Does anyone know how to fix the common leak in the floor board of the passenger side? I'm pretty sure my 1996 Xj 2 door 5 speed has rust because of it. Thanks in advance.

 

Like the heater core is leaking? That's a common leak, & it leaks onto the passenger floor. Replace the heater core with a non-leaking heater core.

Or, is the windshield leaking on the passenger side allowing water to puddle on the floor?

Have you pulled the carpet back on the passenger side to see what your floor pans look like? Can you weld? If so, treat the rust & weld in new floor pans.

I'm not quite understanding what kind of a leak you have. Please describe the symptoms & what you have found.

 

X2. You need to pull the carpet back and inspect. If you've had a leak the carpet padding will hold the moisture and rust the floor pans.

 

x3
Road salt and heat from the exhaust burning off the undercoating will also do a number on the metal from the bottom.

 

1. Pull the carpeting back.
2. Smell it.
3. Get the area dried out.
4. Run a hose over the windshield on the passenger side for 10 minutes or more.
5. Check for water.

If it's the heater core, it will smell of antifreeze when you pull back the carpet. The water from the hose will not show up.

If it's the windshield, either go online to learn how and do it yourself, or have a windshield shop remove and replace the windshield. You CANNOT fix a leak here by sealing around the edges. You must remove the windshield. IT is the glue that holds the windshield which provides the seal, NOT the trim (either rubber or aluminum). The trim is purely for appearance.

I have not tested this, but I am pretty sure that the later (97+) windshields are exactly the same as the 96 and earlier. The difference is the rubber trim on the later ones, and the aluminum on the earlier ones. If you call a windshield shop, they can verify if the actual glass is the same. If it is, I suggest using the later rubber piece instead of the old aluminum.

Once the windshield is out, clean up the metal area as well as you can (you can do a far better job of this than any shop will). You may find rust here, and it must be removed and the area fixed before the windshield is replaced.

If you don't feel competent to replace the windshield, consider removing it yourself so you can clean up the area before having a pro reinstall it (or install a new one).

 

Here's what a leaking windshield looks like when the windshield is removed, the rust cleaned up, and a coat of Rust Reformer applied. See all the holes? (Yes, I missed a bit of rust there.)



Cleaned and prepped.



This (below) is what it looks like when you don't plan to do it right. I'm patching the holes with same urethane glue that secures the windshield. This should have been welded up, but this is a beater car, and has enough rust issues that I don't expect to get more than 5 years out of it. I decided to gamble that using the glue will hold it for that long. It's a roll of the dice.


Holes glued with urethane.


Here (below) is the urethane glue applied, ready for the windshield to be plunked down onto it. This is what it looks like when it's done by an amateur who doesn't know what he's doing. There's not enough glue in several spots, and we had leaks. Had to rip it out again. We also had no way to install the rubber trim, because that has to be attached to the windshield BEFORE the windshield is set in place. There's a tarry, tacky glue that is applied to the EDGE of the windshield and the rubber trim is then placed on the windshield, then the windshield is plopped in place on the bead of glue.

Really, the whole process is not difficult. Any handy person can do it. Uh, just understand the correct process first, like I didn't. (You will need one assistant to place the windshield.)


Urethane applied ready for the windshield.

 

Yes, the glass is the same. I second switching to the rubber gasket instead. The metal trim pieces never seem to go back on right, even if you don't break all the brittle plastic clips getting it off. You'll want to trim off the little rivets that hold the trim clips.