Moisture under carpet in my '92 XJ

I just bought a '92 XJ Laredo earlier this week. The first time I looked at it, the carpet in the back was dry as a bone. The second time (when I bought it) the carpet and sheet metal behind the back seat were damp. They have been damp ever since.

Im pretty sure its just water. It's not oily or soapy. The jeep was parked in a parking garage when I bought it, and it hasn't rained since I brought it home... so it can't be a leak. Where else could the moisture be coming from? Is it condensation? Is there a rear windshield washer bottle that might be leaking?

Theres no rust on the unibody (yet). I hope to pull all of the carpet and give the interior sheet metal a few coats of herculiner this weekend. I still want to find the source of the moisture though, and fix it. Any thoughts?

I'd check the washer hose in the rear hatch. May have come loose or be brittle and it broke letting water drain down and onto the floor.

My 97' does this too, under the rear seat it is always wet, I can't figure it out.

1997 Jeep Cherokee Sport
4.0 AW4 NP231

DirtyJeeper said:

I'd check the washer hose in the rear hatch. May have come loose or be brittle and it broke letting water drain down and onto the floor.

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The washer fluid hose is broken off at the rear wiper. Its on the outside though. It shouldn't be leaking down the inside. Is there a rear washer bottle? If so, where is it?

Can't say if there is a rear bottle on a 92. My 97 has one bottle for front and rear in the drivers side fender. I think yours is under the hood near the brake master cylinder but not sure. Top off the bottle and see if it goes down overnight. The hose may be broken in the hatch as well as outside at the wiper.

Pull up the carpeting, dry up the area. You need to find the source of the leak or rusted out floor pans are in your future--not overnight.

Roof rack? Have you washed it since you brought it home?

Good luck.

When I first bought my '92, the way-back was getting damp also. Turned out it was the hatch not adjusted properly. I dropped the headliner in the back, loosened the nuts on the hinge studs that come through the roof, and slid the whole deal forward a little, pressing the hatch tighter against the gasket. Also, make sure you keep the trough around the gasket clean. This place can catch and hold an amazing amount of debris, and rainwater gets dammed-up and weeps around the gasket and into the car body. Mine's dry on the top, so whatever gets in comes from below...

joe_peters said:

Roof rack? Have you washed it since you brought it home?

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It does have a roof rack. Also has a stud mount in the roof for a CB antenna, that looks like it was sealed with hot glue. But it hasn't rained since I brought it home and I definitely havent washed it. (who washes a jeep?)

heyhar said:

Also, make sure you keep the trough around the gasket clean. This place can catch and hold an amazing amount of debris, and rainwater gets dammed-up and weeps around the gasket and into the car body.

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That area around the rubber seal between the hatch and body is full of pine needls and such... but they're all bone dry. If it was rain water leaking in from the hatch I would assume the crap on top would be as wet as the crap on the bottom.

DirtyJeeper said:

The hose may be broken in the hatch as well as outside at the wiper.

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I'll check that when I pull all the carpet and plastics from the rear this weekend.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Just a side note... it has rainied cats and dogs all day (first time since I bought the jeep). I pulled up some of the carpet last night and let it air out. It was almost dry this morning before the rain started. SO if its wet when I get home from work, I'll assume it is rain water. At least that will give me a jumping off point for a solution.

The backing of the carpet will hold moisture for a long time.

There could be water getting in through the roof rack mounting points/CB antenna mount, pooling somewhere, then running down at a later time, like after driving.

joe_peters said:

There could be water getting in through the roof rack mounting points/CB antenna mount, pooling somewhere, then running down at a later time, like after driving.

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Like the 'factory' sunroof on the '98 ZJ we had. The drains were clogged after sitting on the dealer's lot. My wife was driving to work, first time in her brand new Grand. Gets down the road, right hand turn. Car straightens out, about a gallon of water right on the head. Had to come back home, re-do her hair. Didn't think it was funny.

I have also heard of rain getting by the seal for the rear side windows...

Something else you might check... pull your tail lights off and look into the holes for the wiring. The rear quarter panels hold water. I drilled a few holes in the bottom to drain them. If you have water in there when you are driving it could be sloshing up and back into the rear cargo area if it hasn't rained or been washed and the water reappears.

I too have a problem with water in my rear cargo area but I think it is my rear hatch seal... or rear side window seals.

Ive ruled out the rear washer bottle leaking. We had a really bad storm last night and there was standing water under the carpet this morning. It had pine needles (like the ones packed into the gap between the hatch and body) floating int it.

I cleaned out the crap around the gasket, dried up the water, and ripped out all the carpet from the back. I'll herculine it next weekend... and keep my eyes peeled for a new gasket.

dmoore714 said:

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I'll herculine it next weekend...

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Just don't close off all of the 'drainage' holes in the floor. You know, the ones that magically appear just when you least expect. It's a little known fact, but they're engineered in, so the occupants won't drown when the body of the car starts leaking!

In all seriousness, try to ascertain the cause of the leak. As you've said, the carpet gets wet when the vehicle gets rained on, but not driven. That pretty much rules out the floor at this point. I've had luck just sitting in mine, and having someone run a garden hose over all the suspect areas. Like my gut feeling tells me, focus on the hatch/roof seam. Maybe try the dollar bill trick-hold a bill across the gasket, close the door or hatch, see how easy it pulls out. Just use a $1 bill-you wouldn't want to rip a twenty!

Do yourself a favor and go to a yard and pull the seals off a 97+ cherokee. Its an upgrade and will prevent future leaks.
Other places to check is the screws for the roof rack. I had a leak there.

One difficult to find leak was caused by a cracked back seat bracket. Right rear wheel well, the seat bracket (the pivot for the rear seat back) is spot welded inside to the wheel well. That area cracked and the rear wheel was slinging rain water through the crack into the interior.

Another area I've found is at the corners of body at the rear hatch, right below the gutters. Over time the sealant or putty can get hair line cracks & the gutters can pipe an amazing amount of water inside.