I'm at my wit's end with my windshield.......

[Elzie]

Short story is my windshield was replaced by Safelite in October of 2020. Soon after there would be a large amount of water running down the inside of the windshield in the morning, regardless of rain or not. Not just condensate, but a full windshield of large beads of water that would run down the glass to the dash.

Now the long story. Naturally, I called Safelite about this. I get passed around from department to department until I get a guy who tells me I need a dehumidifier in my truck and all will be right. I argue with him as he tells me most vehicles need dehumidifiers. So, I carry my dehumidifier out of my basement and down to my truck. I plug it in and let it run over night. When I still had the problem the next morning I sent him a pic of the windshield with water and the dehumidifier in my truck, running. Now he goes on about all the different makes of cars he had that did this. I point out that we are not trying to find a solution to his problem, but my truck. I asked for them to just replace the windshield as I didn't have any issues before the replacement.

Early November they send a technician to my job. He drives through the lot and keeps going. He called my home phone, not my cell. I never game them my home phone number, wtf? The next week, a technician shows up at my work. He pulls the windshield and tells me there is nothing wrong so he's putting it back in. The problem still persists, but now I'm scraping ice from the inside of the windshield. Another tech comes to my job. Same thing, nothing wrong and put the windshield back in. Nobody will replace the windshield even though they all brought new ones with them. Finally on New Year's Eve of 2020, two older well seasoned techs come to my house and pull the windshield. They load up the sealant and put it back in. They mentioned that they know the original tech and he's a big guy that likes to hang off the door when working and it looks like my drivers door was bent. They were correct. I bought a new seal, but kept it in the box until last week.

All was right with my windshield until two weeks ago. I am back to the same water issue. It is now dripping onto the passenger vent and last weekend it dripped onto my wife's leg. I need some input here as I am about ready to trade the truck in if I can't get this resolved. I love this truck. I have no payments and it is a 2017 Laramie with only 43k on it.

Here's what I have done so far:

Checked the cab vents to make sure they are good.
Replaced the driver's door seal and bent the door back into shape.
Pulled the molding on the passenger side and put some urethane sealant on the body seam and corner of the windshield.
Pulled the pillar trim on the passenger side to check for signs of water - all good.
Edit: The first thing I checked, last year, was the heater core and evaporator box drain. They were also good.

It's driving me crazy. Any input is greatly appreciated. I'm almost thinking of going to a local (not Safelite) shop and paying out of pocket for a new windshield.

 

[crash68]

Does this truck have a sunroof? Check the drains they can come off and leak inside the cab.
I'm guessing the problem isn't the windshield, but water elsewhere in the cab. Run a garden hose over the windshield from the top, if the leak is coming from there it will show.

 

[WadXpress]

my third break light leaked Because of the crappy foam gasket they use at the factory. I replaced it with a solid rubber gasket material I found at Home Depot. Worth a shot for only a few bucks and few minutes of your time

 

[Elzie]

It doesn't have a sunroof. Is it possible for the third brake light to leak and run to the front of the cab? I've been through the car wash with no leaks, but that was before this started again.

 

[2020PW]

Spray it with dye and black light it

 

[Dredger]

I would look closely at everything mounted on the roof that their large tech may have been using to balance himself (antennas). Might be worth pulling the headliner down.

 

[Smokeybear01]

I'm really old school here, but I didn't know it was possible to remove a windshield without damaging it. But like Crash stated, run a hose over the cab and look for a leak. With the amount of water you have inside it should be obvious. And don't rule out the third brake light. I think everyone's leaks at some point. BTW-I leave one of those dollar dehumidifiers from Dollar Tree in my truck at all times and replace as necessary. It took a long time to finally get rid of the moisture. Also, your plug in dehumidifier needs at least 55°F to suck any water out of the air. Good luck and keep us posted.
Edit-I forgot to ask, do you have the cab lights up front? I had to replace all the seals on those when I replaced them with smokey lensed LEDs. One of mine was leaking, but I don't remember if the water made it into the cab through that at the time.

 

[huntergreen]

If the windshield was replaced through your ins, let them deal with this.

 

[JTonietto]

my third break light leaked Because of the crappy foam gasket they use at the factory. I replaced it with a solid rubber gasket material I found at Home Depot. Worth a shot for only a few bucks and few minutes of your time

It doesn't have a sunroof. Is it possible for the third brake light to leak and run to the front of the cab? I've been through the car wash with no leaks, but that was before this started again.

