rainwater leaking through dash

[old McD]

My 84 DL wagon leaks rainwater from the extreme right (passenger) corner of the bottom side of the glovebox onto the shelf and soaks the floor/carpet with each rainstorm (leaving a nice musty smell) . I had a cracked windshield replaced, and this did not solve the problem. I removed the cowl grill and looked for a drain that may be plugged but could see no evidence of a drain due to the horizontal fin welded in the duct. Is there a water drain that can be opened up? Will the dash have to be removed to locate it??

[scoobiedubie]

I had to apply silicone to the joints on my GL10, at the plastic panels that are between the windshield washer stems.  Subaru has a bogus design in that the vent openings are below the joints in the plastic panels.  And the joints allow water to leak inside the car.

[presslab]

Yes I've had the same leak from the plastic below the windshield. The other hard to find leak came from cracked sealant inside the rain gutters on the roof.

[skishop69]

Sounds like they still didn't get the windshield sealed. My Brat had to go back twice because younger window techs have no experience with the old rubber seals and butyl tape has to be used on our cars when installing. It's also possible the windshield frame could be rotted in a small spot and they missed it. Take your garden hose and tape it to the roof where the water will run over the area you suspect then crawl inside and check the area where the the leak seems to be. I'd remove the glove box for a better view.

[Downwash77]

I had a windsheild in stalled by safelite autoglass and was overwhelmed with regret, the seal didn't even fit properly, I promptly purchased a oem seal and am to have it installed by a real glass shop.

[Crazyeights]

+1!

 

These are not easy cars to put windshields in due to the type of seal involved. I had the front windshield replaced years ago on my 1983 GL Wagon due to a large crack. The car had never had a water leak until after I got it back from having the windshield replaced. Now water poured in to the little tray under the right side of the dash and soaked the carpet during every rain storm. The knife they used to cut out the old gasket also caused damage to the paint on the window channel under the rubber. I didn't find this until years later. By the time I went back in for the third warranty fix, the company had gone out of business. Fast forward a few years and I took the windshield out again to replace it. The knife cuts had spread causing rust which had to be repaired all around the window channel.

 

I would be sure to check the cowl drain area right at the base of the windshield also. Try having a friend run the hose down in to the cowl on a dry day and make sure that's good and water tight inside the car. There is an easy way to check the gasket around the edge of the windshield too. Start the car and run it at idle for 20 minutes or so until it's fully warmed up with heater set to defrost and blower fan speed on high. Make sure all of the windows are rolled up tightly too. This should build up enough pressure inside the car that you can check all of the window gaskets by using a spray bottle of soap and water around the edge of the glass. Dish soap diluted in a spray bottle with warm water works great. You will see lots of bubbles at the areas with leaks.

Edited November 24, 2016 by Crazyeights

[old McD]

Thanks for the tips--i found the leak at the bottom right passenger side of the windshield gasket (brittle,  with a little buckle). Crazyeights: where is the cowl drain? i removed the cowl grill to look for it, but due to the welded in baffles could not see any drain. 

 

The shop manual i have for it indicates there is to be a bead of sealant between the metal and the gasket and between the glass and the gasket-- i know that was not applied during the glass replacement.  I see permatex makes a dedicated product.