Is there a cowl drain on a 1988 Ranger?

[SolidSnake84]

Hello everyone. I apologize for my second post in the urgent answers board, but with all of the soaking rain we are experiencing right now (Winchester, VA area) this is starting to be a problem.

I have a thin stream of water coming in the driver and passenger side right now. it is not a major pool of water, but enough to get the carpets visibly wet. luckily no rust on the floor pans yet..

It is coming in from behind the dash somewhere. My guess from reading the posts is that the cowl drain is somehow clogged. I had an 87 F250 that i could take the cowl off and inspect, but this one is welded to the front clip.

Where is the drain for this cowl? Or does it not have one? I've got the truck under the carport now and am going to try and find the drain tomorrow, but everywhere i have looked i can't find anything. Your expert help is always appreciated...

 

[Spott]

There is a drain, it flows out under the fender. You'll have to take the drivers side fender off to get to it. I don't know if there's another on the passenger's side, I never removed that one. Leaves and stuff like to get caught inside the cowl, so cleaning it out is a good idea.

Spott

 

[SolidSnake84]

Thanks Spott! Can you or anyone here post a picture of what it looks like so i know what i'm looking for or is it pretty self explanatory??

 

[enjr44]

There are two drains, they are just rubber flaps over holes in the outboard ends of the cowl. One on each side. There are two access plates on the firewall, one in the middle and one on the drivers side.

If you pull the plate on the driver's side you can put a hose in there and flush it out. You may also get a flexable vacuum hose in there do some cleaning that way. You can do the same with the one in the middle; but, that plate is more difficult to remove. You can also use a stiff wire to push the flaps open while flushing.

However, my guess is that you have a seam between the firewall and the bottom of the cowl that has rusted and pushed the sealer out and is leaking.

There are a number of threads on the subject on this forum. Hopefully you will be able to search for them and get a lot more information. There is just one: http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144318

Ed