I’ve finally decided to trace down the water leak I’ve had for a couple years on my passenger side. As you’ll find out this has been an absolute mess of a search, I am still no closer to solving my problem.
I began by pulling down my head liner enough to see the metal and rule out several possible leak locations. I first cleaned off my antenna (2003 only FYI) and made sure it was sealed and secured better than it was from factory. Of course I checked my center lights, no water there. I checked the corner light, it’s still sealed well, as well as the trim bolt that goes into the truck body under the light. They are all well sealed and you can feel the back end of both the bolt and the light electrical - all bone dry. I finally noticed the water was entering at the extreme forward right between the sheet metal and the glass of the windshield. There is NO other possible leak location I determined.
I finally decided to pull back the windshield seal at the top and check for obvious leaks, there were none. I then filled the gap with some flowable window sealant in an effort to seal any leaks. I have tried and retried this 5-6 times now and could not seal the front.
Finally I decided to pull up the roof rail track in order to check the body seam seal, it is perfect.
I can only figure one thing, the water is leaking in further up the window seal and following a tunnel inside the sealant to the corner edge, there is no other possible explanation.
In my last ditch effort to solve this issue I have filled the entire seam all the way to the top, frankly I don’t possibly see how it could leak the way it is now. I am at a loss and feel I may just need to get the windshield resealed. This is not a permanent solution obviously, but my goal at this moment is to stop the water no matter what so I can slowly work to find the spot it’s leaking in.
By the way, if anyone braves pulling off the rails, go ahead and buy a new tube of RTV and seal those rear lights like you would the front. Unlike the front lights the rear cannot be accessed without removing the full rail.
Additionally the rail does NOT split, it looks like it should come apart into 3 pieces to be removed, this is wrong, the entire length of the rail must be removed***
I would post pictures of the removed rails and problem areas but it appears the site does not support my phone oddly.
I began by pulling down my head liner enough to see the metal and rule out several possible leak locations. I first cleaned off my antenna (2003 only FYI) and made sure it was sealed and secured better than it was from factory. Of course I checked my center lights, no water there. I checked the corner light, it’s still sealed well, as well as the trim bolt that goes into the truck body under the light. They are all well sealed and you can feel the back end of both the bolt and the light electrical - all bone dry. I finally noticed the water was entering at the extreme forward right between the sheet metal and the glass of the windshield. There is NO other possible leak location I determined.
I finally decided to pull back the windshield seal at the top and check for obvious leaks, there were none. I then filled the gap with some flowable window sealant in an effort to seal any leaks. I have tried and retried this 5-6 times now and could not seal the front.
Finally I decided to pull up the roof rail track in order to check the body seam seal, it is perfect.
I can only figure one thing, the water is leaking in further up the window seal and following a tunnel inside the sealant to the corner edge, there is no other possible explanation.
In my last ditch effort to solve this issue I have filled the entire seam all the way to the top, frankly I don’t possibly see how it could leak the way it is now. I am at a loss and feel I may just need to get the windshield resealed. This is not a permanent solution obviously, but my goal at this moment is to stop the water no matter what so I can slowly work to find the spot it’s leaking in.
By the way, if anyone braves pulling off the rails, go ahead and buy a new tube of RTV and seal those rear lights like you would the front. Unlike the front lights the rear cannot be accessed without removing the full rail.
Additionally the rail does NOT split, it looks like it should come apart into 3 pieces to be removed, this is wrong, the entire length of the rail must be removed***
I would post pictures of the removed rails and problem areas but it appears the site does not support my phone oddly.