Anony

Last year I found several inches of water on the passenger area floor.

Now it's fall and has rained a few times and the passenger side floor is again wet with around an inch of water, so I'm thinking the problem is the windshield area rather than a water heater leak. I'm not one hundred percent positive if the problem is with the windshield seal. What should be done is to remove the dash and windshield and inspect both the windshield area and water heater..

However I don't have a garage or covered area to work in and the rainy season has again started.

So for now I'm thinking of drilling a temporary drain hole in the floor so the water won't collect on the floor area.

What sort of materials and special tools do I need to repair only the windshield area?

What I'm planning is to first remove and then re-install the windshield to determine if this is the cause of the water leak. (Possibly obtain a spare windshield in case the current windshield is damaged)

What other areas should I inspect, that potentially may be leaking and causing up to several inches of water to accumulate on the passenger side floor?

I'll probably need some sort of cutting tool to remove the windshield and some sort of windshield caulking to re-install?

fb97xj1

Before messing with the dash or even the windshield, take a look as best you can behind the seal along the roof and A-pillar. If you see any rust, that could be the source. Another check is to pop the hood and inspect the seam where the firewall meets the inner fender. Check the firewall in front of the blower motor, too. If youre lucky, you just need some sealer. The cowls have been known to leak also, just above the blower motor. Remove the cowl in front of the windshield and check the air intake on the passenger side. Grab a flashlight. I wouldnt bother with the windshield until you check the rest. If you have a garden hose with a trigger on it, have someone spray around the windshield in different places as you watch for leaks from the inside.

Heres some more reading for you to get an idea of what may be going on. Good pics, too.
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/wat...ng-cowl-34969/

SirCyber

If it is leaking around the windshield itself you might have a rush hole under the windshield seat. If that's the case, you will need to remove the windshield, fill said hole(s) and reseat the windshield. You could also have a leaking weather stripping on pass door, or a roof leak that is running down the side channel of the door. Easiest way to tell is dash removal. I posted a link in my thread "New project: Gutting the dash" thread in modified (page 1) that goes to someone else's thread on dash removal. Once you have the dash removed you should be able to readily determine where your leak is. Dash removal is not a very daunting task. Just keep all your screws in separate baggies for replacement, and above all else label every electrical connection you remove

Anony

Ok thanks. I'll give those areas mentioned a closer inspection and perform some more testing using a garden hose.

A while back I did remove the vents below the windshield and sprayed water inside the vents, on the windshield and door areas, but did not see any water leaks. Which has me suspecting there's a possibility it's a leaking water heater?

As soon as I find the correct fitting I'll connect the water heater inlet hose to it's outlet, to rule out the water is coming from the cooling system.

Anony

Update: Nov. 8th 2017

I was driving down the road while it was raining and noticed one or two drops of water from the passenger side visor.

There is a small area near the middle of the passenger side of the windshield that feels wet. The interior roof headliner is drooping down, approx. 4 inches wide. It appears water is leaking from the top part of the windshield where it connects to the Jeep's metal roof. I can't see any sort of crack in the glass.

I will need to remove part of the headliner and the windshields exterior gasket to inspect further.

Is it possible the windshield's urethane seam is leaking? Or the windshields gasket that covers the entire windshield?

The Jeep is a 98 and still in fairly good shape, no major damage to the body other than a few small dents to the rear hatch and left front fender.

The rest of the body is in good shape. Only significant rust on the body is a small rust hole on one of the rocker panels.

What are my options? Remove and clean the old windshield and install a new windshield Urethane seam while inspecting the gasket? Replace the windshield?

The windshield and the roof appear to be in good shape with no visible rust, corrosion or cracked glass.

However up in the top corner on the passenger side of the windshield it appears a small portion (covering a total of 2 - 3 square inches) of the plastic membrane of the windshield has puddled up a little, and not even as the rest of the windshield. Doesn't appear would be the cause of leaking as it's not near where water was found inside near the visor and the windshield has no visible cracks.

SirCyber

I have two thoughts on this. First is what a local windshield repair place told me. The outer seal may have a leak, just because it looks good doesn't mean it isn't. Also, if it has failed, it could have developed a rust spot under the seal. That could be the cause of your leak: pinhole rust hole, allowing water to seep into your Jeep.

However, I find it difficult to believe this would be the cause of your 1" puddle, unless it's more than a subtle drip as you alluded to. My Jeep drips from two, maybe three places on the window seal, and I don't get puddles. Maybe it's leaking more than you thought, and the path it is finding is along your pillar. Again I allude to my earlier post.

