1991 Ford Ranger leak repair

[Revo39564]

Found the leaks with my Ford Ranger. It has very little surface rust and undercarriage rust but the leaks caused some leaks. The cowl drain is clean, 0 debris. It appears to me most of the seal sealer cracked and fell out. To fix this I was think to sand it down to bare metal , prime and add new seam sealer. Do you think that would be affective?

other leaks already fixed. Windshield and Heater core.

 

[Revo39564]

Leaks caused some rust… not leaks lol

 

[Shran]

Your process sounds fine, the only thing I would change is to just scuff up paint that is in good shape instead of removing it. Obviously you will need to take rust down to bare metal but the less factory paint & primer you remove, the better. I would prime your bare metal with acid etch primer, then prime over that with regular primer, then seam seal, then prime again.

You can get brush on seam sealer or it comes in a squeeze tube. I am most familiar with 3M products and they seem to work well. Lord is also a good brand.

For the drip rails, I would suggest scraping out as much of the old stuff as possible, wire wheel out the rest and then prime and apply self levelling seam sealer there. You will have to dam up the ends with masking tape like this:

This is what I use, it is a 2 part epoxy that cures rock hard:

Once you have that filled, you will want to squirt some of the brushable/squeeze tube stuff into the corner where the roof skin meets the A pillar. The roof is hollow and there is a little hole there that is easy to miss... you want it filled, and it's usually halfway covered up by windshield trim.

The 3M self levelling stuff is sandable so you can prime right over it and paint.

 

[Revo39564]

Thanks for the detail. I appreciate it. Sounds like a good plan.

this leak shocked me . It is a hole into the cowl drain that is plugged with wire tubing holder.

 

[dvdswan]

Your big culprit will be the drip rail crack and windshield. The factory holes I would not worry about. I would pull the windshield trim bezel and use some windshield sealant around the glass and the sealing surface. Check your cargo light if you have one and back window as well.

Headliner wet across front. | The Ranger Station

 

[Revo39564]

Your big culprit will be the drip rail crack and windshield. The factory holes I would not worry about. I would pull the windshield trim bezel and use some windshield sealant around the glass and the sealing surface. Check your cargo light if you have one and back window as well.

Headliner wet across front. | The Ranger Station

 

[Revo39564]

I think the windshield leak is gone.
Just had a new windshield put in. Middle of window had delaminated due to heater core leak. I poured water in roof drain today then the cowl drain and took picks of the leaking areas.

The factory hole through gutter drain that was plugged with wires is a long time leak . It rusted the top of the brake booster and was leaking into cab through a grommet

 

[Revo39564]

Yes replaced the rear taillight before anything. I have read lots of post but was wondering the best way to repair .I think sealant would work instead of welds

 

[Revo39564]

Forgot to post the seam
Leaks . All the seam sealer has fallen off