I washed my "new to me" Cutlass today and noticed that there are two locations inside where there is water coming in from washing. Both are landing on the front floor mats - driver's side and passenger side. I reached up and can feel damp insulation. The windshield was just replaced last week so I would have thought that would have cured the issue but it didn't.

Another location is two places in the trunk below where the rear wind meets the car. This is original rear glass so I'm guessing that it's all dried up.

 

For both locations my first thought would be rust in the window channel, which is common for these cars. When they changed the front windshield did they clean/inspect it well for possible rust holes? From your photo it looks like your car may have a vinyl top. They can wick water in and hold it against the metal causing rust. The rear window doesn't have a way for water to drain. So it can sit until eventually it rusts a hole through a leaks into the trunk. I would carefully remove the stainless trim and inspect to see if you can locate any rust holes that need repaired.

 

X2. Pinchweld rust is sadly all too common on these cars.

 

Actually I cleaned and inspected for holes. I did find one and I pointed it out to them. I was told that it would be filled when they installed the windshield. I am not sure if that was done since I wasn't there when the windshield went in. It turns out the installer cracked my windshield when trying to wrestle the 57 year old trim back in so they will have to come put and replace the windshield again. I am going to be there when they do it this time to see if that hole was indeed filled. If that hole was filled, then where else should I be looking in and around that frame? I was thinking about taking out that old insulation from underneath the dash is if it still leaks, the water isn't being soaked up and held by it.

 

Was the hole "filled" with welded in new metal, or just by slathering urethane over it? And realize that if there's one hole, there are more.

 

I was told that they could fill the whole with urethane, I will confirm tomorrow when they come to replace the windshield. I didn't see, or feel, any more holes. After I wire wheeled the area, I used a small screwdriver and a small pick and poked the metal in the frame. That's how I found the first hole because it was covered with paint, debris, etc.

 

For what it's worth, I read a tip years ago (+30) on how to pinpoint the source of a water leak: cover the area in a fine layer of flour - yeah, the kind from the kitchen. When the water leaks in, it'll leave a trail in the flour and easily identify the source. I can't say I've ever tried it but I've passed it on to several people over the years and every one said it worked like a charm. Good luck. I'm with the others. My money's on several small holes under the stainless molding.

 

UPDATE - Front windshield was replaced (again) today. I inspected the windshield frame and there are no more holes there. My next thought is to remove the cowl because I have seen some rust on the inside of the heater vent - I had removed the diffuser near the floor and looked up inside and saw rust so I'll have to see if there are any leaks in the fresh air routing.

 

Russ You said the shop "wrestled with the 57 year old trim " .Your front windshield , the metal trim . Is it possible that the pins/ studs that hold the clips have been stressed by shops that did not have the proper tools to remove the metal trim . Maybe the pins still hold the clips in place , but is it possible there is a crack around the nail head pin / stud ? how strong are these nail head pins and area around the pins ? And if there is a crack around the nail head pin / stud ( clip) where would the water flow to ? that would not be a windshield leak , but might seem like it .

acavagnaro another thing to find coolant or water leaks is to use chalk . i worked in engine rooms on ships . we had big size soft chalk sticks to use on tank dip sticks . we also used the chalk on the engines, rubbed the chalk under areas on the engines or pumps to look for leaks .

 

I recently did a check by walking the water up the car on a trunk lid. I soaked the bottom of the trunk, no leaks, then the sides, no leaks, then the top, no leaks, then the rear window, big leaks.

 

A trick we use is to fill a spray bottle with dish soap and water. Spray the potential leaking area with a liberal amount of soapy water and use compressed air on the inside of the vehicle at the potential leak. Watch for soap bubbles on the outside. Mark the spot with masking tape, there might be more than one spot.
Dustin

 

I wound up using a pick set and poked around and found a few places where the metal was thin. I have the windshield taken care of now, for leaks and will post some photos of the rear window area now that this window has been removed.

 

Here are 2 photos of the rear window frame.

Any suggestions on how to seal this hole?

Don't mind my finger pointing here, that's a just a reminder to myself that this is where the trim clip that gets screwed in belongs, so I don't weld it closed.

 

Does your car have A/C?

 

No A/C.

 

Russ you say ( trim clip that gets screwed in ) . Are you saying some of the clip retainers are screws ? If yes then thats a red flag ,then there have been past issues . Joe P has mentioned in other threads do not use screws . Looks like the first picture is an original nail head pin . when you look at the metal trim the back side of the metal trim where the clip attaches has a curl . So looking at the back side of the trim, looks to me that the clip can be moved to another area where the metal is stronger. i think Joe P has said in other threads there is a way to weld in new nail head pins .

Seeing that you are into a big project , what about welding in a water drain fitting or tube ? part of the drain could be rubber hose in case to hit it while putting something into the truck.

I have a fox body car / hatch back the water sits / pools in the back window trim area , when i wash the car i use a leaf blower to get the water out . or at least put the hatch up so the water does not sit in the same place all the time . At car meet ups some car owners tell me they never wash their cars , to avoid rust in these areas .

 

I'm guessing that the clip that is held in by a screw was originally a nail head or maybe they needed an additional location to help secure the trim. I'm not 100% sure on the reason.
What do you mean by a water drain fitting? Could you show a photo? This sounds like a good idea. Thanks!

 

Only way to fix that correctly is cut out the rust area and weld in new metal. Obviously thee are temporary fixes like clean the rust jb weld a patch and a tad fiberglass filler, sand down etc.

 

Russ i do not have a picture . i read this idea on a thread , but not sure what forum that was , as i have other cars that are not Oldsmobile . The idea of a water drain for a back window i would think would be something like sun roof drain tubes . You are into a big rebuild project , so maybe weld in a drain fitting with a rubber hose . But you would need to drill a hole some where in the trunk to stick the rubber hose thru . This seems to be a design fault from the factory . Or maybe it was planned so we keep buying new cars !

 

I was thinking about the J-B weld route because at some point, I'm going to have the vinyl top replaced so this would be (hopefully) a good temp fix.

 

Thanks Roy. I will have to ponder this idea. Thankfully in WI it's not warm enough to go cruising so I am taking my time on fixing all of these little things.

 

Water under the pinchweld is not the problem. It's the leaves, dirt, pine needles, bug carcasses, etc that turn into mulch. Once that gets wet, it molders. And FYI, any drain hole will be completely plugged by this stuff, so don't waste your time. The better method is to ensure that the pinchweld area is well protected by epoxy primer and quality paint, install the trim clips wet (with epoxy or sealer behind them) to cover the resulting scratches, and frequently blow and hose out the area to remove the mulch.

 

All great info, thanks Joe! Now that I own this car, it's parked in the garage. I like the idea of using a leaf blower or something similar to make sure to blow out any standing water around the windshield frame.

 

What you really want is a blow gun on an air compressor. The leaf blower will be high volume but low pressure. The narrow high pressure blow gun will get the leaves out.

 

Good point. Thanks, again!