It's raining, and our new acquisition has wet carpet. Both sides are wet near the seat and door sill. The toe boards are dry on both sides. What do you think this is from: Windshield? Doors? Body seams? Cowl vents?
Could be coming from a number of places, first one to check is the cowl. Get out the garden hose, and look up under the dash, no leaks up there then you're lucky, the rest are easy fixes.
Just pulled the car into the garage and poured water in the cowl. This is an A/C car and there is definitely a slow drip from the corner of the A/C box nearest the corner of the firewall and kick panel. I saw no leaks from the other side, however I did notice quite a few areas of spotty surface rust up around the brake assembly and other metal areas. For what it's worth, most of the water did drain from the cowl area and came out behind the front wheels on both sides as it should. Since it is raining, I also noticed a small trickle of water from the lower edge of the windshield gasket about 3" up on the passenger side A-pillar. There was also few drops trickling down the passenger side door in the same general area. Could be the same leak for both, but I also noticed someone had tried applying foam tape around the entire top edge of the door which I suppose was to help seal the door. Didn't work - or at any rate doesn't work now. Apparently - and sadly - it seems a cowl repair is in order, as well as a new windshield gasket and upper door weatherstripping. While I'm at it, I'll be replacing the trunk seal. Although the rubber actually looks perfectly fine and is quite soft, there was a good deal of surface water on the inside skin of the trunk lid - almost like condensation up inside the inner bracing - and a little water in the passenger rear of the trunk. First question is where do I go for the cowl repair (I live in DFW) and how much should I expect to pay? Second question is do I have any other options? (Other than not driving in the rain and keeping the car garaged.) Thanks for your help...
Sounds like you have a small cowl leak on the passenger side. Factory AC cars, for the most part, do not have a cowl vent on the drivers side (I have seen one that did). I would suggest pulling the heater/AC box down and get a good look at what you are dealing with. Hopefully it is not that bad and can be an easy fix. Is you windshield gasket cracked? It may not need replaced...just resealed. Still...the windshield may need to come out depending on how bad your cowl repair ends up being. Look at the cowl repair article I wrote in the technical articles section.
