dyermullet Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Hello everyone. I purchased a 1971 monte carlo last week from a coworker. It has mostly sat for the last week because I had been busy with work. Tonight I was changing the door locks and found that the PS front carpet was soaking wet. I hosed the car down for a long time with the garden hose and couldn't get it to produce a leak. It hasn't rained here in over a week. My friend had the car parked in his driveway with the windows cracked, and we had 4 days of very hard rain I am thinking maybe it got wet before I puchased it. I pulled the carpet and padding out tonight so I could dry the car out. Are there any common places these cars leak? I was thinking maybe the heater and AC box drain might have been plugged but the amount of water I put down the windshield it would have shown up. Thanks EDIT: I identified the leak, now I need to find the source. It is leaking on both the DS and PS, but significantly worse on PS. Water is running down the corner where the firewall meets the "kick panel" for lack of a better word. I took a picture so it would be easier to identify. I circled the area in red where the water is running down. It is leaking at same place on both sides. What would cause this leak? Windshield seal? Edit 2 Replaced the windshield that fixed those leaks. Identified a source on both sides of the car, PO had added speakers to the doors and ran the wire past the weather striping. This allowed water to run down the wire then drip inside the car past the gasket surface. I cut and removed the wires which fixed that problem. If i run the garden hose down the cowl on the ps i can still get water to leak. It is coming in through a body seam up high behind the dash next to firewall and the outside of the body. Also it is leaking where the dampner for recirculating air is. I am going to start parking outside and see how bad these two leaks really are. I suspect under normal rain storm will not have a problem. Have to flood the car with garden hose to create. In the future i will pull the fenders reseal the air box and redo body sealer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 check and see if it's antifreeze, if it is, heater core... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Peters Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 First off, i see this is your first post. Welcome aboard the boards. We hope you like what you see and decide to become a dues paying member of the club. When you pulled up the carpet and padding was there any rust? If so, it may have been leaking for awhile and if not it could have been what he said. If it was coming from the heater core it would be anti-freeze. If the AC hasnt been run then the drain from the AC box drain couldn't be the issue.. rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyermullet Posted September 22, 2015 Author Share Posted September 22, 2015 Arizona car. Everything looks nice and clean with the carpet removed, no rust. That is what made me suspect rain coming in through the window, after I couldn't recreate the leak. I pulled the carpet out so I can dry it before it starts rusting. It is not antifreeze just water (yes the radiator has glycol in it). AC works on the car but there is some electrical problem right now all the hvac is dead, until I jiggle some wires under the hood. That will be my next troubleshooting. What is the normal path water gets into the air box, if I run water down the windshield would that be the path to test it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo's70MCs Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 I suspect a heater core as well? That's providing your windshield is sealed and not leaking there. Although a heater core leak has signs of rust or mucky water, and certainly carpet discoloration. Although hard rain, cracked windows= wet carpet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyermullet Posted September 22, 2015 Author Share Posted September 22, 2015 I am 100% confident it is not heater core leaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72-CLASSIC_RIDE Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Considering how wet your carpet was and knowing where the coolant level was in radiator would confirm either way if leaking or not. I would guess it is not coincidental that you sprung a leak at / around the same time of your down pour. If leaking through door window(s) from rain, you may even see water stains inside of window or door panels stained / damp. You had investigated front windshield area as a possible culprit and comfortable that's not it and again with heater core, Only thing left is heavy rain through door windows really. I had a similar experience when I purposely sprayed water into the cowl area between windshield and engine firewall. I sprayed quite a bit and discovered after somewhere (suspicious it was passenger side) water had gotten into cabin and soaked passenger front carpet. Even got the Glove Box somewhat wet. I chalked that up to engineered fresh air entry into cabin area. Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyermullet Posted September 29, 2015 Author Share Posted September 29, 2015 Bump. I updated the original post with a picture and more information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 pull that kick panel off, could be from a few things Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stangeba Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 I remember water on the floor on my 71 (NO A/C) after I washed the engine area. I haven't had the problem just washing the car so I assumed it was the heater core box where it bolts to the firewall. After replacing the heater core I never re-sealed that area. You could try running water ONLY in the cowl vent area, to see if it causes a leak, then move to another area like the heater box till you cause a leak. Do one area at a time. Good luck, water leaks are a pain to find. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyermullet Posted September 29, 2015 Author Share Posted September 29, 2015 Any water down the windshield causes a leak at the same place on both sides of the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stangeba Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 Did you pull off the lower wide piece of bright work where the W/S wiper blades park on? I don't know if a "un-bonded" or bad lower W/S seal would cause that issue, it may! I have heard some people bond their glass in with bathtub caulk! There may be a rust hole. You may have to remove the W/S glass. Do you have insurance on glass breakage? I tried to remove my (good) W/S to paint under it but I broke it. Lucky for me I had glass breakage insurance and got a free W/S replacement. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyermullet Posted September 29, 2015 Author Share Posted September 29, 2015 I havnt pulled any windshield trim yet. I will pull it and inspect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stangeba Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 At the side / bottom of the glass, you should be able to see some of the black sealer / bonding material between the inside of the glass and the "A" pillar. Does it get wet or even look wet? Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72-CLASSIC_RIDE Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 I would still be suspicious that PS soaked carpet is from spraying water down into Cowl area between windshield and engine firewall. This happened to me when deliberately flushing out this Cowl area on same PS. I made the assumption fresh air circulation into the cabin area provided the passage for the water traveling through. I may be off base here but I had gotten more conservative when spraying high pressure water down into that Cowl area since and have not experienced it again. I also have had front window replaced since and window channel was solid. Heater Core was removed since as well and no evidence of water leaking around or through Heater Core seals. JMO Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyermullet Posted September 29, 2015 Author Share Posted September 29, 2015 The car is getting water in from just sitting in the rain. The leak is bad. I had a big pool of water standing in there after it rained. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 pull off the kick panel, it's only a couple of screws and the sill plate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyermullet Posted September 29, 2015 Author Share Posted September 29, 2015 Thanks for all the help everyone. I will report back what i find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John S Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 I rebuilt a Camaro with frt end damage years ago. The car was hit hard enough that the seam sealer along the cowl cracked and came off. After every rain the PS floor would be soaked. I pulled fenders and resealed all seams along cowl and that stopped it. After 40 some years the seam sealer could lose adhesion to the metal. John S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Peters Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Like Sam said, Pull that kick panel off along with the drivers side kick panel. I would also pull off the top dash pad and then run the water on both sides.... one at a time to see if you can tell where it is coming from. Good luck. rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72-CLASSIC_RIDE Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Sorry I was of no help. Thats all I had. Hope you find it directly and is a simple repair. Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo's70MCs Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Funny thing about water it'll find its way down hill and through the smallest of cracks. I would get inside the vehicle on a warm and sunny day and have someone run a (water) hose right above the windshield. I am pretty confident that you'll find that your windshield is probably the culprit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyermullet Posted December 8, 2015 Author Share Posted December 8, 2015 I found one of the leaks. Water is seeping in on the PS on a body seam up high under the dash. Also leaking around the top of the heater/ac box to the dash. Also leaking in through the speaker wires (speakers crummy added to the door panels) that are closed in the door weather stripping (easy fix cut the wires). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyermullet Posted February 18, 2016 Author Share Posted February 18, 2016 Updated original post with thr progress i have made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stangeba Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 Good to hear! I have a leak in the same area but I don't have A/C, never did. My guess is that it is the body to firewall seam or something in the heater air intake cowl area. I did have a heater core go out several years ago. It sent steam through the heater and defroster so it was an easy diagnosis. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.