My 1987 Two Door Crown Victoria AKA THE BROWN BLOB

[87gtVIC]

Raining out and I hopped inside the car. Water is steadily (drip............drip..............drip etc.....) coming from behind the emergency/parking brake assembly. Tried with a flashlight and mirror to see behind the assembly but I couldn't make out anything. Looks as if three bolts hold the assembly to the vehicle and with enough luck will grant me enough access to find out where the water is entering from. First thoughts are now hinge area, windshield to cowl area, hood hing bolts areas.

When dry outside I will continue.

[nfldfordltd]

Gotcha. There is a valid leak. Hopefully you get it cured soon.

[marquisman]

This makes me think. Maybe I should take the carpet out of my car, put some water on the floor, see where it pools up and drill a drain hole. That way, if I were to get a leak, it would drain out.

[gadget73]

It may not be the E-brake cable. check the boot from door to body. it comes into the A pillar right near the parking brake. I'm pretty sure the cable comes up from the floor, not really any way for that to leak.

[marquisman]

Maybe around the rubber boot/grommet for the door wire harness?

[87gtVIC]

The rains stopped and I got curious. Jumped outside and pulled off the e-brake assembly to get a better look as to where the water is coming from. Like Thain mentioned the e brake cables goes through the floor. No way for that to leak. My leak was coming from something above. After the parking brake assembly was out of the vehicle I quickly removed all of the vacuum auto parking brake release nonsense that never worked and removed a piece of sound deadening/jute backing from up above the kick panel area. Removing the hood release cable gave me enough access to see inside the kick panel area where I saw rust/water stains creeping in from way above. Much higher than the hing area and not the top fender bolt area either. It was more forward than that, like more towards the front of the vehicle, like in an inaccessible place behind the fender and behind a welded on piece of the vehicle.

Accessing the situation I believe I can pack a couple areas with silicone to prevent the water from draining into that area and it will still have sufficient drainage of rain water out of the cowl area. Waiting for warmer/dryer weather before I do that.

Eventually when the fender gets replaced I will poke around more and do the repair properly.

[gadget73]

you might find something if you can get at the area under the windshield wiper then. There are a few body seams up there that may have a gap in the sealer. I'd try to seal it from the outside vs the inside just to make sure you aren't trapping water in the layers of metal where it will rot out.

[87gtVIC]

I'll take a looksie, though from what I can tell it is coming from an area tucked just behind the fender. Gotta let everything dry well before any type of sealing takes place but I will definitely take a look.

[gadget73]

I think there is a seam up in there too where the windshield post meets the firewall area. That one may or may not be accessible without pulling the fender.

[rellik god]

if its up high look at pics might help.hope its not rusted out also check hinge bolts too

[87gtVIC]

So upon viewing the pics rellik god posted I reassessed the situation with a mirror and flash light deep up under the kick panel area. Looks as it water could be entering in anyone of those places and leading forward toward the front of the vehicle and then dripping where I see it dripping down from.

I grabbed the chisel and hammer and removed all of the seam sealer around that area to the best of my abilities considering the hood, hood hinge and fender is still bolted on and too my surprise a big chunk of seam sealer up under the windshield fell right off with a lot of rust sediments attached to it. I cleaned up the area with a wire wheel and wiped it down with lacquer thinner and built a tent over the area and placed a heater to warm up the repair area. Once the repair area was warmed up I open up my can of Eastwood rust encapsulater and applied it to the area and reapplied the tent and heater. 6 hours later I came back and seam sealed the areas and reapplied the heater and tent. I'll see what happens next rain. For sure though a through repair will be undergone once the fenders are off the car.

[gadget73]

that area is an ugly one. A lot of cars I've seen have rust growing out from under seams in the A pillar, and its not easy to fix it.

[pantera77]

A lot of cars I've seen have rust growing out from under seams in the A pillar, and its not easy to fix it.

Ugh, 3 winters and my wagon is already doing that.

[P72Ford]

My red P72 did this for years. And then I had the windshield out, repaired the area, and had the window installer goop it with extra urethane window adhesive when the new windshield went in. No more issues. Mine was on the passenger's side, though.

[Brown_Muscle]

X2 on the windshield...mine leaks from the passenger side as well, drips and runs down to the floor, I have to fix it. YIKES on those seams. Hope that fixed it for you! Water leaks are no fun