2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission wet carpet mat, trapped water under carpet

[David_VT]

Hi all,

I was under the carpet installing wiring for emergency strobes and discovered that my carpet mat is soaked and I mean drenched with water like a kitchen sponge on both sides of transmission and both front and back of truck.



The carpet itself is totally dry but under the rubber base of the carpet where you find the thick carpet mat, it is soaked. I would have no idea of the water being there (and rust bubbles) if I had not lifted the carpet up.



Clearly the water is trapped between the carpet's rubber base and the metal floor.



So,

QUESTIONS: (yes I did search the archives):

What is the best way to dry out the mat? (I think I have to pull the seats and carpet, etc... .



What are the places which are the best suspects for this kind of water problem? again, no sign of water on the carpet itself



I see small rust bubbles forming on the floor from the water being trapped against the metal for probably a very long time, what should I do about that? 65Kmiles...



I wish I could find a product to help wick the moisture out of the floor.



I guess I will probably pull the entire carpet and mat and just put the front seats back in until it rains next to see if I can locate the source of the problem. Any suggestions would be appreciated!



Thanks all,

David



PS: there is a small hole in the carpet under the drivers seat where the wiring comes up for the seatbelt harness. Stick your fingers down all the way to the metal floor there to see if your mat is soaked like mine is!!

 

[Dan_69GTX]

I had a similar problem. The water was coming in at the cab mounted brake/cargo light.



I also heard the clearance lights could be a culprit.



Dan

 

[David_VT]

Did you have to pull the carpet?

Did you have to pull the carpet or did you find another way to dry the trapped moisture out of the mat?

 

[Dan_69GTX]

Sorry, I didn't do anything yet. Just last week I found the source of the water leak. I pulled the covers off the wall right behind the seat to find the leak.



I'm also curious if I'll have to pull the carpet or what.



Dan

 

[David_VT]

Put your finger down that hole and feel the mat...

I pulled the plastic lip that runs along the carpet at the sill and was thus able to peel the carpet back from the driver's floor. That is where I started to find the trapped moisture.



I have it flipped up with the door open and the sun shining on it but don't expect it will fully dry out until I pull the beast.



I think we can pull the seats with something like 14 bolts and a few electronic's plugs. Beware the seatbelt sensor under the middle seat (if you have one), as putting it in unside down will lock your seatbelts as the truck will think it has rolled over... .



David

 

[redram]

Re: Did you have to pull the carpet?

Originally posted by David_VT

Did you have to pull the carpet or did you find another way to dry the trapped moisture out of the mat?

I pulled the front seats and pulled up the front carpet and put a jack stand to hold it away from the floor, then put a space heater under the dense cell foam.



The foam is such a dense cell that it does not release the water very well. I did use towels to soak up as much of the water from the foam as possible to spped up the process.



Mine was only wet on the passenger foot box area fortunately. Must have been the angle the truck was parked at.



If it's leaking for a long time, you might consider pulling the carpet, drying it outside of the cab, and adding the sound deadening material to the back wall, floorboard area, etc while you have the seats and carpet out.

 

[David_VT]

what material for added sound deadening?

Good idea on the sound insulation. .



I have some rubber sill guard for roofing that I bought at home depot last year that I was thinking of using. It is rubber with a sticky side that normally would go against plywood on a roof. I would apply that sticky side to the painted metal floor, what all think of that?



Do you think that would be a good idea or should I stay away from things that stick to the floor?



Another had the idea of using cans of undercoating or do it yourself bed liner products.



My current plan (any thoughts welcome):

First step, strip out the seats and flooring

Second step, apply the garden hose to everything I can find

Third step, run the AC and watch the floor to see if condenstation is getting into the truck

Fourth step dry it real well, likely with an electric heater if the sun is not bright enough

Fifth step apply extra sound deadening to floor and behind the back seat of my quadcab, using the heatgun to help the rubber stick to the vertical surfaces

Finally put it back together and hope for the best (or a relo to AZ)



David

 

[John Berger]

David, I would suspect the third brake/cargo light or the drip tube from the AC. I extended the drip tube yesterday with some garden hose and I ordered the gasket for the light from the stealer. It should be in today. My passenger side foot area was the only place that was wet. It has been raining around here a lot lately so I should get a good test on the fixes. I could detect no condensation or drip from under the dash on the passenger side of the truck. I took a garden hose and squirted a shot of water in there and nothing but water came out so I don't believe it was blocked. The water from the drip tube ran between the insulation and the firewall, before I put the extension on. I don't know how long this was going on as the carpet was not wet, just the rubber insulation. The only reason I noticed it was because I had decided to replace a missing fastener on the insulation when I installed my exhaust system last month. The fastener was probably broken off when my travel trailer decided it wanted to pass me. That was also my initial thought about the cause of the moisture.

