2003 Dakota Water Leak, HELP!

OKnewguy · Nov 24, 2007

I have a 2003 Dakota Quad Cab, with 4.7. The truck has been great for the 50,000 or so miles now, but it has developed a strange problem. If I go thru a car wash, it will soak the pasenger side carpet. If I pull the carpet back and sponge out the carpet pad and the floor I can get a gallon or so of water.
At first I thought the water was leaking thru the plenum to the heat/ac system, at the advice an old friend who used to work in the auto air business, he thought that I might have clogged condensation vent tube. I cleaned out everything with pipe cleaners from the engine bay going back in thru the fire wall (the drain tube). He also advised me to make sure that when I go thru the car wash that I put the system on recirculate, so that it will not open up to the outside.
Anyway, I am starting to wonder if this water is coming thru the heat/ac plenum or if I am barking up the wrong tree. Has any of you experienced leaks like this? Any tips for trouble shooting? I have browsed some dodge sites and did not notice this problem btw.
Thanks, Dave

streamin · Nov 24, 2007

Dave, sometimes those types of leaks are hard to see.However, that sounds like alot of water for such a short period of time.I usaully have someone shoot a water hose on the car while I look under the dash. peel the carpet back and see where the trail is coming from.Keep us posted...

Dmace · Nov 24, 2007

My old 98 Dakota had some rubber plugs under the body that you could pull out to drain any water that may have gotten in the cab. Maybe one of these plugs came out or is cracked enough to allow water in. If water was getting into your HVAC system, then you would see water on both sides of the truck, not just the passenger side.

Good Luck!

OKnewguy · Nov 24, 2007

Good ideas guys, I think that when the misses gets home from shopping I might have to enlist her as hose controller. That should free me up to check out the inside. I too believe that my hvac thoughts were miss guided.
I'll keep you posted.
Dave

OKnewguy · Nov 24, 2007

Update:
My wife and I spent over an hour trying to figure this thing out. We sprayed around the wipers cowling, the roof, the firewall, and the underneath. No luck. We then went to the carwash, and ran it thru with the carpet pealed back. No luck, since the heat was on fresh, we went thru again with it on recirc, NO LUCK. Man I hate intermitent problems. My truck has never been this clean, since I bought it.
The floor plugs, are underneath a coating and I see no way they could leak on this medel, or atleast the one that is on the pasenger side.
Man these problems can be a pain.
Any other thoughts?
Dave

Dmace · Nov 24, 2007

Have you checked the seals all around the door? Maybe there is a crack or split in the door seal allowing water in...

streamin · Nov 25, 2007

That should not be an intermittent problem, maybe your door was not closed all the way or something simple like that.Is that the only time it happened at the car wash?Not when it rains?I'm thinking that maybe your drain tube on the a/c may have been plugged and you already fixed that not knowing???

OKnewguy · Nov 25, 2007

I wonder if it truely is intermitent too. I have left the carpet pealed back, and my pasengers get to use the back seat, to try and catch it in the act. I have been watching it on the couple of trips today, and tried using the defroster and other heat modes. I was thinking the defrost might be contributing to the condensation because it runs the ac right?
I am determined to figure it out, even if I have to have the carpet pealed back for awhile.
Dave

Dmace · Nov 25, 2007

Yes, when on defrost you engine (if equipped) will run the A/C compressor since it pulls moisture out of the air so it does not freeze when cooled off rapidly by the freeon/refrigerant. This helps by removing any moisture in the air in the cab from creating more frost. If a vehicle is parked in the same spot for a while idling with the A/C on, you will see a small puddle of water from the condensor but not nearly enough to cause this kind of problem.

My vote is door seals.

On a side note, I did some research when I owned my 98 Dakota and it turns out that whenever the A/C is on, the ECU uses slightly more aggressive fuel and timing maps to increase the power of the engine and make up for the power loss that occurs when the A/C compressor kicks on. Most Dodge vehicles do this and in my Dakota you could see that it went up hills better and had more power with the A/C or Defrost on.