91 Laredo

Alright, I went ahead and yanked my carpet (wasnt drying inside the Jeep of course) and was wasing the Jeep yesterday.

I looked inside and noticed that the floorboards were wet. Long story short it seems that when I spray water around the cowl area water leaks in at the bottom of the heater box inside.

Anyone else had any issues like this? It seems like somehow water is getting thru the firewall and around the heater box area. I was thinking maybe the gasket for the squirrel cage. Called the dealer parts guy and inquired and he advised that he rarely sells those and doenst think its the problem.

Any other ideas? Water is definatly coming in from around the pass side cowl area. A lot of water, more than just a trickle. Dont think its the windshield as I was avoiding that area when spraying the hose.

Thanks.

finneys98xj

Pull the cowl and clean the area then see if it is rotted out.

XJ Stryker

X2 on what finney said.

also while you got the carpet out I would recommend pulling the nasty insulation off of it as it will rot out your pans over the years.

91 Laredo

Update -

Pulled the cowling and sprayed water inside - nothing.

Sprayed water on the windshield area, etc - nothing.

Removed the washer bottle and sprayed water on the blower motor - bingo. The seal is apparantely bad between the firewall and the heater box. I could take a zip tie and push it thru to the inside w/o much resistance. The foam style gasket looked pretty deteriorated.

Bad news, stealer no longer carries this gasket, Its been discontinued. It can still be gotten but after looking in my Haynes manual it looks like the entire heater box, etc has to be pulled to get in there and replace the seal. There has to be an easier way or anther option.

Any ideas?

BowtieGuy3

Yeah. Run on down to the auto parts store and pick up 1 can of brake cleaner. Then run on over to the Home Depot or whatever, and get a tube of clear SILICONE (You can get the aluminum or black if you want too), and a caulk gun if you don't already have one.
Spray area with brake cleaner.
Let dry.
Load up caulk gun.
Squeeze a bead.
Run finger or ice cube over bead to press it into gap that's being filled.

91 Laredo

I think I actually have all this stuff around the house (too many home improvements )

Have you seen this issue with the blower motor gasket before? I think I may have to give it a shot.

MulishaXJman

I just did what Bowtie said to and it worked great! Did you get yours to stop leaking?

91 Laredo

Wow, havent been here for a long time. I actually sold the Jeep in May and bought a brand new truck.

After using the silicone and sealing up the blower motor it seemed to help, but still would leak during heavy rain. I gave up and didnt mess with it anymore. I originally only had plans to keep it for a year when I bought it so I didnt really care too much.