Hi everyone
My xj40 1991 appears to have rainwater coming into the passenger footwell from the engine area, the seal around the door seems fine, i could be wrong though.
Also the boot has a lot of rainwater coming in from somewhere, agin the sel seems fine again, could these leaks be coming from the bottom of the car?
And the last thing is a smell of fuel in the boot, is this normal? or could there be gasses leaking into the boot area?

All your comments and suggestions will be very much appreciated, as this is my first adventure with a labour of love jag.
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Are you sure it's rain water and not condensation from the a/c system? Perhaps drain tubes are clogged. If rain water, I suspect you may have rust at the bottom of your windshield that needs repair.

Truck leak: inspect the grommet around the antennea and fuel filler area. Both these grommets rot and allow water access to the trunk area.

Fuel smell: put the car in the air and inspect the fuel tank for leaks and pull the carpet back and inspect the evap loss flange.

 

Thanks mate.
Will check as soon as it stops raining, lol.
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Greetings almiesta,

Here are a couple of additional suggestions to help your XJ40 stay dry.

Water enters you car the same place as does fresh air for your climate control, through the cowl screenat the base of the windscreen. Water that collects in the air intake plenum is supposed to drain out freely from a duct at the bottom of the windscreen wiper motor cover: the duct has a rubber boot on it, which some call a "duckbill' because of its' shape. There is no harm in removing this boot completely, but you want to at least make sure that it is not blocked with debris and/ or ice. This is a common problem, and will lead to the water filling up the plenum and running in throughthe fresh air flaps of theblower motors andinto the footwells.

After you follow Ken's suggestions about the trunk water leaks, have a look at the chrome finisher on the boot lid. The rubber base gasket has two holes at the bottom, to allow water to escape that otherwise finds its way in past the boot lock barrel. Early 40's did not have these holes, and there was a factory bulletin detailing a field fix. Your caris late enough so that the gasket should have the drain holes, make sure they are clear.

In some instances, water can enter past the base gaskets for the tail lamps. That would be thefourth place to look. The last one is a real pain, and it is also a common source: beneath the carpets on either side of the trunk are air extractors, which are triangularly shaped black plastic housings. Cabin air exits the car out through ducts behind these extractors and out behindeach rear bumper end. The foam gaskets oftenallow water ingress,especially when old age causes the plastic duct outlet itself to deteriorate.Worst caes is removal of the rear bumper assembly and replacing the outlet ducts and gaskets.

East test: pull out all the boot trim, get abig can of spray foot powder, and coat everything before your next carwash. You'll see a trail from the point of water ingress.

The fuel vapor is your real concern, and I've seen two fuel tanks that were corroded to the point of leakage. You rarely find fuel odor present in an XJ40 boot, butyou'llvery often find evidence of water leakage. The moisture condenses on the top of the fuel tank and does damage over the years. If you remove theinsulation pad on top of the tank and see any corrosion, you may have a spot bad enough to be causing at least a vapor leak. The foot powder trick will help here too, "paint" the tank with it and go for a fill-up. There is a commercial product named "Leak Seek" which is the same sort of spray powder, but it is not as easy to find as "Dr. Scholl's"!

Also coat the fuel filler neck inside the boot before you fill up. If the fuel filler box gaiter is torn as Ken suggested, you're getting both water and splashed fuel into your boot. There is also a rubber O ring on the top of the fuel neck that could have been displaced by an installer, and you'll get fuel vapor in the boot from this point and possibly fuel leakage when you fill up. The powder should confirm or deny suspect areas. Good hunting!

 

Hey there JT ( Short for Jag Tech ) as we like nicjnames on this site and wer'e starting to have Jag etchs commin out of our ears....lol
Its a nice "problem" to have though

what a great and informative reply JT..............much appreciated I'm sure


Jim

 

thanking you very much indeed, will try all these options asap.
sooooo glad i found this forum with top dudes as yourself.
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Greetings almiesta,

Since you're still on the subject, I have to correct one point and add another. Your '91 does not have an o ring at the fuel filler, it is a one piece neck after 1990 MY. That gives you one less place to look for the fuel odor/ leak source. Look at the bottom left corner of the tank, and make sure the vent hose is connected to the plastic vent pipes that lead from the tank, and forward to the cannister.

I skipped a simple and obvious water leak source, which is the black plastic drain hose that attaches to the underside of the fuel filler box diaphragm seal. The '93 I worked on last night had an inch of standing water in the trunk, caused when someone left the drain hose disconnected after replacing a fuel pump.

Saturday I put a fuel pump in a '92. The trunk of that car was wet too: it was a white car, and as soon as I removed the carpet I saw why. The left shelf where the air extractor sits was black from silt washed up past it andinto the trunk. The right shelf was still nice and white.The foot powder went back in the cabinet for another day...Good hunting!

 

Hello
Thanks for the reply. just to let you know that the boot leak was the antenna grommet, also think the problem of water into the foot wells was the ducks bill that was blocked from the washer resevoir, removed it and will see how i get on, as with the evap loss flange; pulled everything out of the boot and inspected all the hoses, all seem fine, it has a hose going to a bottle at front of car, could this need replacing? or would the flange have to be removed and renewed?
Many thanks, the almiester.
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Hiya mate.
Thanks for the advice, removed the ducks bill and poored water down the funnel and all seems ok, fingers crossed.
also found the leak in the boot, was the electric antenna. inspected the evap loss flange and all the hoses seem fine. would the cannister need replacing or the flange? last thing for the momment is the washer jets, not very powerfull, i need new ones i think?
Many thanks the almiester.
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