Was vacuuming my 2001 - 4.7 Quad cab and noticed that the bottom of my mat was wet on the passenger side. I was feeling the floor and notice water dripping under the truck. Pulling up the carpet the foam was saturated with water. I washed the truck about a week ago so now I'm debating whether it was the washing and I have a leak or is the air conditioning condensor on that side? Any ideas to resolve this issue? And will the foam ever dry?

Martin

 

sounds like the heater core, do a pressure test on your cooling system to find any leaks. there should be instructions for this in your chiltons manual, or have a shop do it for you. heater cores are usually expensive to replace because you have to pull the whole dash apart to do it. although i havent change a dodge heater core yet this is usually the case. if your not capable of doing it yourself and cant afford to pay a shop to do it you can always bypass the heater system but your heater wont work.

 

If it was a heater core, you would probably be smelling the anti-freeze.

I would guess the drain hose for your evap is plugged. Humidity in the air condenses around the evaporator, then the water runs out a drain hose. This hose gets plugged a lot of times. Look under the hood on the passenger side of the fire wall.. fairly low down. Stick a wire or blow compressed air into this hose and then the water should come out.

 

good call, unless hes running just water (another reason for the heater core to die after only 5 years).

 

Martin,

By all accounts wet passenger side floor boards appear to be a common occurence in Gen II Dakotas and from reading and researching as well as my own observations, these are some conclusions that I have come to with regards to the source(s) :

1. Pinched or clogged A/C condenser drain (previously mentioned). This is a small drain line that protrudes on the passenger side firewall and is sometimes hard to see. Some people have had success fabricating an elbow for this to direct it downwards instead of horizontally as it currently is to help prevent it from becoming clogged. If you see water draining from this on a hot day while using your A/C though, this may not be the culprit.

2. The heater box penetration where it goes through the firewall (below windshield on passenger side under windshield wiper). Without tearing your whole dashboard apart you can sometimes get to this by removing the windshield wiper arms, and the plastic shrowd under the wipers at the bottom of the windshield. The foam gasket around the heater box penetration seems to dry out and leak. I reached in and siliconed around mine.

3. Leaky gasket around rear side window(s) on club cab.

4. Leaky gasket around back window.

5. Body seam not properly sealed on right side of cab below rear window.

What I did was take out a lot of the interior trim, fold up carpet and pad, and run water from a garden hose over the suspected trouble spots while someone spotted for water inside the truck. After you locate, you can attempt to seal yourself with silicone or bring to a glass place or body shop to seal. The rear window and side window really threw me and took awhile to track down because I wanted to believe that the water was only coming in from the front under the dash. My truck was leaking from 2, 3, and 4 above.

To dry the carpet and padding, you may want to remove from truck and leave out to dry on a sunny day depending on your situation. This may be a good idea anyways until you are certain that you have located and corrected the source(s) of the water. .........or, you can be lazy like me and wring as much water out as you can and sop up with a sponge and a wet vac. Then fold up carpet and padding as best you can on the passenger side without taking front seats out. You'll need to remove some of the trim and maybe the rear seats (I'm not familiar with the quad set up). Leave the door(s) open on a sunny day(s) with the sun beating in. I also stuck the end of a small leaf blower up under the carpet to expedite..........this may take awhile and works best if you have another vehicle to use during the process.

I hope that this is of some use to you.

Regards,
Bob

 

Dropped my truck off at the dealer this morning to solve the water issue. They called in the afternoon and said it was some seal that needed to be replaced, the dash would have to be replaced. $1600!!!! No-Way...

I've got to investigate this a little more. I didn't have any luck finding the drain tube. Can anyone be more specific on its location?

 

You have to love the dealerships. They never tell people god news.

 

We had the same problem this week, found the A/C drain hose was missing from the engine compartment (locate on rear wall of engin compartment on the passenger side, noticed just a hole with no hose attached) Water wasn't able to drain properly.

 

my '99 has the same problem. the previous owners obviously knew about it cuz they coated the floorboards with a sealant.

 

having same prob. w./2001 Dakota Anyone have a diagram showing exact location of a/c drain tube. Can't find it on mine. Really bad leak too I have a Haynes manual,but no help
Perhaps if someone has diagram of complete a/c schenamics