Seen and read a ton of threads on this but am kind of confused. I have water leaking on my passenger side floorboard. pretty well ruled out the windshield leaking and am pretty certain its leaking in around the outside air intake. So some threads say pull the dash and there is a way to seal it up around there. Other threads say cut out the top of the cowl and seal around it from the top and put back the cowl as well as you can.

So what really is the best and easiest way to do it? I have the time to pull to the dash but can't really visualize a good way of sealing it from the bottom. Not against cutting out the cowl but don't have the tools readily available to do the cutting. Not that buying a new tool would really bug me. I love buying tools.

 

Go to a salvage yard and look at the Cherokees. Chances are someone has pulled a dash out, or enough that you can see up in there before cuting into yours.

Are you sure the A/C drain is not clogged? Are you sure the drain holes below the outside cowl are not clogged from debris?

 

I just found a good thread on this with good pictures. Only problem is it seems that to get to this you end up having to drain the AC system. Something I am wanting to avoid. As far as drain holes I am un aware of any drain holes. Everything I can find is that these drain off the sides of the cowl. These spots are clear of debris. All though I think I am going to head to a junk yard to see what I can see. Maybe there is another solution. Thanks for the idea.

 

Keep searching around on the threads...there are some older threads on this topic, I recall one where a guy posted extensive pictures. Also be sure that it isn't your blower motor seal.

 

I think I have pretty well eliminated this as well. I ran my arm up around the blower motor housing and can feel and here the water dripping/running on to the top of the housing from above.

I'm not sure what to do. Part of me just wants to cut the top of the cowl out and seal around the intake the other part wants to pull the whole dash out and just replace all the seals and everything so I just don't have to worry about it anymore. Yes I have the time to do it but its deer season and I would rather spend my days off deer hunting than dealing with the dash.

 

Well after spending the afternoon looking, prodding, pouring more water over it, and going to a junk yard to see how these things go together. I have pretty much decided to remove the dash and do it right. It could be leaking from more than one spot and really the only way to be 100% sure is pull the freaking thing and actually get eyes on where its coming in. This is really the only way I see of having it done, out the way, and just not have to deal with it anymore. Hopefully I can avoid pulling the A/C lines but I'll just have to see that when I get in there. Wish me luck and any tips would be awesome.

 

Ha! Total coincidence that I posted in this old thread right after you! https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/wat...ng-cowl-34969/

(Mon. at 3:30 anyway)..

 

You may not need to remove the A/C lines if you don't have to move the whole HVAC box or can work around the evaporator. But, you may want to consider replacing that and the heater core while you're in there...of course the old saying goes, if it ain't broke don't fix it but might want to check them out at least.

I have a big writeup on removing the dash from the newer models, and the author mentioned adding extra padding and sealing to areas within the dash overall that made it quieter on the road (less creaking, etc)

 

Thankfully I don't have creaky Jeeps.

 

lol my jeep isn't creaky either, but when I do my heater and evap cores (lucky me, they're both shot), I'm going to tighten up the dash best I can anyways.

 

Oh..if it leaks there when it's raining it might be the calking for the duct. If it drips when it's not raining it is probably the drain for the AC is clogged.

Creaky! Yea, cracks all over....300K comen up!.....

 

Yeah it only leaks when raining or washing. Actually washing it is how I found it. Was cleaning out up and pulled the floor mat and carpet was soaked. Sprayed water over the cowl and sure enough it came pouring in.

 

We heres a little update. After pulling my dash out I got to the heater box and decided to stop there and see what I could see. I had my girlfriend hold the hose over the cowl and its NOT leaking from the outside air intake. With out the dash in there I was able to reach my hand around a lot more and see a lot more. I think I have 3 leaks. 1 in the passenger side corner of where the cowl meets up with the quarter panel and firewall. 2nd around the blower motor and 3rd remaining to be seen. I only say a 3rd because after siliconing around the 1st leak it slowed a lot from up there but hasn't completely stopped.

So anyway thats where I am at. Going to clean up the tools and reorganize and go back at it in the morning.

Also, had a couple interesting findings. There are no hoses running from the defrost duct to the side defrost vents. Never have been as far as I can tell. The places where they go in the duct at is still molded over from production.

2nd I have a CEL that needs addressing. As I was pulling stuff apart I pulled the cover off the information panel and guess what. No bulb in CEL port. Put a bulb in from another spot and it lit up. At this point I still had everything plugged in under the dash so it wasn't that.

 

One of the previous owners or a used car lot pulled that pesky bulb instead of fixing the problem.

 

Man, isn't it terribly interesting what you can find out about a vehicle the deeper you go into fixing or restoring it?

That's fascinating. I've never seen or heard of how that system works much, besides the blend door. Can you take pics by chance? Are there actually supposed to be hoses there, or plastic ducts similar to that under the center console?

Sounds like you've definitely made some great progress. Good luck!