x2 on the Seal around the ac drain. Had same problem on my 98, and cut hole in inner wheel well, attached hose to drain end and problem solved. About 30 min. and $10.00.

 

Yes, I may have. Good call. I have it off now and will check to see if the floor dries out eventually. If so, I'll know for sure that it's the A/C drain.
Thanks for your reply!

 

sorry to re-hash this post but, i have been having the same problem (sort of) i have water on BOTH front floor boards under the carpet...it almost looks like it is coming in around the door sill, but all the weather stripping looks good....and i havent driven the jeep in two weeks and it has been raining here. so i know it IS NOT the AC drain since my jeep has been basically just sitting in the driveway. any other thoughts on where/how to check for leaks around the door seal or windshield?

 

I've been reading up on this issue. I've found that while I don't know why some suggestions have been to check drain lines in the cowl. Apparently if these get clogged up it somehow causes a leak through the firewall into the passenger compartment. since you have water on both sides it could be something to look into.

 

Thanks!

 

My problem is identical to the one issue everyone descripes as coming from the a/c drain and water accummlating under the rear passenger seat, however, I cannot find a drain hose in the engine compartment. I am, however, convinced that the water is in fact coming from the a/c system since, it is clear water, is present even in dry weather, only on the passenger side of the vehicle and water is present under the carpeting on the front passenger side floor as well.

My next step is going to be to get to the a/c box and hopefully the drain through the interior of the vehicle behind the glove compartment.

Does this seem like a reasonable approach. Anyone have any exerience doing this and any suggestions on how to go about getting to the drain this way?

 

About the cowl drains, I'd just like to pass on an experience. My wife's Dodge Caravan had a very large cowl area for the wiper transmission and air intake. The drains plugged up with pine needles and other debris. when you went around a corner, it sounded like a bathtub with large amounts of water sloshing back and forth. It had screens on it, but the pine needles went right through it. It soaked my foot on the passenger's side.

 

I have a 94 grand cherokee with the ac leak. I drilled a 1/4" hole in the drain on the right side since the drain feeds into the framerail to rod out debris and blew it out with comp air...still leaked. Is there a way to replace a rubber grommet behind the a/c drain going into the firewall? I feel the water coming in from there and the grommet or whatever crumbled into my hand. Any ideas?

 

How big is the air plenum in front of the windshield? IDK about my WJ because I haven't had it apart (yet!), but my wife's Caravan had 2 drain hoses in the plenum that got plugged with pine needles. When you went around corners, it sounded like a bath tub! It got so much water in it that it blew out the A/C ducts. The A/C drain was plugged also.

 

I have just solved this problem on my '98 GC. After checking for all the obvious leaks around the windows and sunroof, I followed the recommendations to drill a hole in the A/C box on the passenger side interior. Ran a wire through it then hit it with the hose nozzle. No clog and the water from the hose ran straight through to the ground. So I concluded the drain was clear. Still did not fix the problem. Next I ran the A/C and waited until I saw water. Low and behold, condensation was leaking around the seal of the A/C box to the firewall in the interior compartment. Seems like this seal had dried out. Took some silicone and put it around the area and have not had a drop of water since. Funny things happen to a 15 year old vehicle, but I love my Jeep. 231,000 miles and drives like it is brand new. PS. Use Max Life oil and change every 3,000 miles and I bet it runs another 100,000.

 

If it's a 4.0 and you treat it right, it will.

 

Thought I would post my problems here (since it is a thread about leaks) about a couple leaks I have on a 98 (it's actually my daughters). I have a leak that drips from the passenger side. If you look in the gap to the right side of the glove box you can see it running down and dripping. Not sure exactly where the water is actually coming from though. I have poured water in different spots around the corner of the windshield, hood, in the cowl, etc and while it may take 10 minutes or so to start, it will eventually start to drip. I can look up under the dash at the heater blower and see where the seal is getting wet from the right side.

My other leak is into the rear passenger floor board. I can't find exactly where this is coming from either. The door weatherstripping looks good but I haven't taken it off to look behind it yet. Both leaks only occur when it rains and when it rains hard I may have 1" of water in the rear passenger floor. It's hard to gauge what drips up front as I have a Tupperware pan under the drip. But I'd guess I had as much as 4 cups of water in the Tupperware after a good day of rain yesterday. Just not sure what to do right now about these. I hate to just replacing weatherstripping if that is not the cause. Needless to say I don't have a lot of experiences with Jeeps

 

Most likely the leak is caused by the air conditioning condensate drain. You say that it happens when it rains and suspect the weather stripping, however, do not forget that the A/C runs when the defroster is on, thus producing condensate. Look behind the glove box and you will find the condensate box, I suspect you will see the leak starting there and running under the carpeting to the area beneath the rear seat. Follow the directions on prior posts to seal the leak and the problem will be solved. This is exactly what happend on my '98 GC.

 

Thanks Ron. I'm going to try to contort my 55 year old body under the dash this weekend after removing the passenger seat, trim and rolling the carpet back. It's supposed to rain again Thursday so I suspect I'll have water puddled up once again on the floor and will have to dry it out again anyway. My driveway is definitely on a slope and the XJ parks nose up, so I am going to back in and see if parking nose down reduces some of the leakage. I have been reading a lot of the threads concerning leaks and plan on testing some of the suggested solutions this weekend. I know I am a novice at this, though I have had a good bit of experience rebuilding an MGB some 40 years ago .. LOL, but I just find it hard to believe that the AC or defroster can produce the amounts of water I am seeing by condensation alone. I'm talking @ 4 cups conservatively in the Tupperware bowl up front and another 3-4 cups in the rear floor area after a good day of rain.

 

Stripped the interior out today. Removed the seats, console, and carpet. It was soaked underneath on the passenger side all the way to behind the rear seat. Got some rust to deal with now but it doesn't look too bad. I don't see any spots that have gone all the way through. I will clean it up, prime and then coat it with something. Not sure if I want to use a Rustoleum protect or something like Rhino liner. This is my daughters DD so I'm not real concerned about it getting submerged or anything ;-). Now to track down where it is actually leaking. Last evening I pour about a cup water and food coloring directly into the cowl. Sure enough it started to drip from under the blower into the passenger side in about 15 minutes. The water comes from around the right side of the blower housing if looking at if from inside the passenger side. It did however drain properly from down under the car as well. Today I poured a cup of dyed water (different color food coloring) directly where the cowl, hood (while closed), right front fender and door all meet. Did not pour any on the windshield though. It also started to drip through in about 15 minutes. I checked the blower motor on the engine side and it was bone dry. I guess my next step is to remove the fender and see what I can see. Not sure if there are any seams in that location but that is all I can think of that the two areas I poured water could have in common. This Jeep did have a fender bender (nothing major according to the carfax) when owned by the PO. I wonder if a seam got cracked, since the accident was to the right front fender and bumper.