Leaking soft top.

southtj

Active member
This is now the second time I have noticed water standing on the floor after it rained. The first time I figured maybe something wasn't fastened or zipped correctly the last time I put the top up. This last time, I made sure everything was zipped, tucked, snapped, fastened properly. Same thing again. Water is collecting on the drivers side in the front and in front of the rear drivers side seat. I'm almost positive it didn't happen when I had the hard top on. If it did, I never noticed.

It's a brand new Jeep, factory soft top and I could take it to the dealership but it's a pain to get it there and drop off and then I'm sharing a vehicle with the wife. Anything I should check or look for before I go that route. I'm also afraid the dealer will just tell me I must not have had the top on correctly. No holes in the top that I can see.

Thanks guys.
 

Make double sure your Top, Above the door surrounds, is tucked in. Make sure your door surrounds are put inplace properly, at the front touching the windshield and at the back attaching to the tub. If that isn't it then it could be the Front windshield Seal. That is a brand new top and puts some serious tension everything it touches.
 

I guess the door surrounds are the only thing I haven't checked closely and I'll check those this evening. Might have the wife spray it with a water hose and see if I can spot it from the inside. If it is leaking from the windshield, I don't see how it could get to the back seat area. It's a pretty good size hump separating to two I think. I'll keep you posted.
 
4liter 6cyl

Mine had the same problem Merk L. Only during long/heavy rains and would hear is sloshing around inside the window frame.

If you notice water ONLY in the front wells after a heavy rain, check under the dash for moisture. On both my 93' and my little brother's 2001 this problem occured. What was going on was that the screws used to attach the rail for attaching the front of the soft top werent sealed. Water was going under and falling down trhough the inside of the windsheild frame. On mine I also had to replace the seal between the windsheild frame and body, reseal the wiper brackets and modify the air intake baffle to stop it.

So one idea is to seal the screws with some black silocone up there as an easy fix, others require some work if that doesnt do it, but just sealing the screws worked on my brothers 2001.
 
AHHHH ricer Funnies!!! (many fun pics)

Have you got holes in your firewall? I have a couple that aren't sealed 100% (for fog light wires and A/C hoses) and when I hit puddles, they splash up and in. Seriously doubt it's a softtop issue. Is there anywhere on the top or windows that's wet? Must be a door seal or perhaps a drainplug is leaking from puddles.

C
 

MerkL said...
when I make sharp, not to sharp b/c it's a Jeep, turns to the right water will come pouring out onto my feet. I haven't been ticked off enough to diagnose it, but check under the dash for anything that might have dripped too.

I get that too... it also happens in the winter when snow melts... i've been trying to find it forever... can't quite get it
 
The Water on your feet is comming from your vents you have a drain hole that is clogged with mud or dirt or many things. Once this is cleared out you will not get wet feet.
 

That always happened in my 98 TJ then I got what all Jeepers should. The best thing that I have ever done to my Jeep...RHINO LINER :!: :D I alwyas had that mildew smell that all jeeps get over time I always had to make sure I beat the rain but now with the Rhino Liner I don't have to worry about that. I still get the water in the wells at time but there is no carpet to dry I just wisk it out with a squeege. It makes life so simple. As far as water it is a jeep and all do it so just have towels handy or do what I did.
 
If its just on your driver's side then I would just double check the top and the doors. I had the same problem, but mine was on the passenger side and it turns out that there was just a small amount of the top that wasn't hitting the door right and during rainstorms I got puddles...
 
Broke Ignition switch lock cylinder

I double checked the top, door surrounds etc when I put the top back on this week. Lots or rain yesterday and today and the drivers side rear was full of water again. None in the front. I'm stumped.

It's now at the dealership for that and one of the headlights cuts on and off and the rear defroster doesn't work AND the ac heat selector feels funny sometimes. That's what warranties are for but now I'm Jeepless for a day or so. :(
 

I FINALLY got the Jeep back from the dealership yesterday after going all weekend jeepless. :cry:

The leak on the drivers side was because they said the drivers door was out of align. No rain predicted until this weekend so we'll see if that fixed it.

They also had to replace the ac/heat/defrost selector knob because it would stop inbetween selections sometimes. So, they replaced the control assembly.
We also noticed while I was dropping it off that one of the headlights would blink on and off if you tapped it. The wiring connecter was loose and they had to replace that.

A weekend without but hopefully that fixed the problems for awhile. :D
 
For those that care...an update.

It's still leaking! It's at the dealership and they just told me that they have to replace the door seal. I hope they got it figured out THIS time.
 
For anyone left keeping score at home, They THINK they found where its been leaking from. They finally put the new door seal on and then they noticed that the rubber seal was missing on both sides where the plastic door surround meets the metal of the body. There is a pin there to align it and there is supposed to be a rubber seal on the body there. Mine didn't have them. So, they ordered them, I just picked them up. We'll see if that did it. He did say that sometimes when removing the hard top they will fall off or stick to the top so be careful about that. I checked my hard top and they weren't there or anywhere on the floor of the shop where I store it.

The frustrating part about all this is that the very first time I took it to the dealership, I pointed out the gap in that very spot and suggested that maybe this is where the water was coming in. The dude just said that they will check it out and get it fixed up no problem.

Dealerships are frustrating.
 

You have to TELL them exactly what is wrong or they will never get anything fixed. I don't think that hard tops come witht that rubber gasket though. It would hang over from under the top.
 
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