Strange leaking

[Nathan123]

Awhile back I posted about my carpet in the front seat area getting wet under the rubber mats and smelling like cat piss. Well it was nothing but rain this week and I noticed that the carpet was really really wet and smelled horrible so I decided it was time to look into fixin this. So I took everything out of the inside and pulled the carpet out. Cleaned the whole tub out with a vacuum and got out the garden hose. Turns out water was trickling down from the pedal area and beside the computer. So I opened the cowl compartment and found a bunch of mouse junk in it and big chunks of gray seam sealer stuff. Cleaning out the cowl took care of the drivers side leakage but there is still a small trickle by the computer. It comes right down the gray wire loom. Also, there was a bag of fiberglass insulation and some foam rubber sheets stuffed up in the fenders, so I pulled this all out, in hopes it will let water drain better instead of backing up into the cab.


I hope the pictures are okay size
Any input on this?

 

[rush2252]

I believe this is a known issue for this generation. Is is possible to seal the area around the loom where it comes through the body?

 

[chad333]

I have the same issue. How did you take the cowl out?

 

[Nathan123]

Well the actual cowl piece is spot welded in. All I did was take the 3 screws (7/32" head) out of the postcard sized plate in the far driverside corner of the fire wall. I pried it off with a screw driver and turned the hose back on. You'll realize that the cowl just fills up with water and drains out a little flap on the drivers side. Just reach in and take all the junk out. There's another plate behind the intake, but it's held on with rivet looking fasteners that would be difficult to get out. Next, I pulled those two big pieces of foam out from the fenders (from the bottom) and pulled out a bag of loose fiberglass insulation from beside the blower motor (I have no idea if this is from the p.o. or from Ford).That solved most of the problem, but to be sure I caulked around a big round rubber plug in the fire wall behind the pedals and an oval plug behind the computer. I popped out the body mound plugs and put them back in with caulk. My passenger floor had two half dollar sized rust holes right where the floor rolls up where the seat bolts. I welded and caulked in steel over the holes, and then I ran out of time. Spring break is over and I won't get to work on her for a weekend or two. I need paint the steel yet and I think it will be good. The next time it rains my dad will check for leaks and drive through some puddles. Keep in mind the whole carpet is out of the truck (so it got pressure washed since it was soaked anyway), which was surprising easy to do. I couldn't get the seat belt buckles out so I just cut around them, everything else came out really easy. I cant get anymore pics right now because I'm at school but I'll try to answer any questions.