Leaky Fuse Box... now hood seal question

[Yesterday's Danish]

I'm attempting to plug up a leak between the bulkhead connector and the fuse box. When it rains heavily I get water inside the cab. I've tried silicone and tried making my own gasket and neither have worked. The stock gasket rotted off due to a leaky clutch master cylinder, which has been fixed. I must be missing something. Any tips?

[Pete M]

I had water rushing in past the rear seal on the hood (which trickled down and found its way past the firewall following some wires).

[Yesterday's Danish]

How did you fix it? Maybe I am getting too much water under the hood and that's why it's leaking. I've checked the hood cowl and cleaned that out. Silicone should work but perhaps I'm not applying enough (or I'm applying to the wrong areas) to plug up the hole in the firewall.

[Pete M]

I squirted some silicone along in the gasket to help it keep its shape.

[Yesterday's Danish]

Any other ideas out there? The hood seal looks good so I don't think it's that. This leak is making my lose my mind. :nuts:

[Pete M]

Mine looked fine too, but wouldn't keep out water along the entire length. Try the baby powder trick. That's how I found the hood seal issue. :thumbsup:

[maddzz1]

Did you check where your hood release cable passes thru?

[Yesterday's Danish]

Yeah I checked the hood release cable and I don't feel any wetness there. It's all coming from the fuse box/bulkhead connector.

 

I'll put silicone on the hood seal and see if that helps. Thanks, Pete.

[Pete M]

Sprinkle baby powder around. the water will make little trails through it. :thumbsup:

[Yesterday's Danish]

So I ran water over the hood while it was closed. When I opened the hood I saw that the back of the engine, the bulkhead connector and the passenger side (I think the blower motor is over there) were covered in water. This isn't normal right? Seems like the rear seal on the hood isn't doing much to keep water out.

 

As far as the baby powder trick, where did you put it, Pete? On the firewall?

[Pete M]

Everywhere. :D it's easy enough to clean up.

 

But if the engine bay is soaked, it would stand to reason that the rear seal is pretty bad.

[Yesterday's Danish]

I tried putting silicone in the hood seal and it still leaks pretty bad. I'm guessing I need a new one. I checked my 2000 XJ and it looks to be a different material. Anyone have any experience with replacing this?

[comanche09]

I tried putting silicone in the hood seal and it still leaks pretty bad. I'm guessing I need a new one. I checked my 2000 XJ and it looks to be a different material. Anyone have any experience with replacing this?

 

Does anyone have a pic of this gasket? Is it the one at the back of the hood on the cowl??? Mine is dry rotted, no leaks in the cab yet, but maybe soon...

 

If you have a u-pull yard near you, you should be able to find a servicable seal for your bulkhead connector from an XJ.

[HOrnbrod]

See this thead:

 

viewtopic.php?f=2&p=153929

[Yesterday's Danish]

Just found that thread when I searched for the hood seal. :thumbsup:

 

I guess I'll see if I can find a stock gasket for the bulkhead connector that's in good shape. Otherwise it's back to making a mess and praying that RTV will seal up the hole.

[jbhill]

silicone and steel don't like to play well, i would invest in some autobody seam sealer...

[Yesterday's Danish]

Put a new hood seal in and thought it cured the problem. After some heavy rain today I had a bunch of water in the cab. It's still leaking from the fuse box. Maybe autobody sealer is the way to go but I'd like to be able to get the fuse box off if I need too. Any other suggestions?

[WBKrazy]

i had a leak like that in mine when i got it, every time it rained id get big puddles inside... it turned out to be the windshield.. i had it pulled and resealed and it hasnt leaked since...

[dasbulliwagen]

I just had my fenders off and saw missing seam sealer at the bottom of the A-pillars under the tops of the fenders. Just to let you know, might be one area to check.

[Yesterday's Danish]

Just an update. So I found a new gasket for the fuse box and it still leaked. So I dug around and finally found that there was water where the hood release cable goes into the firewall (sorry Jim you were right :doh:). Plugged that up and it STILL leaked. I found another place where it's coming in and that's where the clutch master cylinder is. Right now that's where I am stuck, but at least I'm getting somewhere. Is there a gasket in there somewhere and am I gonna have to unbolt it from the firewall?

[Pete M]

sure it's not coming from up above the clutch slave hole and dripping down? thrown some baby powder up there yet?

[Yesterday's Danish]

Next time I can work on it I'll throw some baby powder on. It looks like it's leaking from one of the bolts where the clutch master cylinder goes into the firewall. Then again, it could be coming from higher up and I can't see it.