My wet (inside) Jeep...

[Abutterfly]

Okay,we all know I don't know Jack about my new Jeep, but is it supposed to be wet inside when it rains?? Ha HA! you say........I know, some of you are getting a big chuckle out of me and my lack of Jeep knowledge... but... I know they get wet, but do you just live with it... try to find the leak... REMOVE the carpeting asap?.. what are you to do with the wet in there? I have the soft top on now, and it looks to be just where it should be... so is this just the norm or what?? Should I take the carpet out until the hard top comes back on??? I didn't notice the wet with the hard top on... but I wasn't looking either. I am not afraid of wet... I just don't want it rustin all out, or won't it? I will be roughly 68 when I finish paying this thing off.....HA! I love this Jeep.... I don't want it all wet and stinky if I can prevent it...what do I do?? I mean I love this thing.. but I am still a girl.

 

[M_A_A_Randall@yahoo.com]

mine has alwase leaked, right by the peddals. Alwase..duno why. Hardtop. Mines an 88 tho seals could be dry rotted...oh well ive rhino lined mine, im not too worried about it.. just keep my drain plugs out

 

[TwistedCU]

I would remove the carpet until it's hardtop weather. Even if you find the leak, it could get rained on.

As for the leak, if the top is on right, and the doors are closing tight all the way around, then my guess would be the cowl drain tube is clogged. it is a common malady which is easily corrected.

The cowl (the vent looking thing on the outside of yer Jeep between the hood and the windsheild) gets rain in it. The rain goes out a drain tube instead of in your jeep's heat ducts. If said drain tube gets clogged (they often do) then the water comes in the jeep.

Pop the hood, look toward the back of the engine compartment below the cowl. There is a vertical (or near vertical) fat rubber tube that narrows toward the bottom. It is held in place at the top via a spring clip. Pinch the spring clip with a set of pliers (or by hand if you ate your Wheaties this morning) and pull it off. It will probably be caked with bugs, pine needles, road slime, and other nasty stuff. Clean it out and put it back. If it was clogged then your problem is solved (so long as it was the only source of H2O).

 

[TwistedCU]

I would remove the carpet until it's hardtop weather. Even if you find the leak, it could get rained on.

You should take it out to dry it out at least... otherwise it'll start stinkin'

 

[Abutterfly]

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it. I will pull the carpet out for the summer and just carry some towels in there. I will also check out that drain tube as soon as the monsoon passes! I hope that's it. I have a 2000 Sahara so I wouldn't imagine that the seals would be bad?? I couldn't imagine ANY off road debris being in there, as some clean cut wussy pants owned it before me... it was garage kept and all! I think it's in shock now....it went from a life of luxury to me grinding the gears and buckin' down the highway.... and the occasional 3rd gear to second while accelerating! Okay, Okay, that was a few weeks ago when I was just learning stick....I am MUCH better now, although I did attempt 5th into reverse this morning.....Oh the painful noise it made....and then I said !*#$er *$!*#er....and went for 4th!! I feel a little sorry for her, but she is VERY forgiving..... I just wanna do what I can to keep it nice. HA! That is almost comical..... outside shining...sparkly cool lookin'.... inside nice and dry....and engine parts droppin' out the back all the way down the highway!!! Hope that drain thingy does the trick! I wonder how long it will be until I burn up the clutch in her.....my husband keeps reminding me how expensive they are...... Yes, dear... Yes, dear....

 

[Sparky-Watts]

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it. I will pull the carpet out for the summer and just carry some towels in there. I will also check out that drain tube as soon as the monsoon passes! I hope that's it. I have a 2000 Sahara so I wouldn't imagine that the seals would be bad?? I couldn't imagine ANY off road debris being in there, as some clean cut wussy pants owned it before me... it was garage kept and all! I think it's in shock now....it went from a life of luxury to me grinding the gears and buckin' down the highway.... and the occasional 3rd gear to second while accelerating! Okay, Okay, that was a few weeks ago when I was just learning stick....I am MUCH better now, although I did attempt 5th into reverse this morning.....Oh the painful noise it made....and then I said !*#$er *$!*#er....and went for 4th!! I feel a little sorry for her, but she is VERY forgiving..... I just wanna do what I can to keep it nice. HA! That is almost comical..... outside shining...sparkly cool lookin'.... inside nice and dry....and engine parts droppin' out the back all the way down the highway!!! Hope that drain thingy does the trick! I wonder how long it will be until I burn up the clutch in her.....my husband keeps reminding me how expensive they are...... Yes, dear... Yes, dear....

