Water leak and wet carpet (solved)

[2wd]

Subbed. Great detailed posts in this thread. Thanks all.

My prior truck had water intrusion problems so was hoping to avoid with Ram

 

[Rich]

No, sorry I didn't take a photo. Two ways to plug them:

1. Figure out the size/pitch of the rearward seat bolts (4) and put some locktite on them and install from underneath the truck in the unused holes.
2. Remove rear seats. There are two bolts per rail, smaller Torx at the front and larger hex at the rear. The suspect patches are over secondary rear holes that are covered by the rear of the seat rails when installed. The rear of each rail uses one bolt hole and hides another so there are 4 used and 4 patched.

In the photo I posted above, that's the rear of the driver's side rail on the 40% rear seat, closest to the driver's side rear door. You can see the bolt hole used by the rail and the patched one is covered by the wide flange that makes up the seat rail meaning you have to remove the rear seats to see these.

Both holes (used and patched) have welded in nuts and appear identical in size.

I think this is a clearer explanation of where these are located. So basically they are underneath the mounting rails of the rear seat, so you have to remove the rear seat to find them!?! No wonder people can't find these! LOL

It's a bit too cold out here now for me to look into this, but it will be on my todo list for sure!
Great job, thanks again!

 

[Edwards]

I think this is a clearer explanation of where these are located. So basically they are underneath the mounting rails of the rear seat, so you have to remove the rear seat to find them!?! No wonder people can't find these! LOL

It's a bit too cold out here now for me to look into this, but it will be on my todo list for sure!
Great job, thanks again!

Yes, just remove the seats. No carpet in the way or anything else.

Actually, to save your back, you don't need to remove the seats, just unbolt and reposition them so you can see underneath the rail.

That 60% side is a heavy son of a gun by yourself especially if you are taking it out the driver's side like I was.

 

[Ranger482]

Great information in this post. Thanks to all that contributed. Does anyone know if you can easily access the bolt holes from underneath the truck? I would prefer to put a bolt in from underneath and seal them that way to avoid any salt/brine solution splashing up into the holes, regardless if they are patched from the top. I'll go out and crawl under the truck once it warms up a little, but too cold here right now!

 

[duke2001]

Great information in this post. Thanks to all that contributed. Does anyone know if you can easily access the bolt holes from underneath the truck? I would prefer to put a bolt in from underneath and seal them that way to avoid any salt/brine solution splashing up into the holes, regardless if they are patched from the top. I'll go out and crawl under the truck once it warms up a little, but too cold here right now!

I looked under my truck for them yesterday. I could not see them. I do have the protective skid plates, and that may have impaired my ability to see them, however.

 

[Ranger482]

Thanks for the reply. I'll try as well, but might be a couple weeks from now.

 

[Edwards]

I looked under my truck for them yesterday. I could not see them. I do have the protective skid plates, and that may have impaired my ability to see them, however.

I've got the skid plates too. I'll slide under there later today and see what I can find and take pics.

 

[Edwards]

OK, I was wrong about the idea of putting bolts in from the bottom. They are inaccessible. There is a U-shaped sheet metal support that runs side-to-side underneath the cab to strengthen the seat mounting area and these rear seat rail bolt holes are all inside of that channel.

I did poke around some and this shot is of the rearmost chassis mount on the passenger side (down in pic is toward front of truck). To the right of it you can see the channel running left-right and in it (peeking behind the black cab mount frame) you can see a hole in the channel with one of the suspect unused bolt holes. I got the pic at the right angle so you can actually see the new Gorilla tape in the center of the hole.


Looks like removing the seats is the only way to check these. You might be able to snake a camera up in there but since there are four to check, it'd be faster to remove the seats, unless your cable camera kung fu is substantially better than mine.

 

[Ranger482]

Thanks for checking!

