I used urethane windshield adhesive in a caulk tube, but I really can't remember the brand. It sounds like what you have found. I only had one tube and ended up with a good amount left over after I was finished. I left the original sealant and just added the urethane on the edges. I worked it into the gaps with my finger (be sure to wear some rubber gloves, otherwise your fingers will be black for a week).

I like the bedliner idea too. I wonder, though if the urethane or the bedliner would be more flexible? If there's a firewall flex issue, a stiff sealant runs the risk of cracking and leaking again. Plus, I would imagine there is a decent temperature gradient between the engine side and the cab side of the cowl, which may also cause problems, depending on the thermal characteristics of the sealant you choose. I have not noticed any leaks since sealing with the urethane, which was at least a year ago, maybe more. The glass company where I got the urethane from told me it was what they used to fix leaks and said it always worked well for them.

 

Texas Guy, the dog house/dog box is part of the firewall that alows the engine not to hit the fire wall, the one photo in my gallery of the center part of the firewall you see a bulge in the firewall in middle, thats whats called "dog house" or "dog box". It's a throw back to olden days when some people did build engine covers which was pretty much like a dog house(actily they probly were a dog house stuffed over the engine..LOL).

ENPCSU2006, the bed liner paint is a flexible paint as is used in a pretty demanding location in a bed of a truck. I used that stuff on my car about 6 years ago to combat a leak and stop rusting. Had no more leaks and no more rust! Thats why I went ahead and used it again. The urethane is good for holding the glass to windshield mounting seams. My friend who works for a auto glass company has used up 5 tubes trying to seal my 84 F250 windshield leak, no luck execpt for the aluminum tape I put over the top seam(I need another cab!!)

 

Well...my investigation continues.

I had a dry day on Tuesday and bought a quart of Duplicolor bedliner paint and used virtually all of it in the area under the cowl piece. I also pulled of the window trim and painted some of it just under the windshield and down where there was a sall crack in a seam. I slopped the paint around in the cowl area and then pushed some paint to go to the run-out area. I also took a syringe and squirted some paint towards the fender area down another seam. I let dry for a couple of days.

Sooooo, I water tested yesterday evening with a running hose positioned on the top of the cab, driver's side. I let the water run down and within 30 seconds, I could start seeing water run down the same locationas before, left side of the driver's foot well near the parking brake release. I am afraid I may need to remove the left fender to get better access.

I also took a look at the driver door top hinge. I just does not seem like the place water is getting in because of the dust/dirt already there.

 

Any luck Red-Rocket?

 

I was thinking about removing the driver side fender to get better access to repair this leak. I still have not decided what to use. I like the idea of the 3M windoweld stuff that I bought, but hope that its not too stiff when it cures. Then it will just leak again. I would think that the 3M windo-weld urethane would remain slightly soft. If it didn't then wouldn't the windshield break when the cab flexed? Does anyone know what this type of stuff actually does when it cures? Does it harden? Also, I don't want to do the bedliner spray, becuase if that doesn't work, I will have to scrape all of that stuff out in order to prep the surfaces for whatever is tried next. Any thoughts?

 

I just found brushable seam sealer from 3M on their website. Has anyone used it?

 

Not yet but I decided to not look into the issue much over the weekend.

I am convinced that there is some kind of seam split that I have not been able to properly address. I looked into what is required to remove the fender, and lets just say it will take more than 10 minutes.

 

I got more photos up in my gallery. I think I may have found your leak possablity Red Rocket. I found a small drain hole just under the windshield to drain that area(see photo in gallery) If that hole get plugged up I can see water backing up into the windshield glass to firewall seam. My auto glass friend told me the lower areas of most Fords are not sealed too good(bubbles and not enough crappy sealer) So water could very well be backing up through that way into the cab. Does your leak occure with the cowl only getting the water or if you run water on the windshield? I doubt removing the fender will help much more as its lower than the leak.

