Hello again all!

I would like to thank those of you who have been assisting on the cold air heating issue; have another question for ya'll.

First off, I have a 1989 XJS 2 door coupe. The issue is this:

Water is leaking out from under the driver side dash, seeping out from under the fuse panel cover. I have checked and cleared the hoses attached to the drain plug under the wiper grill and the water is still leaking. I took the fuse panel cover off and the inside lip of it was wet but I couldn't feel or see anywhere that the water was coming from. I was wondering if water could be coming in under the windshield rubber seal or the black seam that runs up near the windshield on the surface of the car near the door jam. Anyone else have any issues with this sort of thing?

Thanks in advance for the help..

Kevin

 

heh heh. Water leaks are tricky :-) Sometimes the dripping is several feet away from the actual source of the leak. There a few known leak areas on the XJS but windshield gasket/mounting rubber is a very likely culprit for what you're describing, IMHO.

Others will chime in.

Cheers
DD

PS- just on GP's you should clean the drains for the evaporator case. The symptom of clogged evap drains is usually wet carpet and/or water sloshing on your shoes around corners....but as long as your cleaning drains..... :-)

 

My bet would be the windshield rubber, I had this issue mine leaked like a sieve used to drip on my feet - new rubber new windshield no more leaks.

 

Are your drain tubes clear? Some guys have said they've had it fill up the evaporator chamber and spill out the top onto their feet.

 

I cleaned all of the drains about 18months ago but she still leaked. After the screen replacement no leaks into the cabin. I have now fixed the leaks into the boot but thats another story.

 

let me ask you this. since your heater air is cold, and your dash is leaking, do you think it could be the heater core?

 

If it was leaking at times other than when it rains that would have been my big fear, so I guess I should at least be thankful that im only getting the leaking when it rains...

 

Doug,

Yeah, I'm leaning toward the windshield gasket too. The rubber around the windscreen doesn't look flush/even all the way around and the chrome looks very "amatureish" in the way it is mounted which to me at least says whoever set the windscreen may not have seated it correctly. Could this be an accurate hypothesis on my part?

 

Like I posted in my reply to Doug, I'm leaning toward the windscreen gasket/seal. When I was home on leave from the middle east I actually went to a glass shop to see about getting the windscreen re-seated and was told it would be way too costly as in all likelyhood the windshield would be broken if it was attempted to remove it. I didn't have the time or paitence to argue (and really don't know if that's true). Will look at what is involved with replacing the seal now that im stationed here in Germany.

 

Doug,

How hard is it to replace the windshield rubber? Like I stated in another reply I was told that replacing the gasket/rubber involved removing the windscreen which would almost surely end in it being broken, is this the case in your opinion? ALso, where is the evaporator case? are you referring to the area under the wipers? I've cleaned that out along with the hoses going from there.

Thanks,

Kevin

 

Yes it involves removing the screen, but if done carefully by someone who knows what they are doing they should not break the screen. I removed both front and rear screens removed in my S1 XJ a few years ago . I cut the rubber as I was installing new ones.

The evaporator case is in the dash, Doug is refering to the drain that run from the evap case through the floorpan to drain the consendation. These get clogged and the evap overflows.

 

According to the guy who replaced the windshield seal on mine the job is "a walk in the park" and is "pretty much the same as an old VW". He did a great job. Only took an hour or so. Still, though, I guess someone could bollix it up.

Getting the stainless steel trim reinstalled properly, however, is another matter entirely. I brought the car to him without the trim and spent umpteen hours trying to get it to fit properly afterward...and never was 100% happy with the result.

Cheers
DD