We've had a lot of rain these past couple of days, i just went out to replace my 3rd brake light with a cargo light, and when i opened the door, it smelled damp inside.

Now, some people are going to say that the brake light was leaking, which, is possible, but there didn't appear to be a problem with the seal, nor any obvious water/damage behind the light.

I will add that it hasn't rained for about 18 hours and there was some sun this afternoon that warmed the inside some, helping the smell of dampness to 'come through'.

Any ideas? (long shot i know)

 

Common leak point is windshield trough, on all vehicles, it rusts out at the lower corners, leaks down behind/near kick panels

You can pull off trims and have a look

Yes, cab brake/cargo light is known to leak on Rangers

If you have AC then it runs most of the time to Dry the air in the cab, so it needs to drain that water out, if hose gets plugged water collects and you get the damp smell

 

Are there any guides/details about what specifically to look for/remove?

By trough i'm assuming you're referring to the area below the grill in front of the windscreen? (exterior)


And if it is that, is there a fix?

 

The windshield sits on a raised ridge which is where it is sealed to vehicle
Around the outside of this ridge is a trough, trim pieces clip into this trough.

Water will get under the trim pieces and run down to the lowest spot which is lower corners of windshield trough
And it just sits until it evaporates.
If paint/primer wears out then it starts to rust the metal out and will leak into cab

Not sure if Rangers ever got the rubber trim, that helped prevent this by letting in less water in the first place

 

Hmm, i'm not sure if i have any issues there, i'm assuming i'll be able to see this if i look in that area?

I don't have much/any rust on the truck due to being in Oregon, i'm starting to think that maybe this *was* the 3rd brake light and i need to do the fan blower test and soapy water on the new light, look for bubbles.

 

You can see the trough only with trim removed

 

*****.

Alright, thank you. I'll obviously not be able to remove the trim as the part you're describing is part of the window seal/surround, right?

Either way, i've got something i can go and look at and poke tonight, gotta hit the HT leads tonight so i'll take a look at this too, thanks again.