jamespwsullivan Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 So my Comanche has developed a leak n the passenger side. I had already replaced the windshield (a good buddy of mine has a windshield shop) and that did not take care of the problem. He even came back over and we hose tested everything. I am convinced it is not the windshield. I have removed the carpet and seat on the passenger side so I can see all of the floor and up onto the metal that goes vertical. I'm not sure if this is the actual firewall or of it's one side of a space between the cab and the actual firewall. it looks like the water is coming through/around the blower motor. I cannot see any water any higher inside the cab but I can see it trickling down from the blower motor hole. So if that is what's happening, how can it be getting there from the engine compartment? (I should add that this is happening when the truck is parked as well as when it's moving, so it is not coming off the road while moving.) There is a seal at the rear of the hood (is that the "cowl" seal?) that is pretty flattened out. The only place I haven't looked is to pull up the cover where the wiper motor is. Thanks in advance. I love old trucks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KYMJ Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 I've got that leak as well. You won't see anything under the wiper motor cover, I had it off last week. I'm going to remove the blower motor and re-seal it with silicone when I get a chance. I'm pretty confident that will do it. I'm hoping that is the last leak after replacing door seals, vent windows, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountain Dude Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Not sure if MJ's are the same...but when I had a leak like this in my TJ it was a blocked cowl drain. Spray a little water into the cowl vent ahead of the windshield ans see where it runs out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamespwsullivan Posted October 26, 2012 Author Share Posted October 26, 2012 KYMJ-that sounds like a plan. Where do you think it's coming in? Mountain Dude-Thanks. That's worth checking as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chastings Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 When mine leaked on the passenger side, it came from under the kick panel. The antenna grommet pulled out of the sheet metal, allowing water in through the side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exgrayxj Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 I was looking thru Jeepforum, found a good series of posts about the heater/cowl flange seal leaking, and the best way to repair it was removing the dash and heater assembly, to repair the missing/ wrongly located/shrunk seal. Discouraged me so badly I just remember to park it right side high now. Most of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KYMJ Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 I've had my interior apart for a year now chasing leaks. I put it back together after painting the truck because I was tired of looking at it. Went to get the windshield re-sealed prior to painting, the window guy suggested a new windshield instead. The budget is blown now and I don't think it's leaking anyway. Sealed the ant. grommet good, no problems under the wiper cover, it was removed for paint and inspected well. Last fall it appeared to be leaking between the firewall and heater box, which suggested windshield. It rained yesterday and the water was definately coming from the heater box. Right in the vicinity of the blower motor. I will remove the overflow bottle and bracket and re-seal the blower motor-first and look for seams/possible problems with heater box. This has been a process of elimination, if I get lucky re-sealing the blower will do it. I've had Grand Cherokees with the cowl seal leak so I'm hoping it's not that. My dash is cracking, so a new dash may be in the works anyway. One step at a time. I'm ready to modernize to a newer vehicle and religate the Comanche to workhorse duty only, but we had to buy a new vehicle for wife to allow us to pass the 09 Sentra over to the daughter who got her liscence last week. So, I'll still be DD'ing this thing awhile longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParadiseMJ Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 I just remember to park it right side high now. Most of the time. All good suggestions above. The cowl drain can be clogged, the cowl seal can be cracked, worn too. The most common "not rain water" and not coolant leak, that I know of is the clogged A/C drain. That, by itself, could not produce the gallon or so of water that would accumulate over night during a good rain. Here's my story about an elusive leak. The first time I noticed it was after a good overnight storm. The entire passenger side footwell had about an inch of water not including what the carpet and padding had already soaked up. After sucking it all out and getting it thoroughly dry I began parking my XJ facing uphill all last winter for fear that Lake Cherokee would fill up again...even 1 or 2 degrees up made all the difference. That ruled out the HVAC drain and the cowl. Then I found where it was coming in. On the front passenger door frame there is a strip of rubber, that had come loose in a couple spots and warped a bit. It turned out that the entire volume of rain water (or washing) if the Jeep was parked facing downhill drained into the gutter, exited the gutter, made its way into the door crack and dribbled right past the warped seal. It re-glued the inner door seal and flattened it out...ba-da-bing, no more leak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamespwsullivan Posted December 20, 2012 Author Share Posted December 20, 2012 I've had my interior apart for a year now chasing leaks. I put it back together after painting the truck because I was tired of looking at it. Went to get the windshield re-sealed prior to painting, the window guy suggested a new windshield instead. The budget is blown now and I don't think it's leaking anyway. Sealed the ant. grommet good, no problems under the wiper cover, it was removed for paint and inspected well. Last fall it appeared to be leaking between the firewall and heater box, which suggested windshield. It rained yesterday and the water was definately coming from the heater box. Right in the vicinity of the blower motor. I will remove the overflow bottle and bracket and re-seal the blower motor-first and look for seams/possible problems with heater box. This has been a process of elimination, if I get lucky re-sealing the blower will do it. I've had Grand Cherokees with the cowl seal leak so I'm hoping it's not that. My dash is cracking, so a new dash may be in the works anyway. One step at a time. I'm ready to modernize to a newer vehicle and religate the Comanche to workhorse duty only, but we had to buy a new vehicle for wife to allow us to pass the 09 Sentra over to the daughter who got her liscence last week. So, I'll still be DD'ing this thing awhile longer. KYMJ-Any luck finding this leak? I'm reluctant to start removing the dash in my driveway in the winter, but here in Indiana it's been pretty wet/rainy and I need to do something. Plus-I've never had the dash apart and the heater box looks challenging. I would be willing to tackle this if anyone could point me to a reference for how to disable and reassemble all of that stuff. If you attacked this from the engine compartment side did you just try caulking around the blower motor hole in the firewall or something else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KYMJ Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 Haven't had the time, sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
com_mako Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 I had the same problem on my 86.. reseal de blower motor, check de cowl drain, reseal the antenna plug, still had water on the passager side what I found is the seal on both hood hinges was missing, so I buy new one from a 1997 xj and solved my problem ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirteatr717 Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 I read a little tip that Pete wrote when I had first signed up on here, sprinkle a little baby powder where area of the leak is coming from and spray the hose over and let the water dry, you'll see the baby powder trail :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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