water leak causing all kinds of electrical issues

[eddieb97]

‘97 eddie bauer-
let me preface this with i don’t have a very extensive knowledge when it comes to this, and an apology for the long explanation but any help/advice would be greatly appreciated; lots of rain here in utah recently and it’s really gotten in through the top of the drivers side (body, possibly windshield? not sure if it’s coming in anywhere else) and is getting into my electrical. started the other day off fine on my way to work but when i was leaving there was a little sizzle noise when i’d start the car coming from up inside the footwell but it would go away, accompanied by the clock/radio staying on even after turning the car off, heater would stay on for a few seconds after turning the car off, speedometer not working, dome light not coming on when opening the door unless the car was running, and dash and dome lights coming on when shifted into neutral or reverse. fast forward a couple days later weather warmed back up a little i let the car sit to hopefully dry out, i try playing around with it a little and i hear the sizzling noise again when i turn the ignition on, but this time it stays sizzling, sounds like it’s coming from the box below the fuse box (not sure what that is), as well as it sounds like there was some sizzling coming from inside the dash. same other issues as before though radio/clock staying on, no dome light, heater staying on. now yesterday and today no sizzling noise coming from the box below the fuses (possibly bc it was just cold enough it’d frozen?) but does sound like something beneath in the dash is sizzling still- the car has tried to start with only the ignition on, when the car’s been running it’s made some awful noises, a kind of grinding/knocking/something is smacking against something noise i’m not really even sure how to explain it (could it be the starter trying to go while the car’s running?) have dealt with some electrical issues years ago due to water, same leak and everything it was the speedometer not working and dash lights flashing on but nothing was done to fix it besides let it dry when i took it to get looked at i believe. strangely it’s rained hard like this lots of other times over the years and it’s never been this bad, really just the other time i mentioned has been the only time i had those problems. as for a fix do i continue to let it sit and try to just let it dry out and it will be okay? do i need to just go to a shop and have them tear the whole dash out to get to everything? as i started out by saying any help would be greatly appreciated i’m pretty stumped on this one

 

[Yupster Dog]

strangely it’s rained hard like this lots of other times over the years and it’s never been this bad

Did you change the way you parked your truck?
If the roof of the truck is tilted so the water runs to the front of the truck, all that roof water is running down the channel right for the hole.
Park with the front of the truck up so the water on the roof runs to the back of the truck.
NOTE: if it rained before you get in your truck, get the water standing in the back of the roof channel or that will end up in the hole first time you hit the brakes.

Get everything dried out first,
I would undo the battery and make sure everything dry (put a fan blowing up under drivers footwell) (dehumidifier in truck closed tight would be best) before attempting to start and use.
Only then can you see if there really is any problems, or if it was just water.

Welcome to the forum

 

[eddieb97]

i appreciate the response! not parked on an incline front or back but it does lean to the passenger side at least, still drips in though- like i said it rained pretty heavily all day long for a few days here. was gonna dry it out and run a bead of silicone inside the car where i think it’s coming in from.

i’ve left the battery disconnected just hooking it back up to turn the ignition on and see if there’s still issues. it’s supposed to be dry here the next couple days with temp in the 40’s so hopefully we can get it to dry out enough to see.

if it is just the water though should it be fine once things dry? or is there a good chance there’s now damage to the electrical? like i said before this has happened before (to what extent i’m not entirely sure) but things were okay after drying

 

[Yupster Dog]

if it is just the water though should it be fine once things dry? or is there a good chance there’s now damage to the electrical? like i said before this has happened before (to what extent i’m not entirely sure) but things were okay after drying

You won’t know until you get it dried out. (each time you try and it is not dry you can do potential damage) then you can deal with what’s left. Any diagnosis you try before it is dried out is useless.
A Fan running up in the footwell will help
Get a couple of those damp away buckets in the drivers floor board.