have a listing for the front windshield rubber for Gen 1's with the locking strip channel :eek:

[tortron]

I tried their website last year. At the time it was a missprint (should say without trim strip). Might have changed?

[pennyman1]

Mike Warme contacted them and so did I - they assured us that it does have the locking strip channel, and was made off a new old stock windscreen gasket.

[tortron]

Awesome. Will have to get one