Leak on driverside

[Aaron]

I noticed that the last few times it rained hard, my 86 GW has leaked water onto the front driverside floor. The carpet gets soaked, but the floormat stays dry. The first time this happened, I took up the carpet expecting to find a rusty mess for a floorpan, but instead I found that the floor pan was basically rust free, and looked great! I treated the couple of small (nickle sized) surface rust spots with naval jelly and paint. After the carpet dried I put it all back together. Yesterday it rained really hard again and again I got a soggy front driverside carpet. I want to fix this problem to keep the Jeep from rusting out. I looked in the technical archives, but didn't really see anything. Is there a common leak spot that would cause this? Keep in mind it must be comming from somwhere low, because the floor mat never gets wet. The other 3 floor pans stay dry as does the cargo area. I'd use a hose to try to fiqure this out, but I turned off my outside water for the winter.

[Aaron]

Forgot to mention. I hardly ever drive this vehicle, so the water is coming in while the vehicle is parked on level ground, not underway

[Kukur]

I know on both my 84' CJ and 78' Wagoneer I have leaks in the front window (driver's side) that leaks only under heavy rain, in the driveway.

On the road the water doesn't seem to find the secret passage.

I was told by a glass shop that it is common on the CJ and when I get the widndshield replaced they can seal it up a bit better with some silicone or something.

[95pontiac]

I've got the same problem on my '88 Grand Wagoneer. Putting some clear silicone at the outside bottom corners of the windshield did help, but didn't completely solve the problem. I have taken the kickpanel vents off and cleaned inside them too. I also made sure that the drain holes that come out behind the front tires are clear of debris. Since the rust is only in spots, I think that the windshield gasket is letting water in in front of the dash - but I am not sure.

[MrWagoneer]

welp, i passed a bunch of water (positioned a hose) thru the cowel and to my surprise water simply helped itself to my cabin interior thru the vent in the kick panel (drivers side)!
i removed the vent cover and sure enough it was coming in the same way air would come thru the vent.
of course, why didnt i think it would be that simple for water to arrive to its destination the easiest way :]
i had already cleaned the vent drain area by hand and vacum cleaner and placed aluminium fly screen under the cowel covers to keep the leaves from building up again. water flows without obstruction from the drain as can be observed under the car.
i would put this one down as a design issue.
between the vent and the black vent cover (actuating cable running thru cover), i placed a cutout of the sheet aluminium (roofers use for flashing).
i simply traced the outline of the vent housing dimension to the sheet aluminium, then cut the centre out so as to have a 'retaining' lip around the interior diameter of the vent housing. ie the vent hole is somewhat smaller now.
used plenty of silicon between the kick panel and vent housing, used plenty of silicon between vent housing and my aluminium cover, screwed the black vent cover back on (attaching cable before the whole process), and no more leaking.
this was one major leak that would literally soak my whole driver and passenger side behind me, because the water would come down from the vent, follow the left side of the driver side floorpan to the back and would soak towards the centre of the car.
this would happen weather stationary or moving.
i will be doing the other side tomorrow.

[ December 17, 2002, 10:27 PM: Message edited by: MrWagoneer ]

[Joe H.]

I would run an unbent coat hanger through the drain hole at the bottom of the kick panel vent, just to make sure it's clear.