Ok all I'm about to lose it. I have a major leak going on somehow in my truck (1988 Ranger). The water is found on the floorboard on driver and passenger side (first it seemed like it was just the driver side but I might not have been paying close enough attention to the passenger side until now). The first thing I tried was replacing the weatherstripping around the door and body of the truck since the original that was on there was pretty bad. It didn't help. The next step I did was take it to the body shop and the ran a "leak test". They said they didn't see any leaks around the weatherstripping, door or side windows. They did say that the back window was leaking, however after I got the truck home and started to look it over I see no leak or way that the water could be coming from there. There is no wet spots around the whole window nor is there any water on the floorboard under the window or anywhere behind the bench seat. So I have a feeling they lied to me. They also told me that all the water was coming in through a small hole I had in the floorboard and they did a "patch" job over it, we will see if it helps but somehow I don't think so, I don't see how that much water could come up from that small hole and be on both sides of the truck. I was also told (by another source) it might be from heater core, so I was told to look at my coolant level to make sure it wasn't coming from there, that checked out normal as well. So I put a trap over the cab of the truck and somehow once again there is water. Not just a little amount, my floors are soaked. I just don't know what to do next.

 

Where is your carpet wet? Up front, middle, outside toward the doors, etc. You could have some missing or cracked body plugs. I don't remember if there are any up front, but I do notice them at various locations. Also, there's a plate that covers the hole where the manual transmission lever would come through the driveshaft tunnel. Got any rust in the fenders? Remove the fender liner and inspect aft of the wheel well (maybe not if the leak is further back).

I've had two sources of leaks in the front of my Ranger. The first was due to the yo-yo at the dealership who used a pressure washer to clean my truck after an oil change. That compromised the windshield seal and I was able to fix it by removing the trim and smearing some urethane around the area where the windshield was glued to the frame. If you do something like this, don't use silicone. It's hard to remove and nothing else will stick very well to the area even if you remove it.

The second source of leaks was from the gutter rails. If I remember correctly, there was a seam that was sealed with some kind of putty (for lack of a better word) that was applied at the factory. There were some cracks in the paint and the putty. Water was wicking in through the cracks. I was surprised how much water got through, but I live where it rains 9 months out of the year. I used some cyanoacrylate (aka super glue) to seal the cracks. The hobby/model guys use a product specifically for filling cracks. It's a cyanoacrylate like super glue, but I used super glue and it worked fine.

Both sources of leaks mentioned about resulted in a wet headliner near the upper corner of the windshield.

How are your door hinges? Open the door slightly and pull up on it. If the door hinge is worn, the door may not be located properly so replacing the weatherstrip might not be so effective. Or just check that the gap between the door and body is fairly even all around the perimeter of the door.

I can't remember if my Ranger had trim screws that went through the floor pan or not. I know my Aerostar does. If any of these are missing, water might be able to splash up or wick through the holes. Not sure how likely this would be...

I've heard you can do your own leak test by turning your fan on high with the vent on the non-recirculation setting and spraying suspect leak areas with Snoop or soapy water. I've never tried it so I can't attest to it working well.

Just a few ideas. Good luck.

 

Ok so here is a bunch of pictures that I took. I also looked all over the inside of the roof and anything around the windows and found no wet spots or water.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/f2da0uwop...4H0EdhL-a?dl=0

 

Welcome to FTE.
Maybe consider renting, rigging, or buying a party smoke machine like this. Chauvet Halloween Pro DJ Fog Smoke Machine w/ Fog Fluid & Wired Remote | H-700 - Walmart.com
Fill the cab with smoke & stand outside to look for leaks.
Might help to slightly pressurize the cabin with the doors closed good, windows up tight, heater blower on low speed Vent setting to pull in outside air to slightly positive pressurize the cabin a little & push more smoke out the leak source to make it easier to spot. More thoughts for consideration. Let us know how it goes.

 

That is definitely an idea. One question though, what would I do with the power cord/remote it would have to pass in and out of the truck somewhere?

 

Also do you think something like this would work? With a different heat source of some kind? (idea for that would be good)
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exKNbK7teQs" The video didn't work for me so I left the link to be copy and pasted if needed.

 

Set the machine in the truck & run the cord out the window & tape the opening up. Or tape your shop vac hose to the machine smoke outlet, the other end of the hose up where the fresh air vent is & let the vent fan suck it in to fill the cabin. Maybe a pot set inside with a bunch of lit incense, (aroma of your choice) would smoke it up enough to see & you could also use your sense of smell to locate the leak area too!!!!
Interior should would smell good after the test!!!! lol BTW your posted link doesn't work, maybe if your quick enough you can edit it.

 

So test one, I took an incense out and sat in the truck and ran it past all the windows the smoke went straight up so from what I could see I didn't see any leaks of air coming in, however it might be different watching from the outside.
The next thing I did was line the bottom of the floor with paper towels and poured water (I don't have a hose) all down the doors and front of the truck and watched the paper towels, nothing.
I feel like this is getting more mysterious.

 

Take it through an automatic car wash - those things produce more power than a pressure-sprayer and might be able to give you an idea of where the leak is coming from. I've had those car washes blow water past both the door seals and window seals before.

Sent from my Moto G using IB AutoGroup

 

Some great comments already. The link below shows some good images of other potential leak points.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...st-damage.html