Today after a few days of some hard rain I jump in the Fleetwood to take it for a drive and my carpet is damp in the driver's area and passanger, but dry in the rear of the car. I'm guessing that it is the seal that goes between the windshield and the body of the car. This is my best guess at this time, is there any thing else I should check for that would cuase water to be in the same area??? In the mean time I'm going to go to a auto glass shop tommorow. Any suggestions/comments are highly appreciated, I don't want my car to rust from the inside out.
By the way my car is a 85 Fleetwood Brougham, and I did have the windshield replaced over summer due to a large crack, and it looks like that glass shop did a shitty job.

Sound like you are on the right track. I assume you are going back to the show that installed the glass? They should do a leak test from inside out. It is usually done with a soapy solution outside and air pressue inside along the glass seam.

I've had that checked on my Fltwd. six months after a new glass install when I was getting a "popping" noise from the roof edge whenever I hit a hard bump. It was strange, and the glass install was the only thing that I could think of that may be causing the noise.

If they end up reseating and resealing the glass, you may want to get an eye on the frame around the windshield to check for any rust that may have started. The glass shop wouldn't generally worry about that, they just want the glass installed.

Assuming there is no rust or holes along the roof line, the other possibility will be the door seal. Other than visual inspection, you can check the seal with some paper. CLosing it in the door at various points, then trying to pull it through. If the door seal is tight, the paper should be hard to pull. It will be easy to pull if the seal is weak or gaps exist. This isn't very technical or exact, and the corners will be difficult to test compared to the straight runs around the door.

Other than that, you could put a dry towel or rag along the bottom inside sill, and pour water around the door frame to see if any comes inside. Pulling back the carpet along the door edge and putting the towel under the carpet would get better results, and help trace any leaks at the door.

Good luck.

scurling, thanks for those tips. The shitty shop I dealt with is no longer in business, so I eneded up going to a glass shop that the Cadillac dealer refered me to and they ended up replacing the windshield and properly sealed it with a lifetime warrenty on the seal for $175.

Well, maybe that's better in the long run, and good shops will insure the seal for lifetime.

That's a very good price for windshield and installation.

Yeah, I figure shit happens and it could have been worse.

Make sure i mean SURE to pull the carpet back and blowdry or heat the carpet foam which is under the carpet to dry it out so you can avoid rusty the floor sheetmetal and odd smells due to mold etc.


This is very important if u want your car to be as good as it can be.

Actually,

I need to do this with my '85, too. I have the same problem and am HOPING!!!! that there is no rust! It's been going on a while, though, and I just don't have a whole heckuva lot of money.

PS-if it is rusty, then what? I've heard it is mucho dollares!