Leaking Firewall

[Marky48170]

Ok, here's my problem my firewall is leaking on the drivers side from many different places like, steering column, clutch master, e brake, and a few others. I narrowed it down to the cowl vent. Just to let you know this is a 1988 Ranger that was setting for a couple of years and I think water stayed between the firewall from the cowl and rusted. My question is 1. Were is the drain for the cowl located on the drivers side ( maybe this is clogged ) 2. has anyone try to stop water from leaking in from the cowl ( firewall ) before and what did you use to stop it. I tried spray undercoating but that doesn't work well. I need something I can bush on. I looked @ rhino liner but @ $80.00 qt I don't know.

 

[strvger]

if you search the threads here, you'll find a pic i posted a few weeks ago about this. it was the pass side, but it's the same spot where the leak develops, where the fender, cowl, and window come together. i just filled that whole area with sealant and called it good. i did the drivers side as a 'just in case' thing. no leaks for over a year now. if you have holes in the firewall, just get some Permatex Black adhesive/sealant and plug them up. good stuff that lasts a very long time.
good luck with your truck and, Welcome to TRS!

 

[MidnightRanger1215]

I had the same problem, I removed the fenders on both sides. If you look at the end of the cowl you will see a patch of metal thats flat under the spot welds. I used a die grinder with a cut off wheels and cut a triangle out of this area. just enough so i could fit my hand in there. At this poin you can see down the whole length of the cowl. Now under the hood on the driver side there is an access panel with 4 tiny screws under the cowl, right in the corner on the fire wall. It is the place where mine started to rot. its simple to fix with no metal work. I used a 2 quarts of resin and an 8 square foot piece of fiberglass cloth. Clean the area with laquer thinnner and ger as much paint and primer off, down to bare metal. Start laying the soaked fiber cloth in there and work your way to the middle of the cowl until the hole is patched. If the hole is really big fill it first with good stff, let dry and glass over that. It will hardenm like stell and last longer than the truck..it fixed mine and its bone dry inside....

 

[killj0y]

any urethane coating should hold up well especially if you paint it afterwords. Do you have access to brush or spray?

 

[06RangerXLT]

you could redo the area, or just seal it, but its what your willing to do.