 

[duke2001]

Would someone explain how to remove carpet on rear cab wall so drain tubes can be accessed. I think I may have read somewhere else that is magnetically attached, but when I looked, I noticed two(?) plastic push plugs. I really don’t want to cause more damage trying to check for another problem. Thanks

 

[Edwards]

Would someone explain how to remove carpet on rear cab wall so drain tubes can be accessed. I think I may have read somewhere else that is magnetically attached, but when I looked, I noticed two(?) plastic push plugs. I really don’t want to cause more damage trying to check for another problem. Thanks

Here's a post where I outlined it. You really need to remove it so you can remove the sub to get to the passenger drain. There is the double push plug (plug on each end), two regular ones roughly centered behind each seat, and, just to try your patience, one more behind the passenger side seat belt spool.

https://5thgenrams.com/community/threads/interesting-finds-behind-back-seat.4808/

 

[wayneli]

looked at your picture 112912, mine looks similar which is not flush. I need to pull the seat to check... Thanks a lot.

 

[Diamondback]

Front Driver Side Leak :

Mine was built July 2019 - and after the 1st rain, I had 2 inches of water. Then after soaking it all up, it rained again
I felt mine would not leak since the issue had been reported for so long .. all my recalls were done, but not the major items which actually means something (to me). I did check the rear drains since I have the Pano Roof -- good-to-go.
So this is still an issue at the factory - either the front pano drain tubes, or as the OP showed, a bad seal in the windshield area allowing nice fresh water to enter the cabin thru the body weld areas.

(attached images)
(advised the new Service Manager who is well known at FCA and pointed out the forums here with all the information)
(logged into the software at work as started saving various STAR reports that FCA is aware of)

 

[TNSmokee]

I just picked mine up this morning for a water leak. One service writer said sharkfin and another said 3rd brake light. The grommet had separated from the rear cabin wall that the sunroof tube goes through. This allow water inside the cabin. Picture that my service writer texted me is attached.

 

[Diamondback]

I just picked mine up this morning for a water leak. One service writer said sharkfin and another said 3rd brake light. The grommet had separated from the rear cabin wall that the sunroof tube goes through. This allow water inside the cabin. Picture that my service writer texted me is attached.
View attachment 33920

Yup, first thing I checked when I was doing my walk-around

 

[Turtle]

I apologize ahead of time for the slightly long post.
By posting this I hope in some way to help some of the folks who are frustrated with the mystery water leaks on these new 5th generation Rams. Recently I discovered my driver side footwell carpet was slightly damp. I finally had some spare time a few days later to investigate further. I pulled the driver side sill plate up and then pulled the carpet back only to discover a small puddle of accumulated water and damp underpad. I did not want to take my truck to the dealer only to have them take panels apart and risk damaging something or not put in the effort to determine where the leak was coming from so I decided to track the leak down myself. I will preface this by saying that I am mechanically inclined and no stranger to working on or taking apart my own vehicles however running down these leaks are not that difficult and with patience and the right tools can be done pretty easy.

I, like many on this forum searched and have read all the threads pertaining to these mystery leaks and looked at the various things that could be causing them such as incorrectly installed sunroof drains or body seams that are missing sealant. My truck actually has a September production date and by then I'm guessing the quality checks were much better. I found that all the sunroof drains were installed correctly and after pulling out the driver side fender lining and inspecting the body seams including performing my own leak test I did not find those were the issue. I decided to leave the carpet pulled up on the driver side and the sill trim panel off and by chance that evening we had a storm blow through. The next morning I went to inspect and sure enough the puddle of water was back but I discovered something very interesting. After carefuI inspection I found moisture underneath the wire harness channel that the sill plate panels snap into.

It is important to know I always back my truck in my driveway and have a slight decline. I proceeded to pull the rear sill plate panel and B pillar trim panels off and also removed the left rear seat assembly and the C pillar panels as seen in the attached pictures. I could clearly see that water was under the passenger rear wire harness channel also. My rear carpet was not wet at all but I did notice there was slight dampness underneath where the rear etorque battery is mounted to the rear of the cab. I decided to spray water on the outside of the cab around the rear window and around the rear driver side sunroof drain. Sure enough and with the drain seated in the rear of the cab properly there was a steady stream of water as seen in the pic making its way down through the lowest points of the body pan underneath the wire channel and all the way down to the front footwell. I was elated and frustrated all at the same time because I could not understand why if the grommet was installed correctly it was still allowing water to pass by. I concluded that the grommet was probably actually slightly smaller than the hole in the rear of the cab and somehow was not sealing properly so to rectify I pulled it out and placed a bead of clear silicone around it and inserted it back into the cab. After leak testing again the water leak was gone.

