Rain water leak in both front doors

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

OR VietVet

Multnomah Falls
Supporting Member
Military
Joined
Oct 8, 2014
Posts
20,688
Reaction score
36,425
Location
Willamette Valley
I'm no expert on the inside waterproofing criteria of doors on these trucks, but I've removed the plastic inner shell of the door on many other vehicles for a myriad of reasons, and I've always found a large heavy plastic sheathing covering almost the entire door panel and sealed on top and sides to the door's metal frame, in order to keep water our of the inner workings and components of the door.

@OR VietVet Are these truck door water seals different that most other vehicles on the market - i.e. no plastic sheathing for waterproofing in the door?
I have seen the "water barriers" behind many many a door panel that I have removed. I have removed and did what is needed and then reinstalled them. Typically there is a pliable sealant that holds them in place while you reinstall the panel.

The outer wipe seal is the first layer of defense against the water/rain. The second is the wrap around seal that the window moves up and down in when it lowers and rolls up. The other is the door opening large/long rubber seal that the door closes against.
 

Panzerwagen

TYF Newbie
Joined
May 8, 2024
Posts
3
Reaction score
3
I've been dealing with water intrusion through the front doors since the day I brought home my 2013 PPV. First the drains were clogged with gunk. Cleaned those out, still leaked. Then it turned out to be the water deflectors. It was completely missing from the driver side, and on passenger side it was there but the seal was mangled up. So I replaced the seal on passenger side and I got a deflector from the junkyard for the driver side and sealed it up as well. At this point I thought I was good, NOPE!

Now it looks like water is coming in through the square hole at the bottom where the door panel hooks into. There is a square foam seal on both of the hooks on the door panel, yet the seals are soaked. In a heavy storm, water trickles in a good amount, enough to get a small puddle on my floor. It's doing this on both front doors, despite the foam seal being there. It looks like the front rear seal is dry but the rear front seal is soaked. Everything above this square hole is bone dry so its definitely coming from there. Any ideas how to stop this? I'm tired of having to clean it up after every single rain.
Hi
Just a thought, I would loop or re route the wire away from the opening and drill more drain holes in the base of the door.
 

Panzerwagen

TYF Newbie
Joined
May 8, 2024
Posts
3
Reaction score
3
UPDATE

Ok I sat in the truck while it was raining with the door panel off and now I can see what is happening

Firstly I had it backwards it is actually the front hole the water is coming from (I circled the wrong one in the OP, I have edited and corrected it)

Water is dripping down from the front area of the window track and splashing on the wire that runs to the mirror which is conveniently hanging right in its path

The wire is diverting it towards the water deflector and then it is running down along the butyl seal until it collects at the drain hole which is located DIRECTLY above this circled hole (WTF?)

I believe my Tahoe is parked at a slight angle so gravity is basically exacerbating it and allowing the water to drip down directly over this hole and then it collects on the door seal until it overflows and comes right into the passenger footwell from there.

That doesn't really explain why its also leaking on driver side but I haven't had a chance to take that panel off and watch the path the water is taking there but I suspect something similar
Make the wire loop into a “U” shape. The water can’t flow uphill on the wire. It will drop at the base of the “U” loop
 

newTahoeguy

TYF Newbie
Joined
Jul 4, 2024
Posts
8
Reaction score
4
There is another post in the forums titled strange wet spot in carpet and he has pictures of cracks in body sealant on firewall, I have a water leak also in my 13 ssv that I haven't started chasing down yet but that might be worth a check for you
 

solli5pack

Full Access Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2023
Posts
253
Reaction score
390
There is another post in the forums titled strange wet spot in carpet and he has pictures of cracks in body sealant on firewall, I have a water leak also in my 13 ssv that I haven't started chasing down yet but that might be worth a check for you
Best way I've found to find water leaks on the doors is to remove the door panel and foam insulation and have someone spray the door with a strong hose nozzle from the outside while your in the truck. That way you can see exactly where it's leaking.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
132,236
Posts
1,864,477
Members
96,785
Latest member
Jack23fcb
Top