I have an official leak

[gardengirl38]

I do not know where though. We have had an oceans worth of rain here in the last couple of months. That big Noreaster storm came and I thought I got some water in my floorboard from riding in high water but it rained again over the last couple of days and i got in the jeep and noticed just the drivers side had about 3 cups worth of water in it. So I soaked that up and pulled out of the driveway. When I cut the wheel and pulled out to my right water ran out on my ankle. I have no idea where it originated from. I did get a new windshield about 6 months ago but It looks great and I just cant where this would be coming in at any ideas how to find it?

 

[HiHood]

Sounds like it may be pooling on top then swooshing when your driving. :shock: I would check all the seams. Starting on the window frame and moving to the door etc.

 

[southtj]

Don't forget to pull your drainplugs until you find the leak.

 

[jfrabat]

It sounds like the cowl seal. If water gets in there, it will leak when you turn because it will get in to the hole the wiper motor wires come out of... Been there, done that, got the T-Shirt!

 

[jps4jeep]

this happened on my YJ twice, both times it was two different things. first time was a leaky windshield, insurance covered a new windshield, problem solved. second time was a clogged drain hose for my heater intake. you should have a cowl vent. this is the intake for the air that your heater uses, on YJ's (I think tjs) there is a drain iin the bottom that goes to thie fallic looking black hose on the fire wall. mine was clogged with mud, dirt, old leaves etc.. it woud not allow the water to drain so it would back flow into the heater box. when it rained, I would get water on my floors/feet, especcially when I turned. I would look here first.

It has been my experience that unless you put your windshield down regularly, it won't leak through the cowl.

 

[gardengirl38]

Thanks! Well- I have never put my windshield down. I see that there are several other people posting now with same type problem. Im glad to hear some ideas that gives me places to look.

 

[54cj3b]

CJ,YJ,TJ s all have the same leak in common comes in from cowl vent area from bad drainage from drain plugs being cloged with leaves or dirt ect ,

best to clean them 2 times a year how you do it is
remove vent cover on cowl ,find 2 drain plugs 1 on either side ,use a staighted out metal coat hanger and put in drain hole push it in till all the junk comes out of the bottom of jeep than flush with hose to get the loose stuff out ,
next thing to do is under dash , get a tube of silicone and run a bead around all the seams this should solve the leaking problem and keep you dry now :givemebeer:

 

[54cj3b]

also if you put your windsheild down alot add a peice of rubber weather stipping
best kind is the stuff used in old car trunks glue a strip onto bottom of seal on windsheild should help seal it better could use it on hard tops also around the seal

 

[nowajeepman]

i have probably the same problem with my87 yj,checked out the vent but nothing major since it has a screen wire filtering out any large debris,also checked the drain hose,all ok, so now im pretty certain the culprit is the windsheild cowl gasket 50.00 from jc whitney,145.00 from a local jeep dealer (guess which one wins out!),but some black rtv silicone is cheaper since i wont be ridin with my windsheild down,,,,,,,just another project to keep me busy

 

[jeepyj]

I had a leak also...Replaced my cowl seal,and no more problems.Its easy to do,And chances are it needs replaced anyway...

 

[volaredon]

I had the same thing on my 97 TJ; wound up being around the engine side of the heater box (I think; I ain't looking under my hood as I type this; having a "brain fart") center of firewall above valve cover IIRC; there's another spot behind the battery. I siliconed both spots from under the hood. I was getting water in my passenger side floorboard. Not any more though.

Has anyone ever had your dash apart/heater box out of there?

I bought my Wrangler in 2000; shortly after, I had to pull my heater box because of a bad alarm install, that the PO had installed. They zip stripped it to the heater box linkage toward the driver side of the heater box; one day I found myself with no heat; yet the T stat was doing its job etc; I went to change over from floor heat to defrost and heard a "SNAP"; the bell crank on one of the doors within the heater box busted off; plastic at that. this was because the bellcrank had wedged against that aftermarket alarm control box.

There are 3 doors within the heater box; they control "cool/warm" and also divert the airflow to the different vents.
as it happened, 2 of these doors were available seperately via the stealership; the one I needed was only available as part of the lower heater box housing. so I had to replace the whole bottom 1/2 of my heater box, just for that! If only I knew who installed that alarm.... I'd probably kill em. but it was shortly after having had the heater box out, that the "flood" inside of my Jeep started; with every rain, or trip thru the car wash.
I was able to fix the problem from the firewall side without dismantling anything. I used black silicone and a scraper to make it both look "nice", and also to squash as much silicone into the leak site as I could.

I can take a look later and let you know exactly where I had to silicone.

I won't swear to it but now that I'm thinking about it I BELIEVE it might have been coming from where the heater hose nipples from the core pass thru the firewall.

 

[Jeeper99]

I'm having the same problem. After a day of solid rain, my passenger side floorboard has water pooled up. I don't have carpet in mine and I have the floors bedlined, so technically, it isn't a big deal. Just one of those anal things that irritate me.

Are you talking about putting silicone around the hoses going through the firewall? Brain farts travel well via internet. heck, better yet, got any pics?

 

[cali_92]

my leak comes from behind my dash, runs down wires and shorts out my stereo and soaks my legs. check the vent, not clogged, replaced cowel seal. still leaks.... fml