I had a similar situation on my 2018; the third brake light was the culprit.

A friend of mine is a glass installer. We spent almost 2 hours trying to find the windshield leak that the dealer claimed was allowing water into the front compartment. After a rain, the carpet would be wet at the door sills and there would be water on the floor mats. Every morning, there would be beads of condensation on the inside of the windshield. We could not find any leaks along the A pillar or the windshield or at the firewall. When I got the truck back home and I was looking for leaks in other locations, I noticed water "trails" on the back window of the cab.

Ultimately, I found that the third brake light seal was separated from the roof and the water was running into the opening, along the upper roof to cab seam and down the D pillar, behind the trim panels, into the rear door sill area. From there, it flowed into the front compartment. I found wet carpet edges along both front and rear door openings. All the door sill plate clip retainers (in the rocker panels) were full of water.

I added a supplementary closed-cell foam seal to the third brake light and so far, it has stopped the leaks and the condensation.

 

[JW2 Innovations]

It probably cold up in MA now, but I would pull everything that blocking the area from view that leak area is at and run a garden hose over the front of your truck while inside looking for leaks. I've had previous vehicle water leaks from sunroof, clearance lights across the top of the cab, windshields, door seals, and Jeep lower windshield seals which are real fun to find since that windshield is designed to fold forward. And all of them I've found the leak by pouring a constant garden hose feed of water while actively looking inside for the leak. You may even have to look up above the headliner by basically removing enough plastic that holds it up to get some light up there to see well. But when you've dug in far enough, you'll see it.

 

[RedSRT4Me]

Short story is my windshield was replaced by Safelite in October of 2020. Soon after there would be a large amount of water running down the inside of the windshield in the morning, regardless of rain or not. Not just condensate, but a full windshield of large beads of water that would run down the glass to the dash.

Now the long story. Naturally, I called Safelite about this. I get passed around from department to department until I get a guy who tells me I need a dehumidifier in my truck and all will be right. I argue with him as he tells me most vehicles need dehumidifiers. So, I carry my dehumidifier out of my basement and down to my truck. I plug it in and let it run over night. When I still had the problem the next morning I sent him a pic of the windshield with water and the dehumidifier in my truck, running. Now he goes on about all the different makes of cars he had that did this. I point out that we are not trying to find a solution to his problem, but my truck. I asked for them to just replace the windshield as I didn't have any issues before the replacement.

Early November they send a technician to my job. He drives through the lot and keeps going. He called my home phone, not my cell. I never game them my home phone number, wtf? The next week, a technician shows up at my work. He pulls the windshield and tells me there is nothing wrong so he's putting it back in. The problem still persists, but now I'm scraping ice from the inside of the windshield. Another tech comes to my job. Same thing, nothing wrong and put the windshield back in. Nobody will replace the windshield even though they all brought new ones with them. Finally on New Year's Eve of 2020, two older well seasoned techs come to my house and pull the windshield. They load up the sealant and put it back in. They mentioned that they know the original tech and he's a big guy that likes to hang off the door when working and it looks like my drivers door was bent. They were correct. I bought a new seal, but kept it in the box until last week.

All was right with my windshield until two weeks ago. I am back to the same water issue. It is now dripping onto the passenger vent and last weekend it dripped onto my wife's leg. I need some input here as I am about ready to trade the truck in if I can't get this resolved. I love this truck. I have no payments and it is a 2017 Laramie with only 43k on it.

Here's what I have done so far:

Checked the cab vents to make sure they are good.
Replaced the driver's door seal and bent the door back into shape.
Pulled the molding on the passenger side and put some urethane sealant on the body seam and corner of the windshield.
Pulled the pillar trim on the passenger side to check for signs of water - all good.
Edit: The first thing I checked, last year, was the heater core and evaporator box drain. They were also good.

It's driving me crazy. Any input is greatly appreciated. I'm almost thinking of going to a local (not Safelite) shop and paying out of pocket for a new windshield.

A rock hit your windshield and breaks it. Order a new windshield.

side note:

You need to throughly document this door situation. A technician hanging on my door causing damage is the liability of their company. You would need to submit your claim to whoever insures Satelite with your case.

 

[1979PowerWagon360]

There's one thing confusing me; you say water pouring in whether it's rained or not. Did I miss something else along the way? Whether it rained or not you have water running in every morning, not just condensation?