Hello Everyone,

So as in the title, what are the pros and cons of cutting the cowl sheet metal to access air vent in order to caulk seal, or to remove dash to stop leaks around blower motor? Maybe both?
I have several leaking areas on the passenger side, and I really don’t want to cut any exterior sheet metal. Does cutting it present other problems? I know the dash removal will take more time.

What do you guys think?

1. Cut the Cowl? Yes or No?

2. Remove the Dash? Yes or No?

3. Both?

Thanks for your input.
Clint

 

I'm not clear on where your leak is. Can you post a pic? Are you sure it's not the windshield?

 

Hello it’s on the passenger side foot well. See photo


I don’t think it’s coming in from the windshield because when it rained I had one of those windshield sunshields up and it was not wet. Plus before I had discovered the wet floor liners I had driven many times in the rain on different days and had never seen them wet. The dash itself was never wet either. I guess it’s possible that it’s coming from somewhere that I have not noticed. If I go the dash removal route I would put in a new heater core and blower motor while it was out.

thanks

 

Before I pulled the dash, I would know for certain where/what is leaking.
Could be that the windshield needs to be sealed. To answer the other question, I would not cut the cowl.
All of the leaks I have seen from the front end up on the floors, usually on the passenger side.

 

This guy cut the sheet metal and pulled it back to get at the top of the cowl vent to seal it.

 

Thanks for the video. I would very much like to NOT cut the cowl if at all possible. Could this be accomplished if I took the dash off?

 

Nope. That part is outside.

Where you are seeing the water is where I would expect it if your windshield is leaking. Before cutting anything or pulling the dash (a huge job!) I'd look into removing the windshield and inspecting that area. You likely have some rust there that is the source of your leak, and if you don't fix it, it will only get worse.

I did it a couple of years ago and found it wasn't a bad job. By the way, the rubber ring around the windshield is purely cosmetic. It does not provide the seal, and slopping sealing on it will not help long term.

 

I was afraid of that. You might be right. Was it hard to get the glass out without breaking it?

 

Use the pros.

 

I am in a similar position right now. The windshield is being replaced this week and I hope that will fix up my leaks. Its needs to be done anyways so I'm going to start there before I break out the cutting discs. Ive posted about it before but this is my current plan after the windshield is replaced and I still have a leak:

1: Try the "damming" technique. Although the fact that I am getting water on both floorboards leads me to think this wont work.
2: See if my wife's tiny arms are small enough to get some silicone or 5200 on the seal. I also has the idea to attach some tubing to my caulking gun and tape the tubing to the end of a stick. Might take most of the tube of caulk, but I might be able to get far enough back in there to make it work.
3: Pull off the fenders to see if the drain holes are really clear
4: See how much of a PIA it really is to pull the dash enough to get to the cowl from the backside.
5: Break out the grinder

 

The tube attached to the caulk gun might work, just remember you need to do some cleaning so the caulk will stick.

 

Thanks I like this approach and will call my glass guy tomorrow. I’d hate to cut up the cowl or pull the dash, only to find out that it was the windshield.

I appreciate the good advice.

 

Nope. I bought some tools on Amazon, and it took a while, but at no point did it seem like my glass was going to break. I used a saw wire (for lack of a better term).. It's a spool of wire (enough for many windshields). You need something to poke it through the existing seal, and then you just start sawing it back and forth to cut the urethane. Once it's out, just clean things up, repair any rust, and glue it back in place. The sealant is a special sealant. I got mine from NAPA. Do NOT just use some RTV or silicone seal!

The problem with having a pro remove it is this - what if there are rust holes underneath? He's not going to fix them for you. He's also not going to take much time to clean things up. You can do a much better job yourself.

 

I had a front leak that turned out to be from the windshield.
Was coming in just to the left of the passengers side visor.
Dripping on the floor.
At the time I was having some surface rust issues taken care of and figure it would be a good time to deal with that.
My body guy had his glass guy, who is now my glass guy (LOL), handle it.
Figured if there was anything going on in there then my body guy could handle it.
A simple remove and replace fixed the problem.

I have this thought when it comes to cutting up my Jeep to do certain things.
For instance know how guys cut a hole in the floor to swap out a fuel pump in the '97 and up?
There is a great write up on here telling you where to cut. Almost blueprint type diagram with measurements.
Well the write up tells you to build up around the panel you cut out of the Jeep. So it will cover the hole when done.
My thinking is cut a bigger panel out of a boneyard one for a cleaner looking assembly.
Couple smaller rivnuts, some bolts to match, and some weather stripping around the panel be good to go.

So I say if you have to cut your cowl plan ahead and get a patch panel from the boneyard.

 

I think you've convinced me to do mine. At the very least remove it myself.