New Member With Questions

[CMayrant]

Hello All,



I have been reading the forum as a visitor for over a year and finally decided to join as a member. I have owned my '93 W250 CTD for six years now and love it. Just had the exterior re-painted and want to work on the interior but I am experiencing 2 annoying problems:



1. Water is entering the cab from somewhere. I have checked around the windshield and roof marker lamps... no leaks there. All I know is that after it rains or snows, the insulation under the floor mat is so wet I can wring out the water. Also no heater core problems.



2. There is a rattle when driving at any speed at the upper right portion of the dashboard. I have removed the glove box and driven, listening to the rattle, (while sitting in the middle of the bench seat) but cannot isolate it. There is nothing loose on the inside or outside of the truck that would cause this sound.



Hopefully someone out there has had to deal with these issues.



Thanks for any advice.



1993 W250 Regular Cab, 133,000, Banks, K&N, Tweaked Pump, In-Dash Gauges,Rebuilt Getrag, Custom Headache Rack.

 

[pepecat]

Welcome to TDR

Welcome, I'm relatively new here too... TDR is great, you'll be glad you joined. Anyway I had a rattle in my truck dash as well, and went crazy trying to find it, and this is what/where I found the problem... Pulled the air vent cover off, just left of the glove box and there was about 4 dollars in old change in there, not newer than 1992, covered in old dust!!! :-laf I have no idea how it got there!

Nick

 

[DBF]

Water is entering the cab from somewhere

My truck isn't home tonight - it's in a shop having the headliner replaced - so I can't be exact on locations.



My water in the cab came from overflowing the air distribution box (at the passenger's foot) where air is pushed out to the louvers and vents. There's a nipple drain under the hood, near or on the firewall, that had clogged up.



Rolling the nipple between thumb and forefinger (don't get excited) broke up the clog and the water rushed out.



No problems since. Might not be your problem, but it was mine.



Regards, DBF

 

[dan brooks]

Welcome, and good luck with the rattle. I have one somewhere under the upper dash on the driver's side that I can't track down and it's driving me nuts. Pretty bad when it can be heard over the stereo... . Anyone know if the cowl cracks can cause this - that is about the right area (for my rattle, anyway) - and short of removing the fenders is there any definite way of knowing if the cowl is cracked?

 

[paccool]

Make sure the cargo light is well sealed. I had water going in there that made it all the way to the front floorboard. You can pull the light off and look for water streaks where it was at on the roof. I had no trouble seeing where mine had been leaking.



Also, the drivers side fresh air vent at the side below the dash is known to leak, I took mine apart and sealed it off. I also had a leak on the passenger side, it turned out to be a plug behind the kick cover about 4" above the floor. Take the cover off and you can see a plug about 1. 5" across. I had water marks coming from this as well.



If the carpet got soaked, take off the sill plates and raise it up to allow air to get under it and get it dry. I used some old water bottles to hold it up for a few warm days.



I hope your is something as simple as one of the above!!

 

[MFalkinham]

If the rattle happens only on bumps, then I'd say it's the cowl cracks flexing. You can see the cracks by opening the door and looking between the door and the fender near the top. To repair them properly you'd have to remove the front fenders; otherwise you can try coating the crack with a silicone sealant to make it quieter.



- Mike

 

[Greenleaf]

My rattle and squeek is quite something to behold. I removed my dash and loaded it with foam. still lots of squeeking. It turned out to be my cowel cracks. Don't intend to fix 'em anytime soon



-S

 

[JLEONARD]

I have the "rattle" in the upper right dash as well... and I'm convinced it's the cowl crack.

Only happens in the cold weather... I think it's the metal contraction that makes the creaking sound as I would descibe it.

Only a couple more months and the noise will go away again for a while

I have no plans to fix it right now.



I have a leak into my cab as well... I believe its comming from the rain gutter near the windshield. I've read that it's a common issue. Gotta break out the sillycone caulk when the weather warms up.

Jay

 

[CMayrant]

Thank you all for your input and warm welcome! In my excitement about being a new member, I posted this thread THEN did a search The more I read, the more I am convinced that the dash rattle is due to a cracked cowl... too close to the vicinity to be a coincidence :{



When it gets warmer and I have couple of days to do nothing better, I suppose I will pull the fender(s) and repair the crack(s). I just got my cowl cover back from the chrome shop today go figure! I will continue to pursue the water leaks and will use the great advice I have found on the forum so far.



As far as chroming things goes, the next item is the piece right below the grille in front of the air intake. I made some clean looking openings to allow more air into the lower portion of the intercooler and also made a direct opening in front of the air intake. I don't know if it improves anything, but it will look cool (to me anyway!)



Thanks again

 

[hmickelson]

All good answers. I had water under the rubber floor covering and found it to be from the door. Put new hinge pins in and adusted the door and hooray no more water. On our trip to Alaska I thought the dash was going to collapse on some of the rough roads. It didn't. I think the Dodge Diesel is one great maching but the Dodge body is the pits. h mickelson