I am trying to reduce the noise and mess in this forum so I am going with a 2-fer here, and posting TWO topics in one thread. Look at me being all efficient and streamlined!

Ok, so let's get into it, with pictures! (hazaa!)

1. First is a small issue, so let's get this out of the way. I am a mostly newbie XJ owner and just want to know, if my under-wiper cowl vents correct. As in... My driver's side cowl under the wiper is definitely vented and see through (see photo), and I am clearly getting snow and water on my wiper arms and motor area etc. Is that normal? Should it be open like that? The Passenger side, as seen in the other photo, is a solid "mock" vent, I suppose - blocked off solid grey plastic. Should I be changing anything from the junkyard? Fixing anything? Or don't panic, it's normal? (I did open it up this fall and liberally rust proofed all the wiper components and bolts etc)





2. My bigger problem that I need help with: I am developing pooling of water in my front-passenger side floor/foot area. So I did read some people mentioning a cowl leak, or the heater etc, but that to me seems it would be leaking from the FRONT of the foot area, but mine is (as shown in the photo), only focused towards the seat area. In the pic, the RED indicates the wet area, and the YELLOW indicates the pooling/concentration point. Is it possible that my door seal is leaking? I checked the door and frame, the sill etc. No signs of water anywhere, and the rubber seal shows signs of contact wear evenly throughout (I guess the next step is to use some transfer medium like chalk or water soluble easy-wash paint, to check for contact througout?)

EDIT: I want to add, it only happens when it is raining, or there is a heavy melt day in Winter, so lots of water, never happens when it's snowing (and it just melts a bit), and I don't get the leak with the heater on every day, driving around, so I am almost ruling out the blower gasket

(please ignore my rusty seat bolt... I couldn't unbolt this fall (it's stuck) to clean and paint it, then winter came!)

Just curious if anyone has ever had this type of water pooling in their XJ before?

 

The cowl panel is supposed to be like that. That is where the HVAC system draws air in from the outside. One wonderful thing about XJs is the engine heat is sealed away from the HVAC intake.

The red area is the lower part of the floor pan. That is where the water can pool. It is most likely running down the firewall underneath the carpet into the floor.

Could be a seam in the cowl or it could be the gasket around the blower motor.

 

X2 on how the cowl is set up.
In my '00 I had a leak from the top of the windshield that would come out just to the left of the passenger side visor and drip down to about that area.
Since the Jeep was getting some surface rust issues taken care of, roof and hood, I had my body guy have his glass guy pull the windshield.
Since you never really know what you are going to find under there when you do that I figured if there was any body issues my body guy could take care of it.
Turned out it was all on the glass guy. Simple remove, regunk, and replace with a new molding stopped the leak.

 

Thanks! I think I am going to lean towards cowl, as I have the heater on all the time, and the leak only appears on really heavy rain days, or on heavy melt snow days. So either cowl, or maybe other body stuff. Thanks for the tip!

and thanks for confirming the cowl

Oh man, I never thought of that option, from the headliner/the windshield line. The windshield looks to be (poorly) replaced in mine by the previous owner, I'll give that a really good look over tomorrow or later this week when it's more mild. I REALLY appreciate that tip!

 

Have a look at these for a common leak at the cowl intake.
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/wat...ng-cowl-34969/

 

Going by that video, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to put a dap of silicone caulk where those screws go and then screw them in.

 

I've read about the body joints under the cowl leaking but have not opened that area up to inspect it yet on either my 96 or 98. I did repair a windshield seal leak on the 98 that allowed water to enter the top left corner and leak directly onto the driver's door control panel and short it out. I got a tube of 100% black silicone calking and, raising the seal up gently as I went along it, injected it into the area beneath the seal. No more leak. That truck's passenger floor pan was pretty corroded. I removed the interior, biffed the carpet, ground out all the cancer and fiberglassed the floor. Then I painted POR15 all over the exposed metal and then sealed that with silver Rustoleum enamel. Once the inside was done, I did the same thing on the underside of the pan. The driver's side wasn't as bad but I repeated the process on that side as well.

 

Going to throw this update in here, since it happened today and I remembered to snap a photo. Does this (below) water pooling pattern look familiar to anyone who has had a similar issue? And if so, what was the solution?

 

Lots of possibilities. That's a low point on the floor, so it could be windshield, roof pinch seem, cowling seal failed and it's dripping from the a/c plenum. I would at least pull up the edge of the carpet and see what the floor looks like. It you see rust, you really should pull the carpet to clean it up and recoat.

 

That may have to wait til spring, given our Canadian winters. Thus far, I've been hitting it for hours on end, each time, with a ceramic heater. Seems to make it bone dry each time, and should hold off any rust til I can get to the floor. Floor seems solid, and I bought the jeep from owners that had it undercoated since new, so very little frame or underbody rust.

*fingers crossed*

 

The floors rust from inside out most of the time so undercoating wouldnt help if the carpet is wet. The foam acts like a sponge and keeps moisture trapped. I'd pull the carpet.

 

I was afraid that was the case.... so is it super hard to pull that side of the carpet out? Like, it's Minus 6 Celcius today and for the whole week, ideally I would be putting a heater in there to soften all plastics, but I don't want to really spend hours in there in the cold!

 

If you plan on keeping and reusing the carpet basically the side mouldings have a few screws, center console has to come out. Front seats were the biggest problem bc you may snap a bolt or two which is the most time consuming to repair. (Drill out bolt and retap or bolt and nut) Soak them in pb blaster for a few days.
If you dont plan on reusing them just cut out the front section with a razor blade.
Most importantly find the location of the leak. Bc it will just keep on happening. Mine was the windsheild, I had someone spray with a hose until I could see it from the inside, but I guess with your weather that wouldnt be an option.

 

If you guys have car wash stations that might be a good place to inspect

 

The cover over the Junction Box comes off easy enough. Remove the cover and then just take a socket, think 10mm, and unscrew the speed nut.
The pain is removing that lower pillar molding.
You can get at most of the screws but the seat is in the way for the last couple.
Might be able to get work the carpet out enough from under there without removing those last couple screws. That angle philips head that come with screw driver sets works there but takes forever. LOL.
Once you pull up a portion of the carpet there at least give you an idea. But not a total picture.
Pulling all that front section of the carpet completely out is harder.