Leaky Ranger

[carpart67]

Quick question for everyone. I've got a 1986 Ranger, Ext cab 2wd. It leaks very bad when it rains hard. Front passengers side floor gets swampped, seems to be coming from the firewall somewhere and runs down. Has anyone incountered this problem before? Just wondering where I should start looking. Need to fix this ASAP as it rains frequently around here. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[gribly]

My XR4Ti used to leak there. Water came down the vents at the rear of the hood, and normally that drains on the ground. My firewall and battery tray were rusty and funneled it right into the passenger side footwell. Pop your hood and dig around the passenger side of the firewall for anything suspicious. For now, you could probably use a silicone gun. I used an old stop sign and made a new battery tray and used some of the sign to reinforce the firewall where it rotted out.

Edit - I see you're in Nova Scotia, I'm in Maine, yeah, we have gotten a lot of rain lately.

 

[jhammel85]

87 Ranger here with the same problem.
I haven't looked into mine but I plan to pull those inspection plates along the top of the firewall to have a look.

If I were you, I would start there. Under the hood, along firewall, look a into those little crevices all the way to the right or left. I think you are supposed to have something there and I have nothing. Hopefully thats where mine is leaking....
I guess you could always pull the dash pad and hope to find something. Most likely though, it's in the cowl system that should run to the ground...

 

[carpart67]

Raining today, I'm going to try to follow the path of the water lol. There was a little rubber plug that looked like it was seeping. Sealed it up, so it obviously wasn't that..sigh.

 

[whocares]

Check your antennae wire, sometimes it gets pulled tight and water will follow it into the cab. It needs a little droop in it to cause the water to drop off inside the fender instead of the cab.

 

[carpart67]

Check your antennae wire, sometimes it gets pulled tight and water will follow it into the cab. It needs a little droop in it to cause the water to drop off inside the fender instead of the cab.

That's good advice. The truck didn't start leaking until recently, and I did have the radio out a short time ago...

Thanks

 

[whocares]

No problem, hopefully its something simple like that. I had a leak years ago and it was the antennae wire, it took me forever to figure it out. Something so simple I guess I just overlooked it.

 

[r1hatman]

Check you cowl cleanout hole, mine was doing the same thing till I took off the plates on the firewall and cleaned them out and ran a hose through there.

 

[carpart67]

Had a look. Appears to be a rust hole up top, in what I think you would call the inner fender. Will have to take the fender off to get at it. Not exactly fun. I'll check my cowl though, as maybe if it's cleaned out the water won't run that way.

 

[whocares]

That sucks, but at least you found it.

 

[gwaii]

on either side of the cowl there are drain-out holes covered by a rubber flap.these have a tendency to get plugged by tree leaves or other crap that gets washed down into the cowl.the best way to clean them out is to remove the fenders,so it's not a simple job,but if they are plugged the water will build up in the cowl and pour down the air intake for the heater and land on the passenger side floor.

 

[Spitfire1975]

the windshields will leak as well and run down the side of the passenger kickplate. Stuff some paper towels between the window and dash and see if it gets wet.