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Handling Water Leaks in Your Promaster

Now to address the water in the cargo area.

According to some forums, there may be a few different possibilities for leaks:

  • from the clearance lights up front
  • from the upper rear lights
  • loose rocker panels
  • around the wheel wells
  • between the seams from tiny cracks in the automotive sealant/caulking
  • door seals that need to be replaced
  • missing rubber plugs on floor

So once it dried up this morning, I checked out the cargo area to see if I could locate any visible openings.

Lo and behold, I found a couple of possibilities:

#1 - ROCKER PANELS

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The rocker panels are designed to protect your van from being damaged by opening car doors. On the Promaster, it’s a long grey plastic piece that runs along each side of the van like bumpers.

One thing I’d noticed from outside was that the rocker panel on the driver’s side was a little ajar. I could clearly see a hole, so I went inside, and without even trying, I could clearly see some light leaks.

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To remedy this, you could use some Sikaflex or other polyurethane sealant to cover the plastic tabs from the inside to prevent more leakage.

#2 - DRAIN HOLES AT REAR

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There is a rather large drain hole near the rear tire on the passenger side that I think is meant to allow water to flow out, but it seems likely it could also let water accumulate. Need to research if it’s also something that needs to be covered up, and if so, the best way to go about it.

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These triangular pieces are held in by clips, so you can use something like a flathead screwdriver or even some keys to remove them.

Ultimately, I ended up contacting the dealership I purchased the van from, and they were kind of enough to stand behind their sale and see if they can fix the leaks, or if they’ll need to order parts from Dodge. So hopefully they can address the issue so I don’t have to.

#3 - OTHER POSSIBILITIES

A couple of other things to consider:

  • Be sure to check the drainage channels that run along the sides. If you have mud/wet dirt/sludge, you have a leak somewhere. If it’s not coming from the rocker panels, it could be coming in through the black plugs on the very bottom of those channels.
  • Hopefully not as common is leakage via the seams on the body of the van where the two ribs meet. Some owners report water coming in between the very tight spots where the body is welded together. I haven’t researched how to remedy that, if that’s the case.
  • Old, leaky door seal. That should be easy to replace.
  • If you have leakage coming from your roof, some owners of Promasters circa 2014 report that they get water coming in through the clearance lights; this could also be caulked.

WHAT'S NEXT?

In other news, I took a trip to Home Depot after work to pick up some rust reformer and bought a couple of bottles of Rust-oleum.

I intend to use the Clean Metal Primer for scratches on the walls without rust, and the Rust Reformer for the floor areas where there are tiny rust spots.

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Tomorrow, tires. Monday, get leak fixed (hopefully). As early as Tuesday I can start scrubbing the inside with some soap and water and prepping it for rust prevention.