Hey everyone! I was wondering if anyone has gone through, or is going through what i am right now amd can offer any help. I have a 99 Xj sport. Before ordering my lift ill be putting on, i wanted to find out where the leak was coming from. I first thought it was the rear quarter window seal so i replaced them when i seen water coming in right next to the window. It didnt work. It looks like the leak is coming from the pillar right before the quarter window. I took the roof rack off and there isnt major rust there. I figured them to touch up under the rain channel with some silicone just to be sure. And it still leaks! My question would be, where else could be the leak coming from? This is so frustrating because id like to put the interior back in, but need to find the leak first! Thanks!

 

Couls you post a pic of the exact spot the water is coming in?

 

I will as soon as i get home. Thank you for the quick reply! If you take the rear plastic panels off. It is right on the inside of that pillar. I will be home in a few hours and will definitely get some pics. It is on both sides of the jeep too!

 

I have been chasing one for awhile in my '00 and think I have fixed it. I am not seeing water anymore when it rains but have not drenched it with a hose yet. So it it coming out on the passenger side of the end
of that plastic that runs along the roof that covers the end of the headliner. I believe it to be coming from the hatch hinge on the passenger side. I used this:


Sprayed it all around the hinge.
Picked up a couple cans at Kmart in their clearance section for something like $2 a can. Thinking it might come in handy someday. LOL.

If you look close you can see where I tried to seal some of it up with some 3M Strip Caulk before.
But like an idiot I did not do all around it and of course some water was still coming through the small section I did not do.

 

[QUOTE=Ralph77;3573598]I have been chasing one for awhile in my '00 and think I have fixed it. I am not seeing water anymore when it rains but have not drenched it with a hose yet. So it it coming out on the passenger side of the end
of that plastic that runs along the roof that covers the end of the headliner. I believe it to be coming from the hatch hinge on the passenger side. I used this:


Sprayed it all around the hinge.
Picked up a couple cans at Kmart in their clearance section for something like $2 a can. Thinking it might come in handy someday. LOL.

If you look close you can see where I tried to seal some of it up with some 3M Strip Caulk before.
But like an idiot I did not do all around it and of course some water was still coming through the small section I did not do.




Thanks for replying to my post! You got me wanting to set up some lights and go work on this outside in the dark! I wont be able to work on it until saturday but the first thing i plan on doing is taking the headliner completely out, along with the plastic molding and weatherstripping so i can see better. But i will be definitely be looking at both areas now.
These pics are of the right rear inner wheel well, looking foward towards the door.

This is looking into the inner wheel well.

Right in the center is where it is leaking

 

Does your rig have a sunroof? If it does there are typically two drain lines coming from the back of the sunroof and two from the front of it. Just a thought.

 

No i dont have a sunroof. But thank you for thinking of that.

 

get inside while its pouring rain, or have someone hose it, go from there, inspect the gutters very carefully for even the smallest amount of rust

 

If you have a compressor you can also trying using air. That is how I determined (I think) that it was coming from the small section around the hinge that I did not do.
When I first thought it was the hinge and used the strip caulk it was just a guess on my part.

 

Could it be coming in around the roof rack mounting bolts? Just a guess.

 

Thats what i thought too. I took the rack off of it on sunday. It had surface rust on it so i sanded it down and put rust converter on it and when i put it back together i added a little bit of silicone to the bolts.

 

I think i will do this and my one buddy who i fish with told me to take colored water in a spray bottle and hit the upper part of the rain channel. Check for leaks. Change the color of the water with food coloring and do the bottom side of the channel and the windows n door area n it might show me where it is.

 

I have a brake line attached to the end of one of my air guns. Makes it easier to be more precise about controlling the air flow to narrow down where the leak might be.
Spray bottle might not be enough water. Best to just take your time with a hose, start low, moving slowly giving the water a chance to find it's way in, and then out (cause who knows how far it is traveling to where it exits), and then moving to higher ground following the same routine.

 

Thank you for trying to help me out with this. I am hoping to have this issue fixed. I will let you guys know what happens after i work on it this weekend! I really do appreciate all the advice!

 

Whats up everyone. Well i just got finished working on this jeep today. I am still freaking clueless on where the hell it is coming in from. I took the headliner out, the plastic molding on the sides in the back. I found some surface rust on that pillar where the passanger doors are. I cleaned that up and put the rust converter on it and went tontry to find these leaks. I ran a bead of silicone on the top n bottom of the rain channel, along with the rear hatch himges like that guy said to do and it still leaks. I also put a small bead along where some of the seams that look like they had small gaps in it. This freaking sucks because my lift came in on friday and i cant ever start that yet until i figure this BS out. Anyone want a 99 xj? Lol