I feel fortunate that I was able to catch this sooner than later. I know this may not be the exact fix for everyone experiencing wet carpet issues but it's certainly a place to start and easy enough for anyone to check themselves before they waste valuable time taking their vehicle in and having it sit at a dealer for days on end. If you don't feel comfortable pulling panels off and removing seats then at least this might give you some information and a starting point to pass on to a dealer so they can investigate. Hope everyone finds this helpful.

Wow! Thank you so much for posting this in such detail. I bought my truck in Oct. 2018 and am having the same problem with water, and looks like it's resting in the exact same location as yours. I too back into my driveway, and it is just a slight slope. The water comes in both when driving and when it just sits in the driveway. I showed the dealer a video last weekend of the water sitting by the wires where yours is, and it was being absorbed by the under padding as it was saturated. I discovered the rubber grommets were out behind the cab, and had the dealer put them in about a month ago. I thought that would fix the water leak, but they sit on a slight angle as some of the others here. So I guess they may not fit as tight as they should either. I have had my truck to the dealer twice now, and they have run a total of 3 days of water testing, without any water entering, and hence no solution. They have had it for the last week now. I am going to refer my dealer to this post first thing tomorrow, and ask them to do what you have done, to inspect the same area. I will let you know what happens.

 

[Wakesnowb]

Hi Guys, I checked my sun roof drain tube and it looks like the attached. Does that mean I have an issue? I showed it to the dealer when I bought the truck last May but nobody had a clue at the time if it was normal or not. From what I read, this grommet should be flush? Should I fix myself or take to dealer? Would I need to remove seat and carpet to do myself? Would it be covered under warranty? No leak yet because it never rains here but I would rather get ahead of the issue. Thank you.

 

[SpeedyV]

Hi Guys, I checked my sun roof drain tube and it looks like the attached. Does that mean I have an issue? I showed it to the dealer when I bought the truck last May but nobody had a clue at the time if it was normal or not. From what I read, this grommet should be flush? Should I fix myself or take to dealer? Would I need to remove seat and carpet to do myself? Would it be covered under warranty? No leak yet because it never rains here but I would rather get ahead of the issue. Thank you.
View attachment 34243 View attachment 34244

See this post/thread from a year ago...

How’s your 2019 Ram running? Take our poll!

The worst thing I've found was the leather drivers seat cover came loose in the front. Just snapped it back on the frame. Hopefully it'll stay attached. I had the same problem with one of my F150's. That one came loose all the time. I also need to reset the driver wiper arm. Tried yesterday to...

5thgenrams.com

 

[Wakesnowb]

See this post/thread from a year ago...

How’s your 2019 Ram running? Take our poll!

The worst thing I've found was the leather drivers seat cover came loose in the front. Just snapped it back on the frame. Hopefully it'll stay attached. I had the same problem with one of my F150's. That one came loose all the time. I also need to reset the driver wiper arm. Tried yesterday to...

5thgenrams.com

Thanks for the thread link. Looks like this is definitely not seated correctly and will result in water leakage. There is nothing in the thread on how to fix it. I am assuming I might have to take the seat out, pull the carpet, pull a panel, break some clips, etc.. Anyone know if this is an easy fix? Would I take it to dealer to be covered under warranty (not that I completely trust the dealer to not break clips etc. when fixing.) Probably be best when it is put back to put some silicone on it to keep it from popping out again.

 

[SpeedyV]

Thanks for the thread link. Looks like this is definitely not seated correctly and will result in water leakage. There is nothing in the thread on how to fix it. I am assuming I might have to take the seat out, pull the carpet, pull a panel, break some clips, etc.. Anyone know if this is an easy fix? Would I take it to dealer to be covered under warranty (not that I completely trust the dealer to not break clips etc. when fixing.) Probably be best when it is put back to put some silicone on it to keep it from popping out again.

Nope. As stated in the thread, you just reach your hand up from below (between cab and bed) and push it back in until it seats properly. It’s a bit of a reach, but totally doable with no tear-down required.