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73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks => 73-87 Chevy & GMC Trucks => Topic started by: 85silverado on February 25, 2006, 02:47:00 pm

Title: Water Leak
Post by: 85silverado on February 25, 2006, 02:47:00 pm

I am having a hard time finding out where water is coming from, it is only wet when it rains so it's not the heater core. Both sides are wet. I poured water on the windshield and see water leaking around the firewall but can't see it leaking from the windshield. any advice?

Title: Re: Water Leak
Post by: Blazin on February 25, 2006, 01:51:00 pm

Pull your cowl panel off and you might find a rust hole or two under there! or if you have cab lights and the base gaskets are dry 7 cracked it could be coming in there.

Title: water leak
Post by: 85silverado on February 25, 2006, 02:23:00 pm

I don't have cab lights so it's not that. Could be the bottom of the windshield since I haven't thouroughly checked that. I know the leak comes from the very top by the dash somewhere.

Title: water leak
Post by: 85silverado on February 25, 2006, 03:41:00 pm

Also wanted to add that the windshield has two cracks running up on the driver and passenger sides. The cracks are under the rubber on both sides, maybe this is leaking?

Title: leak
Post by: OKUMA111 on February 25, 2006, 04:17:00 pm

maybe your windshield gasket needs replacement already

Title: water leak
Post by: 85silverado on February 25, 2006, 09:23:00 pm

Yep I know it does, it is old looking and the chrome trim is yellow. I checked and found a bolt hole in the kick panel is leaking water, but it's still leaking from the dash area. Gonna take the cowl off tomorrow and check it out.

Title: water leak
Post by: 85silverado on March 02, 2006, 06:40:00 pm

I took off the cowl and saw that the sealer on the firewall was brittle and coming off,it had some rust too so I cleaned it all up and resealed it and I hope it will be fixed.

Title: Re: water leak
Post by: 83silverado on March 02, 2006, 08:41:00 pm

How do you remove the cowl?

Title: water leak
Post by: 85silverado on March 03, 2006, 12:58:00 pm

Removing the cowl is easy, it is two small bolts near the hood. After you remove the metal piece then there are two more small bolts for the plastic piece. Open your hood and on the top of the firewall you'll see the bolts, they are 7mm. You'll have to stop your wipers so they are straight up and remove the blades, then the metal cowl slides up over them. After that you remove the other two 7mm bolts and the plastic piece just snaps off. Then you'll have access to the firewall where it seals together.

Title: water leak
Post by: 85silverado on March 10, 2006, 06:01:00 pm

Well folks resealing the firewall fixed the leak.

Title: Re: water leak
Post by: Blazin on March 10, 2006, 07:02:00 pm

Cool!

Title: > Re: water leak
Post by: Lt.Del on March 10, 2006, 10:32:00 pm

Maybe you can describe how you did it and it could be used in the tech pages.  I am sure you were not the only person w/ that problem.  

Title: water leak
Post by: 85silverado on March 12, 2006, 07:29:00 pm

It's very easy, I took off the cowl pieces and then I cleaned off all of the old sealer and trash where the cab and firewall meet. Then after everything is all cleaned up and dry I applied a large bead of new silicone to seal it up. I had to put it on my fingers to run the bead of silicone, then I put everything back together and let it cure for a week just to be safe. It has since rained and I washed my truck and now the carpet is dry.

Title: Re: water leak
Post by: Blazin on March 13, 2006, 07:34:00 am

You might want to keep an eye on it as silicone is not a real good sealer when it comes to auto motive aplications. Seam sealer is designed for this type of application.

Title: leak
Post by: 85silverado on March 13, 2006, 07:24:00 pm

I hope it works since it's guaranteed for 50 years. Anything is better than the junk the factory put there, I will have my eye on it and if she leaks again I'll fix it with the seam sealer as you suggest.

Title: Re: leak
Post by: Blazin on March 14, 2006, 10:44:00 am

Don't get me wrong, silicone is a good product just does not adhere well to automotive paint in my past experiances. Plus if you ever plan to paint that area paint will not stick to it.

Edited by: Blazin at: 3/14/06 10:45 am

Title: leak
Post by: 85silverado on March 14, 2006, 07:22:00 pm

I know I said silicone but it wasn't, it was an all weather sealer. I can't remember the brand, it is made for firewalls. It's all good, thanks for all of the advice and I am glad it doesn't leak anymore.