 

[MJawsman]

I had a similar problem on my 95 a few years ago.



I ordered replacement carpet from Summitt Racing with the pad already attached. While the carpet and seats were out, I sanded the rust spots, primed the affected areas, installed Dyna-Mat sound damper, replaced all trim hardware with stainless fastners, and put it all back together. It was a big job (took 3 vacation days to do it), but I like to do things right and once.

 

[David_VT]

I do love this site for ideas!!

thanks for all the ideas, anyone else?

 

[rspinks]

I fought wet underlay on my '94 regular cab, through an odd series of events it was coming down the inside of the drivers door, out the bottom of the door between the door metal and plastic liner, across the sill below the sill cover and was being wicked into the underlay. 5 points if you followed that.



I had to remove the seats (relatively easy), pull the rubber mat/underlay and let it bake in the sun for 2 days. It was holding a ton of water. Now my '01 smells mouldy at the drivers side footwell so I'll start with the 3rd brakelight and learn how to gut the quadcab.



I still have a new DC replacement rubber mat for a regular cab if anybody is interested.

 

[MJawsman]

There was a TDR article about the door leak several years ago. You might check the back issues. I'm not sure which issue it was, but the fix was removing a plastic plug in the bottom front part of the door.

 

[Turbo Thom]

On a hot summer day, take the sill off, peal back the carpet, get you shop vac, reverse the hose, insert under the carpet, turn it on and let it blow. And I even bought a cheap little $30 one. It took me 2 different days but it worked.



. . Preston. .

 

[1tuffram]

I've an odd leak

Several years ago I too noticed the musky smell in the truck and found a wet carpet underlay. Tried for days to find the leak with a garden hose, started with the 3rd brake light, then all door and window seals, etc. Finally I found when I shoved the hose in an opening behind where the front fenders/door hinges and firewall are water would leak inside. Kind of comes in from the area where the floor vent was located on old trucks. It's hard to describe where the leak is exactly, but if you have the doors open look where the hinges mount to the cab and the a-pillar meets the firewall. There is a body seam that runs down there and that is where my leak is. It looked like a very involved job since about the only way to get access to the body seam is to pull the fenders and who knows what else. Passenger fender whold not be bad, but the drivers side looks to be a PITA with all the electrical stuff attatched to it. I went to a body shop to see how much they would charge. Price was reasonable but they would need the truck for a few days. I never was able to get back. Interesting thing was they commented I was not the only one with this problem. They said they had did a few other trucks with a leak in the same area, and said yes it was a PITA to get to the area that leaks. What I have done to keep my carpet dry for the last 3+ yrs is left the plastic piece off which goes along the foot kick area and door sill and placed a few 1x2 boards under the passenger side carpet to keep it from contacting the floor. Looks silly and people always ask, but I'll get it taken of one day. Might be soon now since the driftwood center band paint is peeling off the drivers side and needs to be taken care of before winter. I'll just have them pull the fenders and seal the leaks when it's in the shop getting repainted.

 

[Lordsman]

a/c drain

Make sure you put a drain on the a/c condensate pan. It faces forward so the air will push the water back in and will overflow in cab. I beleive a 5/8 vinyl tube & clamp will work. This may not be your problem now but it'll get ya.

 

[David_VT]

doing alot of cleanup at the same time

Well, my back seat is in the mud room. My carpet is have ripped up. And I've been cleaning up unfinished projects while doing all this work on the carpet... . The Espar controller is getting properly mounted in the center console, the high idle switch is getting put next to it (forward of the shift lever), and my strobe control switches are getting put there too.



I put a roll of duct tape under the rear carpet and watched the water drain out of that area



I pulled the front carpet up on the drivers side and let it bake in the sun on friday.



Hopefully sunday will be sunny and I can finsh pulling the seats and lay the carpet out to finish drying out.



Thanks to all for the hints, I will look around those hinge areas to see if I can find anything as suggested, along with the brake light and A/C ideas!



David

 

[Scooby]

Water on back seat!

It was raining yesterday and I noticed water droplets on my backseat!! Water is dripping from the headliner. I don't have clearance lights so I'll have to check the third brake light today - glad I came across this posting!