Wet carpet

Nathan123 · Dec 17, 2010

My 89 bronco ii's carpet gets wet on the passenger side, right in front of the left hand corner of the seat (closer tot the transmission than the door). The angled part of the floor your feet rest on stays dry. I have weather tech floor mats. If you peel the mat back, there are little droplets of water on the backside of the mat. the carpet is very wet, and smells like cat piss. I only notice this every now and then. It shows up for a week or so and then goes away for awhile. I just don't see what could be leaking?????

4.0B2 · Dec 17, 2010

heater core? lol, mine did....

Nathan123 · Dec 17, 2010

Well, I thought heater core, and I do mysteriously lose coolant. It's not in the oil though and If it was a major problem, I think it would have died by now (year and a half). However, wouldnt a leaky heater core make the entire passenger side carpet wet, not just one patch by the seat?

4.0B2 · Dec 17, 2010

man i can't tell ya, i know mine leaks and its wet in different places at different times... i don't get it either... and my coolant disappears...

i'd say pull the cover off the heater core and see if there is coolant in the cover, its only like 3 bolts in that cover if its the same as my 88.
after you pull the cover, if possible, put a pressure test on your coolant system...

Nathan123 · Dec 17, 2010

Yeah thats sounds like a plan tomorrow I just glanced at the haynes book and it looks like cake so I'll have to give it a look. Also, my temperature gauge used to work when I first got the bronco, it stayed about 1/16" left of center. Awhile back, it started to barley move past C and I figured it was the sending unit and didn't worry about it.

4.0B2 · Dec 17, 2010

mine is doing the same thing now... hmmm.. maybe i should check mine lol. i've just been keeping my coolant full, 30 degrees in cold to me in Mississippi so... haha

geck0 · Dec 18, 2010

mine does it too... but i've tracked mine to i think the small rust hole in the floor board, its very small and not through the carpet, i only found it from under the car, I figured its coming up from water on the road getting sprayed up.? maybe?

Nathan123 · Dec 18, 2010

well, I thought that too, because when I had carpet up to do body mounts, I noticed a rust hole forming in the area, but decided it was probably caused by the wet carpet, not causing the wet carpet. I drove yesterday and I smelled the cat piss smell and I'm so stumped I decided to post it. My point is it like 20 degrees and dry windy here, no water to speak of and it still got wet. My idea is cold air trapped under the rubber floor mat gets heated quickly by the cat which is right under there and condensation forms. But wouldn't every vehicle with floormats have that problem? I still have to look at the heater core but I kinda doubt it's to blame.

geck0 · Dec 18, 2010

what about if the drain cock on the heater ac box is clogged and its draining out internally in the car.... i'm not losing coolant and i have the same issue...

Brandon12 · Dec 18, 2010

Heater core. Does your window get fogged up? Thats another sign of a heater core going bad. I would change it. They are cheap and only takes maybe 20 minutes to change it. Pretty simple. Crappy thing is that its hard (In my truck anyways) for the carpet to dry out and it takes literally forever. Antifreeze would also explain the cat piss. Or maybe you just have cats that like to get in your truck and piss in the same spot every night. :dunno:

Nathan123 · Dec 18, 2010

Well it was dark here when I got the chance to check it out but I pulled the carpeted shield/panel (held on with pop fasteners) from the dash and saw a black plastic casing which I imagine covers the heater core. The black carpeted thing wasn't wet at all, and didn't smell bad and it was getting dark so I'm assuming it's not the heater core. The side window never fogs up unless the windshield and drivers window does. Over the course of a year or so wouldn't the pressure in the cooling system blow the leak so large that it's a big problem or overheat the engine from a large loss of coolant?

whocares · Dec 19, 2010

My 89 BII was doing the same thing. I pulled the carpet out since it was ruined anyway and poured some water on the windshield and down into the cowl vents. Looked inside and there's a trickle of water running down the transmission hump and over to the passenger side. Watched it for a minute and then it splits and goes to the drivers side also. The issue was a rust hole under the cowl where the body meets.

It had old, hardened seam sealer there from the factory that had come loose due to the rust and age. Right now I am battling my final leak (I hope) in the drivers side footwell, looks like the water is coming in around/near where the e-brake mounts. Getting ready to remove the drivers fender and see what I can see.....

Nathan123 · Dec 19, 2010

Thanks whocares thats prolly it because although it didn't rain, it was frosty on the hood/cowl, and as the engine melted the frost, it made enough water to leak. I imagine the hole is somewhere near bottom center of the windshield. Since you bring up leaks, mine also leaks on the passenger side headliner. The Passenger side headliner gets wet when it rains about 6 inches along the windshield, and 2 inches wide. I siliconed all around that corner of the windshield and siliconed all the gutter/seams on that cab corner, and siliconed the roof rack screws and I cant replicate it, it only happens in the rain. Any ideas on that one?

whocares · Dec 19, 2010

No ideas on the headliner issue, luckily I havent had a leak there YET. If you drill out all the spotwelds and take off the cowl, you will see the seam I'm talking about. It runs the length of the cowl, and the sealer stuff is probably all hardened and broke out like mine was, also some rust there too I'm sure.

I used an air hose and blew out any debris, then used brake cleaner on it. Once it was dry I used some silicone caulking and sealed it up really well. I didn't take my cowl off to do it though, I cut the vents on 3 sides and just folded them back to access everything, then folded them back down and secured with a screw when I was done.

AaronC47 · Jan 8, 2011

Leaks ?

Hey Nathan, You said you sillyconed that corner of your windshield, As you drive and the wind and moisture are blowing, I would try sillycone along the entire top edge and more of windshield. As you drive the moisture hitting vehicle, that will find the smallest of holes to seep into. Im thinking moisture gets blown up under the trim and rubber and creeps along until it finds its way inside the cab. Also I would use a good strong industrial sillycone, or for a fish tank. Not the 99 cent stuff at the dollar store. I would do a bead at windshield and rubber and again at trim, rubber, and body sheetmetal, and thats why you want clear.

Wet carpet

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