Actually, it doesn't have to be off-roaded to get gunk in that drain tube. Leaves, bugs, bird droppings, whatever will get in there. But, Twisted is right....it's most likely the drain tube that's plugged.

 

[Abutterfly]

Okay I lied... I hate this freakin' Jeep!!! Well, lets say I am not speaking to it right now. I tore the carpet out rear and front passenger side as the driver side was dry. I dried it all out and I put some water down the front of the vent thing in the front, the Cowl or whatever. Not a drop came inside... dry as a bone. It just ran out the bottom like a hose. I wet that Jeep down like Hurricane Andrew and checked inside and not a stinkin' drop of water. We have had days and days of rain here in PA... so maybe it will be leaking when we get an excessive amount of rain? Yea, that's it... it will only leak in excessive rain......I am just disgusted. So.. when I tore the carpet out I see this sticker under there that says" WARNING! You IDIOT! We put this carpet in here so you won't burn your freakin feet/legs off , you fool! This floor gets hotter than the pit of hell itself...." Okay, great... so what do I do with this floor that is gonna be smokin' hot without the carpet in there? What do other Jeeps do that don't come with carpet in there? Just how hot will it get and it's not gonna have a mat meltdown in there, is it? That's all I need.. smoldering mats! I am just now realizing why people have Jeeps as a second beater car..... not an ONLY car! Perhaps I should have bought a Honda and a piece of crap Jeep to play around in.....something that doesn't matter if it is full of mold and has birds nesting inside. ??? I am wondering....

 

[Jeepr]

Haha, it takes a special person to drive a Jeep. Good luck figuring out where the water is getting in. If it was dry with the hard top and wet with the soft top, I would guess it is getting in around the top somewhere, check the doors. Mine has no carpet, and the interior is lined with spray in bedliner. I have floormats down, it doesn't get hot. Then again, I keep my top off all summer and run a bikini top. The floor won't rust if you don't let the wet carpet sit on it. Use a set of floormats to keep the floor cool then dry them if they get wet. Do you drive barefoot, or with flip-flops? That will make the floor seem real hot.

 

[TwistedCU]

Your mats won't catch fire, but yeah, the floors do get hot.

remember this from your other thread?:

congrats and welcome to the love-hate relationship of owning a Jeep!!!

I guess you are experiencing the hate end of it right now. Fret not, soon you'll know all the idiosynchrocies of your Jeep and all the little tricks to try to gain comfort and conveinience out of a vehicle built for function and fun.

I still think it could be the cowl's drain tube. Did you remove it?

 

[TwistedCU]

Oh, and carpet remnants cut to fit the footwells make nice floormats and keep the heat down. If they get wet, just hang 'em out somewhere or lay them in the sun to dry out. You can even put the factory floormats over them.

 

[Sparky-Watts]

It could be your windshield gasket. Those sometimes leak if the windshield has been folded down in the past. But you said the nancy-boy that had it before didn't ever do anything but mall-crawling, so I doubt he took it down....any previous owners before him?

 

[Sparky-Watts]

One other thought: Are you sure it was rain water and not antifreeze? Could be that the heater core is leaking. I believe that would only put water on the passenger side.

 

[judge09]

I had a leak in my TJ from the firewall. Apparently one of the plugs I "modified" was leaking and my floor got a little wet when ever it rained. Give the firewall a quick check and make sure you dont see any holes.

 

[Abutterfly]

Okay, I am going to really whine... so if you don't wanna hear it.... hit the back button and move on. I just posted a very lengthy story here about this wet Jeep..and it disappeared before I could post it.. I HATE WHEN THAT HAPPENS... Long story short.... I woke this morning to a 1/2 inch standing water in passenger side and rear and a line of water running from the back gate area. I bailed/dried it out and did some serious looking around. The front toe/foot area of pass. side is bone dry.. even the heater vent I felt inside of.. no water. I think it is originating in the pass. rear add a trunk area and making it's way forward. Driver side is dry except for a little trickle behind the seat. I just can't figure it.. I am SO disgusted and have such a headache. I have to remove ALL the carpet I guess.... hubby has to remove add a trunk so I can. What a mess.... I can take some water, but standing water???? Does everyone have standing water in there that you could float a rubber ducky on??? Come on....I really am ticked off... I went in the house and sat down and cried I was so ticked off.
Why do they fill it with carpet if it's gonna leak anyway??? Had I known I would be stripping it down to a bare frame, perhaps I wouldn't have gotten this cushy a** Sahara in the first place...... but I do REALLY like it.....

