Water leak in a 1981Malibu..

[Rotech]

I am updating this post. I decided to not buy the 81 I am saw at first stated in my first post and ventured seeking another vehicle. I found and bought a 80 Malibu. Almost perfect. Today it rained and saw a leak coming down the passenger side around the glove compartment . The car has no rug be cause I was gong to replace it, but now I see this. My question is where should I start fist? As you can see the floors are n mint condition, I need to attack this problem ASAP .

 

[clean8485]

I know that there are other threads on this site about this issue. If memory serves, it usually ends up being 1 of 2 possibilities. 1 is that there is a failure of the seal around the windshield. The other is that the seal between the HVAC case and the firewall is failing. Hope this helps.

 

[Texas82GP]

I seem to also remember reading it can be dried up and cracked seam sealer on the cowl.

 

[Rotech]

I know that there are other threads on this site about this issue. If memory serves, it usually ends up being 1 of 2 possibilities. 1 is that there is a failure of the seal around the windshield. The other is that the seal between the HVAC case and the firewall is failing. Hope this helps.

Is there a how to video that you know of that can guide me how to seal the HVAC case?

 

[Rotech]

I seem to also remember reading it can be dried up and cracked seam sealer on the cowl.

Pardon my ignorance what is the cowl and where is it located?

 

[Texas82GP]

Pardon my ignorance what is the cowl and where is it located?

The cowl is the horizontal panel between the base of the windshield and the firewall. No worries.

 

[Rotech]

Got it, so the cowl needs to be sealed? That seams to be easer then the box AC sealing. I wish there where a video showing how to seal the AC box.

 

[Texas82GP]

Look on the cowl for the factory seams. If the sealer is cracked then that's where I would start. Do some searching on here using "water leak". There are some good threads. I seem to remember reading about bad grommets being a source of leakage on theses cars. If you don't like the site's search engine do a Google search "g body forum water leak". You could also search the Malibu and Monte forums for ideas.

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

The front of these cars are loaded with seams that can leak. Start with the hvac to firewall seal. There are two poorly sealed holes in both corners of the firewall, but you have to pull the front fenders to reach them.

 

[Rotech]

Is this what I need to do?