I am currently suffering from a water leak that I can't locate. I was hoping someone might have some input as to what the problem may be. Apologies for this being a long winded post but, I just want to cover all the bases. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

I have a 2000 Ram 1500 quadcab that I've owned for three years now. Last fall after a week and a half of rain my truck started smelling foul. I pulled up the floor mat and the carpet between the plastic mat in the carpet and the trim on the bottom of the door frame was soaked (drivers side) . I pulled up the trim, lifted the carpet up and it was water logged, standing water, moldy, the whole nine yards. I pulled up the carpet on the passenger side and it was also soaked.

I removed the front and rear seat and then carpet. The adhesive that secures the padding to the underside of the carpet had disolved and it was seperating and falling apart. The stink was absolutely horrible so I ended up buy a new carpet.

The driver and passenger side floor pan had started to rust so it was nessecary to treat the rust and repaint the floor pans.

I bought all new machine screws and caulked any screw hole as well as around the emergency brake cable where it passes through the floor pan.

Before installing the new carpet I sat inside the truck while my brother soaked the fire wall and windows from the outside with a hose. I only found once place that would leak and that was where the AC and heater core lines pass through the fire wall. The problem with that is that we had to blast it with the hose for quite a while before the water would makes it way through the foam gasket. Also it's located high up on the firewall on the passenger's side. There isn't enough water getting to that area of the fire wall to cause this big of a leak and it would be near impossible for it to flood out the drivers side floor pan as well.

The rear portion of the carpet was dry so this rules out a leak in the rear window.

There is a gasket on the plastic trim under the winshield (below the winshield wipers in the engine compartment). Is was falling off. I re-seated it with silicon. There was also a foam panel inside the drivers side quater panel that had come loose. I put it back in place and sealed it as well.

Since I could only find the one leak (that couldn't have been responsible for the amount of water finding it's way into the engine compartment) I figured the loose gasket was allowing water to drip down into the engine compartment and find it's way through the firewall.

I replaced the carpet and everything was fine over the winter (live in MA...lots of snow and rain).

We just had a rainy stretch of weather for the past week and it flooded out again.

I am at a loss.

At this point I am going to rip out the carpet and hope it is salvagable and hope that with the carpet removed I can see where the leak is coming from when it rains again.

I am ready to blow a gasket having to remove the interior once again and try an track down the problem. If anyone has heard of a similiar problem with this make and model I am all ears.

Thanks

 

do a search, this is a common problem.

 

I have the same problem with my '97 Ram 1500. Figured the water entering the air intakes at the base of the windshield is not escaping, but I can't find the drain holes. I used to suspect crummy door gaskets, but I never saw enough moisture when I opened the door to support this theory. I suppose I should just get a Haynes manual and be done with it, although I'm not even sure they address the problem. Sorry I'm no help at present - let you know if I discover anything. - Bob

 

Roll your windows up and get a fog machine (or dry ice and water (on a towel of course)) let the fog fill the truck and watch where it escapes. simple solution to a simple problem

 

This is a common problem like RamIt said, but I can't remember anybody evey figuring out what it is! [&:] I remember lots of threads people start about it, a few people reply, and the thread just dies with no real solution [sm=dontgetit.gif]

 

Jason - I have a '97 Ram 1500 with the same problem. Not sure, but I may have found the solution. I removed the plastic cowling at the base of the windshield (just unscrew the cheesy plastic torx "bolts" and pop the wiper blades off. If you've never done it, just insert a screwdriver at the blade base and slide the tab out). You'll notice a pan spanning the width of the engine compartment that, in my case, was welded to another section which holds a vacuum device underneath the passenger side wiper and also isolates the rainwater flow from the firewall - or SHOULD. The weld appeared intact on the driver's side, but there was a gap on the passenger side which was filled with leaf crap, etc. I had hosed it out before this project, and the area behind this gap adjacent to the firewall was wet. I ran a thin points gapper under the separated sections to clean it out and filled it up with silicon caulk. It's been raining for three days and it's still bone-dry. I recently had the heater core replaced, which contributed to the leak, but I had a flood after that, so the core wasn't the only problem. Hoping this is it - it's pissing me off. Might be worth a shot - good luck - Bob

 

I had a slight leak from my rear window that followed a groove around the edge of the floor at the base of the back and side panels and went down hill to the front. Only reason I noticed was the step trim screws were rusty and a loose rusty screw laying in the groove.

 

Thanks for the replies, appreciated.

I live in MA. We just got done with two solid weeks of rain. MA is flooded out as is my truck.

I parked the truck after it flooded out. We had two solid weeks of rain so I couldn't removed the seat and carpet (my boat is in my garage being rebuilt ). I did the best I could to dry it out a little bit waiting for the wheather to clear out.

I didn't drive the truck for the second week of the "monsoon" but it still filled up with water. This rules out any leaks from water splashing up on the firewall. It has to be a faulty door/window gasket or something odd under the plastic panel on the bottom of the windshield.

I am going to start tearing it apart tommorrow.

I am 33 and I have been maintaining my own cars/trucks my whole life (I am not a profesional mechanic buy any means but I know my way around cars/trucks). This is by far the worst problem (biggest pain in the a**)I have had to diagnose and deal with.

 

I've read about the leak occuring at the brake light on the rear of the cab. Like Chopper1 said, the water will flow around the floor, rather than going across the floor and unto the rear carpets. You might want to pop the light off and check the gasket.