front fairing boat leaking

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Roadking_

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Hey guys!
I had my windshield replaced BC it was leaking water down the drivers side kick panel. I had went to a body shop and bought some fender panel sealer and cleaned and resealed every joint I could see.

Had the windshield replaced and was fine for a few months

now the windshield guy says my water is leaking from the fairing boat.

I cant see anywhere there is dirt clogging any drain.
 
i have never heard the term "fairing boat". Do you mean the windshield cowl, the area right in front of the windshield where the wiper blades are located?
If you remove the arms can you remove the metal panel to look for blockage or cracks?
 
yes I am talking about that same area. I have had that fairing off several times. First to replace that washer block the windshield washer water hose is connected to. Cleaned the area then of some pine needles but not much there. Blew out with compressed air. Then when searching for leak source. Thats when I resealed any and all joints I could see or reach down inside there and also under hood area around the fender joints. Thats when I decided the windshield was the culprit. Had it replaced and no more leaks for about 2 months
Then carpet wet on drivers side. I originally had the carpet removed until the leak stopped. I threw away the old insulation and bought more and reinstalled after 2 large ferocious rain storms did not produce any water in the floor (yay or so I thought)

brought car back to windshield place (lifetime warranty on leaks) Fella drove my car around to water hose. I did not witness what He did but he came back in and said its the fairing boat full of trash and had I checked the passenger side under the floormat? its was FULL of water now. I said not lately. He told me He could remove the fairing and clean the area for 84 dollars but I'd be back in 2 months bc of parking my car under trees! He said He shined his flashlight in there and saw trash and dirt.

Now then this model car does not have two itty bitty vacuum hoses running down to drain the water from this area. it has a big rubber flapper and the "boat" area is manufactured with a big tilt in it to cause runoff which spills onto the forward firewall and down to the ground.

I got home and discovered an inch of standing water on the passenger side once I removed the floormat. I believe He filled it up with his water hose and told me the fairing boat was the problem. I vacuumed out most of the water with my industrial shopvac but the damage is done and now the insulation under the carpet is wet.

what I want to know is have any of you fellow sunbird owners had problems with water getting in past the windshield or had any associated water leaks from this fairing area?
 
There 2 rubber plugs that drain the water in the cowl area. The one that gives us the fits is the passenger one because its too low and it clogs real easy. The plug or weighted rubber is suspossed to move to let the water out when it rains or wash the car. You probably see the drivers side one easy but the passenger side one is under the box the blower motor sits into. You have to feel around for it just to find it. Sometimes you can back flush it out if not too bad.

The best way to clean it out though is to take out the outside air flapper valve assembly (near the blower motor). It has a black plastic shield on top that snaps off from around the cowl/hood rubber seal and you then will see the assembly . It comes out with 3 or 4 bolts and you have to disconnect the vacuum line to it. Then you will see all the crud blocking the drain. You will have to reseal it when you reinstall it because it has a gasket.

In my case the cowl area was rusted and still has holes so I siliconed it the best I could till the next time I have to go in there. This is a very common problem on JBodys. Mine only leaks on downpours now.

Leaves and such get in there because the fiberglass vent panel that the wipers sit on to has a caulk seal the goes bad and stuff slips in between the windshield and it and gets in the cowl and clogs the drains because they are too small.

Not that hard of a job, just a pain in the arse. I clean my cowl drains about every 3 months or so by back flushing the the passenger drain.

Doug in P.R.:cool:
______________________________
 
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well you are correct insofaras I can see the drivers side flapper. I will take the entire blower screen off and see what the condition is and re seal anything. Thank you for the response!
 
Okay
I finally got Leona back together, So I went ahead and took the fan cover off since I already had the fairing off from the last time. Its been riding around in my back seat.
I did find the blower door assy came off quite easily and luckily my gasket still looks good and thick. I did discover the lower rubber flapper and yes it was full of mud and leaves. Very poor design. I believe the "mud" was leaves and stuff that had self composted since 1994. So, anyway its all cleaned out and hopefully will drain the next time it gets rained on.
We shall play the wait and see game.
 
Well the car is sitting outside while I repair a self induced oil leak. So a hurricane swept thru and dumped rain all over Leona. I pulled the floot map up and the carpet is soaking wet.
How in the world am I going to get that da*n leak stopped? Grrrr!
Maybe I need to get my mig welder out and run a dog gone weld bead all over that stupid fairing?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
I still think its the friggin glass that's leaking!!!!

I'm going to attempt to pour flex seal all down the sides under the rubber trim. At this point I don't care if its ugly and messy and gets all over the stupid car.

you cannot drive a car daily and have the floorboards wet and stinking with mold growing in the carpet!!!! AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! I wanna smash something
 
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