So i just recently bought an xj cherokee, when i went to look at it it was parked underneath a bunch of trees for a while because that was quite visible by the condition of the paint. When i got it home i noticed the front passenger side footwell was damp. Along with that the front drivers side footwell was completely soaked with water. Does anyone know any fixes or possible problems that could lead to this? I checked the heater core and everything was fine.

 

Most of my front end water was coming from the windscreen surround. Is the headliner damp/wet around the screen?

 

get inside and have someone hose it, (or during heavy rain) feel around the door seals and windscreen etc etc

visibly observe for streaks of dirty/rusty stains on inside paintwork

its very hard to dry the underfelt

 

Rusted out floors will let water in from underneath.

 

no not at all

 

the only rust a dime size spot 2 inches away from the top right corner of the windshield.

 

If they are that soaked, its best to get them out and dry them as best as possible, otherwise it will never dry and may get moldy. If you do decide to take the carpets out, wouldn't be a bad idea to treat the floors with something to prevent or stop rust from going further. My guess is that the dime size spot may enough to be letting water in. Check the rain gutters for rust as well.

 

Lay 1-1/2 inches of newspaper on the soaked carpet. Repeat. It will soak up the bulk of the water and leave you with a "dry side" eventually. Until you find and and fix the leak anyway. Might take a few days, it does work in time though. (then recycle it). At least you won't be wet and fogged up!

 

They leak from half a dozen places. When I replaced my windshield, that stopped most of the leaking and fixed the drivers side completely. When I replaced my blower motor and ran some seam seal to replace the deteriorated seal underneath it (couldn't see it until I removed the blower motor) that fixed the rest of it. My floor has been dry as a bone this Winter.