Personally, I would chase the leak from high to low. Maybe remove headliner, then replace after you check there. The side windshield trim along your "A" pillar is difficult to remove without first removing the dash, so I would secondly turn to the dash removal. Maybe do both, drive to an automatic car wash and see what happens. With everything removed, you should see the leak.

I haven't touched on removing the glass, and the reason is that I am afraid of breaking the windshield. I am leaving that one to the experts. But if you have confidence in yourself, have the equipment and materials on hand, then maybe that is your starting place. It's just not mine personally.

Hope all this blathering helps!

Ralph77

That sounds exactly where mine was leaking. Assuming it is a '98 like in your profile you just can't peel back the molding, gunk it up, and call it a day. The molding wraps around the windshield and if you pull it off will not be able to get it back on. A remove and replace, buy new molding, would mostly fix the problem if that is where it is coming from. Problem being once you open that up who knows what you will find. Could be no amount of gunk will stop the leak. I got lucky. My Jeep was going in to get some surface rust issues taken care of. Hood and roof. Figured I would let my body guy deal with the windshield too. This way if it turned out to be more then just a remove and replace he could deal with that too. It turned out to be just a remove and replace.

Turbo X_J

Windshield is bonded & sealed to the chassis with urethane. The rubber trim is simply that, it covers up the gap and is not designed to be waterproof. If you try to remove the windshield chances are very good you'll be replacing it. If there is a rust issue in the frame area until you repair it the leak will just continue to worsen.

Anony

I'm uncertain of the severity of the leak or if that even matters or not as it something that needs to be repaired.

2016 and 2017 I found up to a couple inches of water on the passenger side floor. Found approx. 2 to 4 times. Initially I thought it to be a water heater leak. It was dry most of the so I didn't get excited and sort of forgot about it placing it in the back of my mind.

I recently drilled a small hole approx. ~1/2 inch in the floor so most of the water drains out. However the carpet is still wet and will eventually need replacing unless the leak is repaired sooner than later.

This isn't exactly body work or similar to repairing dents, etc. I normally prefer to have body work done by a professional body repair shop, or just leave more minor dent(s). I'm not one who needs to be driving a vehicle with a perfect body. If there's a few dents, cracks, etc. doesn't bother me. I still haven't replaced the nose that was damage on one corner by a deer, jumping in front of a jeep from a heavy wooded area along a major highway. The rear hatch still has a few dents caused by a tow strap breaking. I haven't got around fixing the minor body damage. Now if there was a problem with the engine, drivetrain, suspension, steering, tires, wheels, etc. I would fix it right away.

Back to the leak. I think I'll first stop at some of the local junk yards and see what the cost of a used windshield.

Rock auto list a windshield with blue tint for a 92 to 01 Cherokee. Cost is $155.99 however total with shipping is $309.98

A windshield repair shop iirc can replace a windshield for around ~$200.00 (parts and labor) some may be a little higher at around ~250.00.

But I would prefer to attempt to repair the windshield myself if I'm able to find a replacement windshield and some urethane at a reasonable cost.

Then there's the matter of the molding i.e. can the same molding be removed and then re-installed without causing damage to the molding?

SirCyber

Yes completely. It is held in place by clips, get one end up and pull it out, sliding it along the clips. There are some good YouTube clips, I think bleepinjeep has one.

Anony

After weeks of rain the sun finally came out today and I took another look at the leak.

Taking a closer look it appears water may be rolling down from up farther (passenger side) of the roof, from inside underneath the headliner. I removed the visor and pulled down the front of the headliner, which doesn't appear something that's easy to deal with. i.e. to pull then entire head liner. If the leak is from under the roof rack or drip edge I don't think I will need to mess with the headliner at all.

Just patch the roof leak and I may be done, no messing with headliner or windshield.

I probably need to remove the roof rack inspecting for any leaks and then grind down the rusted areas (beneath the drip edge trough), patch them up with something and then repaint.

We get around 60 to 70 inches of annual precipitation , mostly rain, so it's probably something that going to need to be dealt with, when the weather is good enough to work on it. At the same time perhaps I can repair any other areas that are starting to rust such as around the bottom of the doors, etc.

Whats a good repair material for the side of a roof and underneath the drip edge and near bottom of doors? Bondo? I also should replace one of the rocker panels with a rust hole.

Doesn't appear water is coming from the windshield seal but I'm not 100 percent certain.

There is moisture under the headliner with some mildew one side near the roof's edge underneath the roof rack approx. back to the rear door on the pass. side.

I suppose I could pull the entire headliner however I'm not certain if it will be necessary.