my 88 cabin leaks, water inside the cabin, not from the heater core.

[Submariner]

My 88 has a water leak.   It sits out in the rain and the floor boards are wet. 

 

How do I find the leak and what have you all done to fix this problem other then park it the shop/carport.

 

I am in the process of shifting the doors to 98 cherokee doors so now is the time to make the cabin water tight.

 

I will be stripping most of the interior out with exception of the dash. then I will repaint the interior and put down some sound proofing as well as do some mods that cruiser 54 suggests.

 

Thanks

[MiNi Beast]

check your cowl area, also fender antenna behind kick panel. welcome.  

[ghetdjc320]

Is it just the passenger side? I found water pooling just under the blower motor cutout. Added a 1/4” hole there to drain out the basin. Zero issues since

[coolwind57]

That back windshield is an area to check closely too.  From experience.

 

[WahooSteeler]

Unfortunately there are several possible locations for water in the passenger floorboard. Check the rubber stopper that the radio antenna goes through, it's up in kick panel. They have been known to wiggle loose or even pop out. Push it in tight and cover it with Flex Seal or something similar, or brush on liquid rubber etc. Another common area is around the blower motor as noted above. The 30yr old foam seal more than likely has dry rotted. If you don't want to drill a hole you can put rubber seam sealer around the perimeter of the blower motor opening on the engine bay side. All that said, if you are gutting the interior for other repairs and maintenance, the best approach would be to pull the dash and replace the foam rubber seals around the blower motor, heater core and a/c lines if you have that. You may have to get your own foam rubber and cut to fit as the OE pieces are no longer made. You might get lucky and find them on eBay. Later model XJ pieces may work with some cutting, but I think the piece for the blower motor has a different shape than the early years and may not line up properly in the opening.   

[Submariner]

thanks for the response.   i will check those spots out.  getting ready to take  all the interior out to see if i can find any other souces and let things dry out.   i want to paint the floor out to stop  all the surface rust.

 

[Pete M]

under the frame caps is the hardest part to properly deal with.  

[A-man930]

On 12/13/2020 at 9:37 AM, Pete M said:

under the frame caps is the hardest part to properly deal with.  

 

This. 

[DC Dave]

I battled water leaks for most of 2020. I had no idea it leaked so much until after I installed new floorpans and drove around with no interior for awhile. These are the leaks I found:

 

Antenna grommet (sealed with seam sealer)

Blower motor (new weatherstripping) 

Firewall grommet on hood release cable (replaced cable)

Fuse block (new weatherstripping)

Random plastic trim fastener below the fuse block (seam sealer)

Rear window (removed and reinstalled glass)

The vertical body seam below the rear glass in the corners on both sides. (seam sealer)

Door weatherstripping (replaced)

 

My XJ also leaked at the roof/body seam under the rain gutters and through the rear door due to a missing vapor barrier behind the trim panel.  

[Pete M]

1 hour ago, DC Dave said:

I battled water leaks for most of 2020. I had no idea it leaked so much until after I installed new floorpans and drove around with no interior for awhile. These are the leaks I found:

 

Antenna grommet (sealed with seam sealer)

Blower motor (new weatherstripping) 

Firewall grommet on hood release cable (replaced cable)

Fuse block (new weatherstripping)

Random plastic trim fastener below the fuse block (seam sealer)

Rear window (removed and reinstalled glass)

The vertical body seam below the rear glass in the corners on both sides. (seam sealer)

Door weatherstripping (replaced)

 

My XJ also leaked at the roof/body seam under the rain gutters and through the rear door due to a missing vapor barrier behind the trim panel.  

 

it's like these things were built to leak on purpose.  

[Minuit]

2 hours ago, DC Dave said:

I battled water leaks for most of 2020. I had no idea it leaked so much until after I installed new floorpans and drove around with no interior for awhile. These are the leaks I found:

 

Antenna grommet (sealed with seam sealer)

Blower motor (new weatherstripping) 

Firewall grommet on hood release cable (replaced cable)

Fuse block (new weatherstripping)

Random plastic trim fastener below the fuse block (seam sealer)

Rear window (removed and reinstalled glass)

The vertical body seam below the rear glass in the corners on both sides. (seam sealer)

Door weatherstripping (replaced)

 

My XJ also leaked at the roof/body seam under the rain gutters and through the rear door due to a missing vapor barrier behind the trim panel.  

This is usually the scope of the problem for most people. My experience says it's never just one spot, even if it looks like it at first.

 

If you've really got it bad, add to the list:

- The thick foam seals at the HVAC drain and heater pipes

- The fuse block connector itself. This one gave me a lot of trouble.

- a "trough" in the body that funnels water into the blower motor gasket

- Windshield

- Gaskets at the base of the steering column and clutch master cylinder if equipped

 

To add to the (extremely common) antenna grommet leak - I'm almost positive the cause of this is rain water running down the antenna lead. No idea how to solve that one. The power antenna version of this grommet is sturdier, so adding a power antenna is a very roundabout way of fixing this problem, I suppose.

[jeff351]

I replaced the door seals on mine, and noticed the door doesn't seal at the top where it meets the roofline. I can see light coming through with the door slammed shut.