[Stlhotrod]

With Spring almost here I am getting ready for April showers and chasing down leaks I have on my truck. One of which is, I have a leak in the roof storage compartment and get setting water in there. I decided to spend some time on the problem today and see where it is leaking and why it is holding water.

The where is from a torn weather strip that to my luck is no longer available. Checking on a used one, so maybe I will luck out there. But why it is holding water was the part where spring cleaning comes into play. There are 2 drains on each side in the rear of the compartment and mine were stopped up with crude. I simply took an old knitting needle I keep in my tool box and pushed on the drain and it allowed all the water to run out. I then simply reached down and pulled it straight up and it slipped out very easily. I wiped it out and then washed it with some clean soapy water. I cleaned the inside out and made sure it was good and clear. It simply pushes back in place. There were some small leaves in my truck from the previous owner. How they got in there is beyond me but I am sure that may have contributed to the crude build up in there.

So for those of us who have drivers I thought I would pass it along.

 

[xoxoxoBruce]

The where is from a torn weather strip that to my luck is no longer available. Checking on a used one, so maybe I will luck out there.

Can you repair the tear with RTV or Shoe Goop.

There were some small leaves in my truck from the previous owner. How they got in there is beyond me...

Maybe fell behind the headrest while parked, or laying on the truck when the top was retracted.

 

[Stlhotrod]

I really hate to admit it but to see if this was the problem I used some gorilla tape on the torn spot to see if that keeps the rain out of the compartment. We are supposed to get rain all week and my truck sits outside. I will know if the torn spot was the cause of the water getting in or not. I will replace the weather strip when I can find a replacement.

Next will be to figure where the water is coming in on the passenger's side floor board. That is where it is showing up at, I know it is not coming in there.

 

[xoxoxoBruce]

I really hate to admit it but to see if this was the problem I used some gorilla tape on the torn spot to see if that keeps the rain out of the compartment. We are supposed to get rain all week and my truck sits outside. I will know if the torn spot was the cause of the water getting in or not. I will replace the weather strip when I can find a replacement.

Next will be to figure where the water is coming in on the passenger's side floor board. That is where it is showing up at, I know it is not coming in there.

You're not alone, read this thread, then this thread.

Note where I mention the inch thick padding under the rug doesn't cover the entire floor so if you see water on top of the carpet there's at least a quart under it.

 

[yellow bear]

Back in the day, we used to run the A/C on Max, windows Up and let it pressurize inside. Then we'd get a "smoker" to run a cigarette or cigar around the window and door seals to see where the air was leaking Out. We'd suspect those places for probable water leaks. Then look for signs of water residue. Water trails down the door glass where the roof seals meet are always suspect. Also look at the area where the shoulder belt attaches to the floor for signs of water. May also be a clogged "duckbill" on the engine side of the firewall, passenger side. Hope this helps...

 

[river_rat]

There are actually 6 drains in the roof stowage compartment. The 2 you cleaned are really a secondary drain and drain water that gets into the stowage compartment while the tonneau is open. They are typically partially to completely plugged with Oak/Pine debris on most R's I work on. I would not recommend the knitting needle as they can be easily damaged. Best to just pull them out and blow clean with your lungs or use a Q-tip. The main drainage for the roof is via a channel in the weatherstrip below the rear window. This channel flows to each side to a drain slot just rearward of the doors (one each side -> 2 drains). Those drains flow thru a flat rectangular tube and drop into a funnel just below. Those funnels then drain thru a tube into the inner bulkhead/pillar wall and out of the body. These funnels can be seen in the roof stowage compartment just aft of the door jambs and below the rear roof seal. I use SOFT aquarium tubing to check and clear those funnel drain tubes (again one each side -> 2 more drains). If those funnel tubes are plugged, all the water draining off the top & rear roof areas ends up in the roof stowage compartment.

Pic 1-drainage channel in rear roof panel weatherstrip
Pic 2-drain slot at each end of that weatherstrip
Pic 3-funnel that drains roof water out thru inner bulkhead
Pic 4-secondary drains at bottom of roof stowage compartment (and no that is not rust in this last pic, it is the original red paint showing thru the black that Wheel 2 Wheel painted the roof stowage compartment when they did the Pace Truck modification ).