Water leak on driver seat and floor

[CamperMike]

Today after a heavy rain i found the drivers floor and seat wet on my 2018. It looks like it snuck thru the door seal but i we nothing out of place there. Had this happened to anyone else before?

 

[Daniel12]

You have a sunroof?

 

[CamperMike]

You have a sunroof?

No i do not.

 

[Ken226]

No i do not.

I had a similar mystery leak in the wife's Durango. the water was filling the passenger side floorboards and filling the battery compartment under the seat. It was clean rainwater, and only happenend when it was raining. (Which, here in the PNW, is pretty much every single day.

If frustrated me for about a month before I stripped out the seats and carpet, and lay on my back staring up under the dash with a flashlight, while it was raining. I even had to remove the cabin air filter and blower before I found where the water was coming in.

It ended up being an air intake gasket for the HVAC, in the engine compartment, against the firewall. I had to take the hood off and take out all of the plastic peices below the windshield wipers to get access.

The rain was getting into the HVAC box, and dripping down into the blower motor. A few months after I fixed this leak, I also had to replace the blower motor because the rainwater had rusted the bearings.

the gasket for #3 in this diagram was damaged. I replaced it with RTV and the problem never returned:

 

[CamperMike]

Thanks for the idea Ken, but the hvac is on the passenger side, and my seat was also wet so it had to come from higher up. But the headliner was dry so i am guessing door or window seal but I'm not sure.

 

[jawzs2]

Try sticking a dollar bill between the door and body where the gasket is and close the door on it, then pull on it to see how much tension it has. Start at the front, opening and closing the door on it, repeat the process, moving the bill back a little at a time. See if there's any spot where the tension is really weak or almost non-existent. That should help determine if the gasket isn't sealing in spots.

 

[markabby]

windshield seal? bad or cracked welds on the roof? was the truck parked level? could be something in the rear? There's a few threads here on leaks..mostly from the third light or rear window seal.

lay a hose on top and see if any water is coming in around the area you suspect.

just throwing out ideas....

 

[CamperMike]

windshield seal? bad or cracked welds on the roof? was the truck parked level? could be something in the rear? There's a few threads here on leaks..mostly from the third light or rear window seal.

lay a hose on top and see if any water is coming in around the area you suspect.

just throwing out ideas....

Truck was level. Rear was dry. I have dealt with water leaks in the rear of the truck but those are fixed at this point.

 

[CamperMike]

Try sticking a dollar bill between the door and body where the gasket is and close the door on it, then pull on it to see how much tension it has. Start at the front, opening and closing the door on it, repeat the process, moving the bill back a little at a time. See if there's any spot where the tension is really weak or almost non-existent. That should help determine if the gasket isn't sealing in spots.

That is a great idea. I will be trying that this weekend and see if it helps me figure it out.

 

[Ken226]

Thanks for the idea Ken, but the hvac is on the passenger side, and my seat was also wet so it had to come from higher up. But the headliner was dry so i am guessing door or window seal but I'm not sure.

Yea, I just threw that out there to suggest a possible method to diagnose.

Have the wife hose it down with the water hose while your inside with a flashlight. Or, run it to the carwash and have someone spray it with a high pressure wand while you're inside looking. The leak location should identify itself pretty quick.

 

[Rado]

A simple cheap try is line the floor under dash and door with paper
Then spray door area and windshield area with hose or pressure washer !
Then look at paper you may see a water trail in the area of the leak !
And PLEASE UPDATE what you do find out

Thanks

 

[Digi]

I had this happen once and it was a result of right where the door meets the frame on the driver side. The bottom corner where the hinge is, I had a lot of debris, from when or how, no idea, but it froze and then water got in and it backed up into floor area, thankfully I have the rubber mats and just wet vac to dry it out, but might be a possibility.

 

[CamperMike]

Well it rained again but this time no water entered. It might be when it's wind driven into the truck.

 

[Rado]

Check again after a
pressure wash !

 

[knightwe]

Today after a heavy rain i found the drivers floor and seat wet on my 2018. It looks like it snuck thru the door seal but i we nothing out of place there. Had this happened to anyone else before?

I had a similar leak only on the passenger side. I was about to take it in for troubleshooting when I got a rock ship right in the driversline of site. So I had the windshield replaced and
That solved the leak issue. The windshield was over three years old, but it just started leaking.

 

[Dusty]

Well it rained again but this time no water entered. It might be when it's wind driven into the truck.

Is it possible that the window glass was down slightly, just enough to allow driving rain getting in over the top of the glass?

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33-gallon fuel tank, 18” wheels. Build Date: 3 June 2018. Now at 129160 miles.

 

[Hardracer]

Try sticking a dollar bill between the door and body where the gasket is and close the door on it, then pull on it to see how much tension it has. Start at the front, opening and closing the door on it, repeat the process, moving the bill back a little at a time. See if there's any spot where the tension is really weak or almost non-existent. That should help determine if the gasket isn't sealing in spots.

Not to get to sidetracked here but a dollar bill works great also when bedding a rifle barrel to a new stock.freefloating if you will...lol
My useless .02 to this topic.

 

[ColesRAM]

I had a similar issue with my 2020 1500, although my driver seat didn’t get wet, only the driver side carpet. Dealer wanted $600 to replace the door seal. I didn’t bite. Instead I pulled all the trim around the door and frame on the drivers side. Then hosed the truck. I found a leak (a void) at a weld seam on the frame just below the lower hinge of the driver door. I did a google search afterward and sure enough, there were a number of post and articles about that weld bead being incomplete or with deep inclusions. I put two layers of silicone caulk into the void and have had no further leaks.
Just my experience…….

 

[MontanaHandyman]

Fwiw, I had a leak once, and just for fun I sealed up the shark fin antenna with gutter seal... problem solved!