I haven't even started making payments on the thing yet..... THAT is what really ticks me off.. I searched long and hard for this Jeep that I could afford and that was in very cream puffy condition, and NOT off road and had soft AND hard tops and doors.. and here I am bailing it out. What is wrong with this picture?? Does anyone have a dry Jeep??? Am I totally insane for thinking these things?? I know you gotta trade some things if you really wanna be cool and all... but come on..... I can splash inside this things.. no joke. It kinda takes the wind out of your sails... perhaps I should keep my Explorer... sell this one and get an old piece of junk Jeep that I don't have to care if it's wet or not...??? Sorry to be a real whiner, usually I don't whine... but for what I paid for this damn thing.. it should have a bagel waiting for me each morning when I go out to leave for work!!! Okay I feel better now that I vented... not really......I know what you are going to say... SUCK IT UP... STUFF IT FULL OF TOWELS AND MOVE ON GIRL!! WEEEEHOOOOOOOO!!!

 

[judge09]

something is definitely up...You shouldnt have any water insider your jeep. Do you have the rear window in??? jk.

 

[Abutterfly]

OH yea, the window is in.....I don't know much about this new Jeep, but I am thinking something isn't right. I have the soft top on, all windows in/on.. everything zipped... I am wondering if that big rubber strip along the back door/gate thing is wrong, but I looked at my neighbors in passing and mine looks the same as his, only when I looked at his rear (the Jeep's I mean ) I couldn't see much of his rubber strip... just soft top and door... I don't know what is wrong. Everything is tight, tucked in and velcro fastened. Perhaps I will go knock on his door when it stops raining and ask him what he thinks. His is really nice and he's been a Jeeper for a long time. The lady up the street has one also.. perhaps I will ask her too. So, this isn't a normal thing I guess?? I hope to hear from some more people on here who might shed some light as well..... Thanks for your help. If I could just find the problem perhaps I could jigger rig it ...?? I just don't want wet fet and stinky smelly interior...who would?

 

[Abutterfly]

I am thinking it's the rear gate leaking.... I dried it out between cloud bursts and then I put a bath towel folded up in the passenger rear corner inside the trunk part.... an hour later that towel was soaked!! The front floor parts were dry for the most part with the exception of about 1tbsp. of water inside the passenger door on the floor.. I think the one seam there by the roll bar leaks... I can live with that... the one in the rear.. I don't know what to do about it. Asked the neighbor to come over when it stops raining, if it ever does. So I think if I keep a towel there in the back... it might put a stop to the flooded interior.... just a temp. fix I guess. Perhaps I don't have the rear set up right, but I think I do.. maybe that rubber bar back there is the problem. I don't know but it sure made my day miserable

 

[TwistedCU]

There are removable/replacable plugs randomly around your Jeep's floor. No need to bail, just remove the plugs. You can get some more pliable rubber replacements (hardware store?) that are easier to pop in and out instead of fighting the stock ones everytime.

I know, I know... "Now you tell me!".

I wish I was more familiar with the TJ's soft top... can't help ya there as they're different from my '91.

Sorry to send ya on a wild goose chase with the cowl tube. it is the problem more often than not.

One other thing... for a leaky Jeep...

remove floor plugs, then if:
Leak in rear, park nose up.
Leak in front, park nose down.
:lol:

We have had a heap o rain here in PA over the last few days, haven't we? You sure picked a fine time to learn about Jeeps, their soft tops, floor plugs, and carpet lol

 

[Sparky-Watts]

Does the rear rubber bar at the bottom of your back window sit on top of the tailgate, inside it, or outside? Like Twisted, I'm not familiar with TJ soft tops, but on my YJ, there are two little flaps on either side of the tailgate that hook into the rails to keep the flap with the rubber strip on the outside of the tailgate, allowing water to run off, rather than into the Jeep.

Another thing to check would be the zippers. Not the actual teeth part, but where they sew into the top. I've heard from a few folks that they are prone to separating from the top, leaving a gap that isn't easily seen without close inspection.

Hang in there, we'll get you through this. You've got the best bunch of Jeep minds on the planet here. It's just kinda hard to diagnose a problem without actually being there and seeing it, ya know? But, we're trying!!

 

[Sparky-Watts]

More thoughts: Is the inside of the top wet anywhere? Can you see anywhere on the top or windows where water has been running down it? Try putting a towel up under the top by the roll bar or top support bar and see if it gets wet. One last thing to try would be to sit in the back of the Jeep during a downpour and try to see if you can see water coming in anywhere.