Water in Fuse Box

OK, all of a sudden my dash lights go off....simple, change the fuse.....right?(Fuse box under driver side of dash, just so you know)
well i pull out the fuse next to it and when i do it has some rust water gunk stuff on it........WHAT IS THAT? i replace that fuse too (after drying out the slot as best i can) on my way home tonight ALL my lights go off except my headlights.......PLEASE I NEED HELP.......thanks Max

Whay year XJ and what transmission?

If it's an older XJ and a manual transmission, it likely is your clutch master cylinder leaking, the liquid isn't water but brake fluid, and your fuse box is likely history.

yea it is manual and it is an 85'....how can i find out that for sure...and how can i fix it???????????

any other suggestions on what could be wrong? anyone????

Eagle's probably right - the clutch pushrod is over the fusebox, and has a tendency to leak down the back of the fusebox. Crawl underneath and check the pushrod for dampness and evidence of leakage.

maybe...maybe not.
there is one other possible here. It very well could be water. Rust is a giveaway.

On my MJ, and some XJs(but not all), the water from rain will leak down from the hood and hit a small shelf on top of the firewall/enginebay- theres a small notch on the drivers side of this shelf that sits almost directly over the engine side of the connector for the fusepanal. Since the panal sits high in front, an low in back, water will drip down to it-through the wires/connector and out into the reverse panal inside the cab-flowing up the wires to the fuses.Since 99.999% of us dont take apart that connector untill *weird things* happen in the electrical department, and regrease it- it makes a nice water channel.

ask me how I know.

My simple cure was to run a bead of caulk on this shelf blocking the notch-the water runs to the opposite side now, an drains behind the coolant pressure bottle.

pics available if needed.

Ed - When my 89 did this, the fuses had a few specks of rust on them, which could have been a maintenance issue of having water in the clutch reservoir. A bigger concern was the erosion of the plastics from the brake fluid contamination.

If it is brake fluid, get a can of electronic contact cleaner and a couple of big towels. Put the towels under the fuse block and the flush the block using the contact cleaner. Hopefully you can salvage the fues block because they are a royal pain to change.

Brake fluid attracts water, so where it has dripped for any lengtho of time there will be rust, so don't discount the reservoir just because there's rust. There is also possibility number 3 - a windshield leak, which can get water into all sorts of places. ON my 87, the bead between the windshield and the body separated - I don't know whether it rusted then separated, or separated then rusted, but the result was the same: water dripping all over behind the dash and running along various wires to different places.

Well thanks i have now purchased electronic contact cleaner......and gonna get the pics where to put the silicone and i should be good to go....let ya know how it goes.............thanks again Max

Here's a write-up of what you've already been advised to do.

http://www.olypen.com/craigh/fusebox.htm