Cherokee Ppl

It hasn’t been a good Xmas so far. It rained heavily here in Virginia for about 24hours on Xmas eve
I now have water in both the front and rear passenger foot wells. I cannot figure out where it’s coming in.
‘this is a 99xj. The windows were all up. The door seals don’t look to be dry rotted. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
‘should I do a complete seal update all around doors windows and windshield?

thanks and merry Christmas and happy holidays to you all

clint

TrailerTrash

My first guess would be the seal around the blower motor. If that leaks then the water comes right down the firewall into the floorboards.

But I've seen and read about water leaking from just about anywhere.

You may have to crawl around inside with a flashlight while someone sprays water from the outside.

Cherokee Ppl

Thanks I will check that. I just went online looking to buy exterior rubber window seals but the year cutoff was 1996, will they work with windows on a 99?
surely others have run into this problem

thanks again

TrailerTrash

Many many other people have had this exact same problem. Including myself.

The manufacturer even knew about water leakage in XJs. That's why they put thick padding under the carpet in troubled areas and moisture absorbing packets in the rear lower quarter panels. My 98 has roughly an inch and a half of factory installed padding under the carpet.

Google XJ floor rust and you'll see some nightmarish things

Cherokee Ppl

Thanks I feel a little better knowing that I others are struggling with this issue as well. I read a previous post when I searched water issues, it suggested parking with the front end downhill. It’s funny I had not noticed water issues until I parked with the front end facing uphill. So I will definitely give it a try. Those pics are real Flintstone’s mobile. And to your point, lots of padding under the carpet. Mine looks to be factory and the previous owner had it garaged and when I bought it there were nice new floor liners so I never thought about water issues. It wasn’t until last evening I got it after the heavy rain and saw the floor moving. It was all the water. Now I’ve got to check under the carpet and see about rust and water damage. I’m guessing it’s been wet before as the seat supports look a little rusty. So I’ve got some work to do, dry it out and see what I can do to fix this. Thanks very much. Clint

SasDan

Insulation literally just absorb the water

I only had a small leak as well


Fixed.. por15 and then bedlined

Now I’m not worried
pull your carpet up and pray for the best, water under the carpet has killed many a Xj

Cherokee Ppl

Now I’m really worried. I’ll get to it soon as possible, Please is there a step by step process I can follow? a previous post of what to remove first?
The carpet itself is in great shape , at least it is from the top. I’d like to save it and reinstall it after my rust intervention.
I love my xj, and I very much want to save it. Thanks

SasDan

my carpet looked to be in great shape from the top as well honestly it looked perfect. Step one make sure you have something else to drive for a few days once you get in there it’s never quick unless you get ridiculously lucky.

my jeep is a southern rust free one and that’s what my floor looked like.

Step 2 pull your seats out all of them.

Step 3 then remove your center console

Step 4 remove all plastic trim panels around your floor

if you do all of that you can remove your carpet in one piece. So long as the mat underneath is usable reusing it shouldn’t be a problem. Once you get to that point you’ll easily be able to find where the waters coming from even alone with a spray bottle or even a garden hose over your hood and down your windshield. Set a hose or a bottle of water on top of your windshield pouring down it and lay on your floor with a flashlight looking up under your dash

Rambler65

I've been struggling with this problem as well. I've been getting leakage from under the dash and from the door gasket on the passenger side of my '99 XJ. I was unaware of it until doing work underneath I saw the rust holes in the floor, which I patched, and I'm leaving the carpet pulled up until the leaks are fixed.

For the storm last night I put on one of those windshield snow covers which covers the windshield and cowl. That prevented water from leaking under the dash, but water still got in through the door gasket. A common leakage point is the air intake under the cowl but unfortunately you have to cut a large hole to get at the area to be sealed. (I'll probably do that in the spring. I have to work outside and it's too cold to mess around with it until then.) Ditto for figuring out where water is getting through the door seal.

There are quite a few videos out there showing how to fix the cowl leak.

lawsoncl

The cowl leak just dumps water onto the passenger side though right? In any case, I highly recommend pulling the carpet to inspect and remediate any rust. I almost guarantee you have some.

Cherokee Ppl

Thanks, you guys are very helpful and I appreciate your comments and Pics too.
today since it’s 16 degrees right now, I am going to run an extension chord and plug in a dehumidifier inside my xj.
‘once I get it dry, I’ll start the process. I am not looking forward to it but I need to see the extent of the damage.
there is a funky smell inside, doesn’t smell moldy, but it is definitely noticeable

Rambler65

Yes, the cowl problem is on the passenger side. The larger leak though is coming through the door seal. For now I'm just putting paper towels down in the affected area and cleaning up the water that gets in after each rain. I sprayed the floor with bedliner, so short-term water exposure is not causing any problems.

bnemmie

Same issue here. Posted about it with a couple pics here: https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f46/30...3/#post3631324

Post #34 and #36. So far haven't tried any of my proposed fixes yet. Its on my list when I get some heated garage time.

Ralph77

Must have missed that post.
Cause of the water stain thinking it is coming in at the front position and going backwards thinking it might be more
a door seal or antenna area thing.
Also check where your front fender meets the firewall in the engine compartment.
Shot I grabbed off the internet.

country2

I had replaced the floor pans on mine a couple years back. The drivers side was gone, passenger side had a couple of holes but was pretty thin due to rust along with the ones in the back seat area so I said hell with it pans were pretty cheap and I got a welder. I found all of my leaks and here is a list of the areas mime were at.

Drivers side - rubber boot for the wires going thru the door, steering column boot thru firewall was not even in the hole, floor drain plug shot and seam sealer between finder/firewall gone.
Passenger side - leaking aroung the blower motor, leaking along the antenna seal and a couple of rust holes along the interior rocker panel.
Rear - had one rubber floor plug gone.