 

TexasGuy, that window urethane will stay flexable as it needs to be, to alow flexing of the cab without breaking the windshield. I got 5 tubes(my friend is a auto glass man) inside my 84 F250 cab trying to fix the "wet knees syndrone" and even though its smeared(see gallery for my 84) and clumpy it is still flexable. The stuff Ford used sometimes gets hard and cracks causing probly Red Rockets problem.

 

This does bring up a very valid point. When I leak tested the first time, I only ran a hose into the cowl area and never noticed it leaking...but, that was before I noticed which direction the water was leaking into the cab when the running water was low enough in the cab to identify. I can retest that tomorrow.

So far, I have only seen the running water inside the cab from the leak when I water tested where the hose was sitting on top of the cab and water was running down the windshield and A-pillar on the drivers side. That is when I would see water trickle down right near the parking brake release and lever.

Thanks for those pics though. That gives me a better idea of how water may be traveling from where you believe the water is getting into my cab. I will give a thorough looking over tomorrow. I really hope this is it.

 

Eddiec,
It only leaks when I pour water in the cowel. I was just wondering how I am going to get a caulk gun or spary can down in that lower area. Are you saying that maybe I don't need to? I don't remember when I had the cowel off last time exactly what it looks like over there, but I do know that I could barely get the shop vac nozzle down there to suck out the leaves and crap.

I'm still not sure on the urethane 3M windo-weld. On their website it appears that they have 2 choices. I have the regular wind-weld, since thats all that is available anymore. The other choice seems like it might have been a better choice for this type of application since it is for repairing leaks. The stuff I have is for initially setting the windshield glass. Any thoughts about the brushable seam sealer or any of the other types of seam sealers?

 

TexasGuy ,on my 89 F250, I used the Duplicolor bed liner paint(the 1 quart paint on). That stuff goes on thick and did a good job in sealing the cowl area. I put on like 5 coats over all, and pored some down both drain areas of the truck. Its a messy way but it did the trick for me. The other way is if you have the ECU mounting bracket removed from the piller on drivers side and get up that way(make sure you reseal it). Passenger side you must remove the A/C ducting from inside and outside to get up in there. Taking off the fenders will not give much more access to those areas. I got updated photos of inside the drivers side cowl area. Its a hard place to photo inside with out a macro camera.

 

I finally found my leak. I was in the right area at one time but since I did not completely remove the windshield trim, I didn't get the whole picture. Here is the whole picture once I used a screwdriver to push in the weak sealed area and sanded a bit. It is the area where I shaded in a rectangle.



I did a leak test covering a little area at a time starting low moving high. Looks like the water was getting in at top and running down the A-pillar and exiting in the area where the parking brake release is. I removed the parking brake release from the body, two screws, and those had visible signs of surface rust on the threads inside the body.

I sanded and sealed it up with a quality sealer. I looked on the passenger side and I may need to pull the trim and seal that too as a precaution.

One thing I can say though is I should not be getting any leaks from the cowl area. T_Guy, I would just use a quart of that bedliner paint as suggested. It really covers well and is very protective. Get the quart and use an old paint brush and a syringe. The syringe can be used to squirt the bedliner paint in areas it is otherwise difficult to reach with a brush. Hope you are successful.

Eddie, thanks much for all the help and pictures. Those did really help see the cab without removal of the dash. I would have felt foolish having removed the dash and no signs of a leak. BTW, I did have a lot of build-up of crap under the bottom windshield trim. The weep holes were covered so I did clean all that out. If it didn't get cleaned, that would be a potential future leak for sure.

 

forgot...

Now that my leak is fixed, I am finally going to pull out the carpet, do a full pressure wash and let it dry out. I know I should have pulled it out earlier, but I was more concerned with making sure the leak got fixed and didn;t want to waste what precious little free time I have to do these types of things.

Weather outlook...rain all last night and so far today. No leak!

 

Its rainy here today, I just happened to think about lifting the hood and looking. It looked like the water would run past the hood hinge mounts so maybe it could sneak past the bolts. Its a 96. Also if any dumb___ alarm installers drill holes in the fire wall to mount a speaker alarm or what ever it can leak past the screws. Just a heads up on more places to look.