I'm a new Cherokee owner and I'm having a similar issue. Water in the floor board after a rain, even when the car is parked. Just wondering if I were to close or open my air circulation if that would be a solution without spending a bunch of money or tearing something up myself.

 

My turn. I'll post picks of what I come up with. I did already make the mistake of using a hollow-point to shoot a hole in the floor last winter. I was not planning on a 2 inch hole.

On my 90 I can see it, fit my camera in there. The inside edge of the duct is 17 inches from the access hole. I'm assuming the sealant has failed. Thinking if I had a calking tube of Gorilla Glue, I'd attach a two foot hose and hit the three sides I can reach!

The far edge is about 24 inches in.

 

OK, see the U-tube link at the end. At first I almost abandoned the dremmel for something faster, but hey, like 20 minutes for a nice cut and most of the third wheel left.

I had first suspected the plastic "nuts" that hold the screen. They leave gaps right over the vertical duct. I siliconed them and it still leaked. DO GET THIS I was lucky with my cuts, as Jeep knew that and provided a deflector just for that. (see photo and U-tube vid). (had I cut 3/8 of an inch farther right, I would have cut off the deflector)

I'm sort of the third owner. (I did work on it for the second). I suspect the first buyer took it to Jeep or a professional shop is why the wires are stuck there in the vertical duct. (WE wouldn't do that).

I DO see wetness in the duct, but with a hose running around it it's not leaking. Here's the U-tube vid>
More soon!

 

After cutting that I later found that my main leak was a seam between the fender and body. (see photo). Also I should have hosed my blower motor longer. With my first test, I didn't wait long enough for something in there to fill up and drip. Later I saw it leak only hosing the blower motor. I then laytexed the blower gasket with a tube extending my calking gun, then smoothed it by hand. That fixed that, but it still leaked hosing the whole works until I found this in the photo, the seam leaking.

 

I don't think that would help because it is wiking down the outer edge of the fresh air inlet.

If you could accurately place it in there, a plastic escutcheon that fits around the perimeter of the air intake and the folds in the metal it fits through, with sealant on the bottom would be the trick - making it like a two piece inlet, sort of an outer dam to keep the water out.

 

Another question just occurred to me, does cutting the hole for the cowl mounted Spectre CAI create enough access to get some RTV in there?

 

Same issue as the rest of you...
Water gets in when parked facing uphill.
Glad for the floor mats...


So, after a hard rain yesterday I pulled out half the dash to find just the corner of the foam seal wet.


Look closely and you will see I cut a small hole in the plastic below the vent output to 100% verify where the water was coming from.

At this point I want to thank the engineers at Jeep for making sure I had to remove 10 things just to get that vent cover out.


It was leaking down into the vent itself and looked like it was pooling right behind the fan. If I had not pulled out as much as I did I would have thought it was the fan housing (which is another common problem area supposedly) but it absolutely was not. A shop told me it was the windshield seal and I paid them to reseal it. I assume they leak tested the top of the windshield first ....


Anyway, like most of you I needed this fixed asap and did not have time/tools to remove the entire dash and AC system.

So I went the "cheap" way and cut a small access panel in the cowl. At first I tried leaving the deflector for the screw holes in place but no way to get to the back side of the seal that way, so made a second cut. In fact, I ended up removing the hood slightly so I could get all the way in there.

I put some blankets in between to protect paint there, yes.

The passenger side hinge pokes back into the cowl area and prohibits easy access. My hands are not giant so I'm not sure what 8 year old kid y'all have working for you to get back there without doing so.

With that removed I was able to see a lot more. In the front there appeared to be some sort of black sealer around the seal from the factory, that had cracked badly. As if they slapped some goo on there from the factory, knowing that the lower/main seal sucks. I could only see that from the hole left by removing the hood.



I was able to squeeze my hand in there and load it up with silicone. I also made a small panel out of some high temp plastic that I used to patch the access hole with more silicone and used some HVAC tape to hold it in place while the silicone dried.



I did what I could to seal up the screw holes without the water deflector. If it leaks again I will probably go back in with more sealer and will make a proper patch panel with a deflector for those screw holes, but I feel pretty good about where I got to at this point.

I did all of this, including removing/reinstalling half the dash and realigning the hood, in about 4 hours. That is not counting drying time but is counting the time I wasted slinging expletives and doing internet research. Probably 2 hours to do the necessary steps to fix it with no baloney.

If I was just going to do the access hole, sealer and hood probably 2 hours, 3 dremel discs and 2 tubes of silicone. Just remember to put some blankets down over your windshield and surrounding paint so you don't scratch/pit anything when cutting.

I highly recommend a buddy to help with the hood. I did it myself and that was a huge PITA.

I would say this is MUCH easier than removing any of the dash. Maybe not the factory way to do it but <$20 and 2 hours and will probably last as long or longer than the right way. Plus less chance of this ....


Where does that one go?
To many screws .... arrrggggghhhh!!!

 

locked up,

Kudos to you!!!! By far, you've given the best solution to this common problem a lot of us Jeep owners suffer.

When I have to park outside the garage, I've always backed into the driveway, (thankfully it's on a slope) so any rain trickles away rather inside.

My main problem is that I don't own a dremel, but will borrow one. Buy a couple of extra blades, some RTV and take care of the problem, once for all.

Just hope I don't end up with an extra screw or two.

apw

 

No problem. Happy to help add some ideas for people.

No Dremel? I'd die without mine.
Actually, for a long time I had a Black and Decker version that I preferred to the Dremel. Used all the same tips but was a lot cheaper.

I'll also point out that for those that want to get the cowl sheet metal back in place .... you can bring your Jeep and the pieces to most muffler shops. For $20 they will usually tack the pieces back into place and you can follow up with some epoxy resin to fill the seams in. That is what I ended up doing yesterday once I was 100% sure it was sealed back up.

 

A windshield guy I know has done these repairs without cutting a hole. He uses an inspection camera (the kind with a bendy stalk) and some special sealant that flows just a little (I'll get the name and type and post it) and some PVC tubing on the end of the sealant cartridge. He says it is a pain but do-able.

I haven't tried it but I will give it a go. I really don't want to cut a hole in my cowl.

I think the perfect fix is to 3D print an escutcheon or shroud an inch or so high that fits around the whole shebang as a water dam, put some sealant on the bottom of it and drop it over it. Haven't done that either!

 

When you're 68 and not much of a mechanic/handy person, the need for one all these years wasn't there.

apw

 

I understand and I can assure you..... money well spent.

And if you are OK without the name brand:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Black-Deck...-RTX-B/9714694

I have used both and although the Dremel I have now has more speed selection the B&D is perfectly fine and cheaper.
When my Dremel dies it will be replaced with a B&D.

 

Looks like I got lucky and have this same issue on the 99 I just picked up. Passenger side up to the rear seat is wet after raining (parked facing up the slope of my driveway. Are any of you that sealed the fresh air intake still having this issue?

I'm planning on attacking the cowl with my jig saw this next weekend.

 

Mine is still sealed nice and tight after the fix.

 

So the water runs from the left where the opening is to the right where the cowl is. I definately dont want to pull the dash and I dont like the idea of cutting a acess hole. So why not just keep the water from running to the right side? Maybe a dam? Took only about 10 minutes to make. Let the silicone set for an hour before water testing. I then put everything back together, parked with the rear of the jeep lower than the front, and hosed the heck out of the fresh air inlet. So far no leak and the test will be the next time it rains!