Machbin

Another 83 944 NA water leak. After a rain I have water in my rear passenger footwell, and nothing has worked so far...I know there are multiple threads on this issue, and I have read every one I could find and done nearly everything I thought could fix this.

I have done the following so far:
1. Battery tray - cut out the rust, patched it with sheet metal, and coated the entire thing with a can of rubber flex seal
2. Cleared the drains on the driver side by the wiper motor and the drain in the battery tray
3. Sunroof drains - weed eater string easily passes through all of them, tested and water flows out them also
4. Gas cap drain - tested by string and pouring water into gas cap and it falls out
5. Seals - replaced them all: Sunroof, rear hatch, rear quater panel windows, and both door seals

What am I missing?

Van

Rear hatch glass separation?

Luis de Prat

+1

My 83 had this problem for a long time until I figured it out.
The hatch glass separates from the frame at the top, around the hinges.
You need to fill the separation with liquid silicone sealant using tape or plastic food wrap to hold it in until it cures.
After much frustration with this issue, I solved the problem with this fix.

mrgreenjeans

You may also have a crack in the metal around the chassis/fender/firewall area where sealant has dried or metal has fatigued and opened up a hairline crack.

This area of concern has also been addressed on several forum chat threads.

Is there any water showing up on the underside of the dash areas ? Front footwell ? This would indicate a water leak under the hood in the area mentioned.

My thoughts tho are with the others, on the rear hatch leaking by the frame and glass as the most likely source.

Machbin

Thanks guys. I will check the glass delamination problem. What is the model for how the water makes it from the rear hatch glass to the floor?

I have read about the chasis/fender/firewall area, but have never really gotten a clear picture of where or what I should be looking for and when i glance around that area, things look decent.

Luis de Prat

Gravity.

No, seriously. The water trickles down from the rear deck around the rear seats and pools in the rear footwells.

Usually the water leakage in the front is in the passenger side footwell, due to the sheet metal cracking underneath the battery. Pull out the battery and look for any cracks. You can repair these with fiberglass resin.

Machbin

Got it. I guess I meant I never saw water anywhere else than in the floor, so I always assumed that if it was coming from the hatch I would see it dripping or have other wet areas above the floor.

Have never had water in the front passenger footwell area. My battery tray area should be leak tight. So maybe that rules out this area?

Luis de Prat

Yes, carpeting in the rear deck soaks up the water that leaks in so you can't see it. You do get fogged up windows after it stops raining and the car stands.

If your battery tray is good, then sealing up the rear hatch frame around the hinges like I said should take care of your water leakage issue. The most effective way is to completely remove the rear hatch lid, turn it upside down, and fill in the cracks with silicone sealant, but that's a bigger job to do alone.

Good luck with it!

Machbin

Thanks for explaining that. I wonder if I can temporarily try and fix it with everything still attached just to see if it modulates the leaking before I tear the glass of. Gues this explains why I haven't seen it be wet anywhere. But yes, lots of window fogging!

thomasmryan

the AC drain wasn't on your list but can cause the same issue.