[xj-s] Water Leaks Into Footwells

My 89 coupe has sat in rain in office parking lot quite a lot the last
several weeks, and water leaks down from knee bolster into footwells,
badly on driver side & some on passenger side. Air plenum/wiper
compartment drains are clear and its NOT A/C condensate.

From what I can figure before removing A pillar trim or other
windshield trim, the rain water leak is either (1) the A pillar drains,
or (2) windshield seal.

After reading the section in Kirby’s Book, “Water Leaks - A-Pillar
Drain”, page 467 of the current pdf version, I must confess I don’t
quite understand how that drain channel is supposed to be under the
chrome A pillar trim piece held by two rivets. Hopefully all will
become clear when I have removed the trim.

QUESTION (1): However, if someone who has corrected such a fault
before could describe what the fault was in his instance, and how the
drain is supposed to be configured and/or repaired, I would appreciate
it.

I will post what I find and my best understanding of these issues after
I have gotten into it, by tomorrow.

QUESTION (2): Has anyone experienced a windshield seal leak of
rainwater into the footwell, and if so, where was the leak and how was
it repaired?

Thanks,
George Balthrop, Clifton, VA USA
89 and 85 XJ-S Coupes; 89 XJ40 VDP

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In reply to a message from George Balthrop sent Sat 21 Nov 2009:

As far as question 2 is concerned, I have and so have 590% of
owners in the UK, I guess!

This is what I did and it worked. I had the screen removed and a
new seal fitted (because the old seal has perished and could not be
just sealed). The new seal was plentifully gunked up with mastic on
the car side before fitting, and on the windscreen side was gunked
up after fitting. I pulled up the seal and ran a mastic gun spout
into the channel and pushed the spout round the seal squirting
mastic into the channel.

The drain hole at the edge of the roof front corners down the
inside of the A piller trim I also gunked up to prevent any rain
getting down there. This did not result in my getting any more wet
than normal when entering the car in the rain.

Greg–
The original message included these comments:

QUESTION (2): Has anyone experienced a windshield seal leak of
rainwater into the footwell, and if so, where was the leak and how was
it repaired?


gregory wilkinson-riddle
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QUESTION (2): Has anyone experienced a windshield
seal leak of rainwater into the footwell, and if so, where
was the leak and how was it repaired?

George,

Let me add a possible leak #3. Water goes by the door seal where it has
the dog-leg by the mirror.

My car leaked there and I made a small slice in the door seal to insert a
thin rubber hose to hold the seal out. Gluing the slit closed after repairing.

Geoff Green

95 XJS 4.0 conv, 76 XJ-S, 61 E-type OTS, 05 F250 Turbo Diesel, 10 Focus

Keeping track of every Jaguar XJ-S, with your help.
http://www.xjsdata.com

3.6 XJS Register paulzimmer@btopenworld.com

Eventer Register pascal.mathieu@perso.be

// please trim quoted text to context only— On Sat, 11/21/09, George Balthrop gbalthropxjs@aol.com wrote:

1 Like

Thanks to Greg & Geoff for the replies and information. The puzzling
thing is that the left footwell carpet & pad are soaked from the
previous rain, but after removal of the carpet and pad, and pouring
water on the left side of the top and the windshield, I do NOT get any
new water inside (knee bolster removed).

I drilled out the pop rivets holding the A pillar chrome trim, and
found that (on BOTH sides) there was some kind of pliable material,
like soft, sticky rubber hose which had been slit open longitudinally,
applied over the metal drain edge. This material seemed to have been
originally intended to form a seal around the metal drain (beneath the
chrome trim) to make sure the water stayed in that drain, but the
material had shifted or closed up, and debris had accumulated around
it, to the point that it seemed to be obstructing the flow more than
keeping it in the metal “U-shaped” drain.

I removed this material entirely, and did NOT replace it, just to see
what will happen with only the metal drain. Once again after
reinstalling the chrome A pillar trim, running water on the top, water
drained through the channel beneath the trim without anything getting
inside.

QUESTION:
Does anyone know if the rubber/packing material I found beneath the A
pillar chrome trim on each side was original, or some type of bodge
that a shop added? I don’t see any reference to such a part in the
Parts Catalogue.

George Balthrop, Clifton, VA USA
89 and 85 XJ-S Coupes; 89 XJ40 VDP

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And I can add another, squegee type seal at the bottom of the door window
lets water into the door cavity which in turn leaks into the footwell

Duncan-----Original Message-----
From: owner-xj-s@jag-lovers.org [mailto:owner-xj-s@jag-lovers.org]On
Behalf Of Geoffrey Green
Sent: Sunday, 22 November 2009 6:23 a.m.
To: xj-s
Subject: Re: [xj-s] Water Leaks Into Footwells

— On Sat, 11/21/09, George Balthrop gbalthropxjs@aol.com wrote:

QUESTION (2): Has anyone experienced a windshield
seal leak of rainwater into the footwell, and if so, where
was the leak and how was it repaired?

George,

Let me add a possible leak #3. Water goes by the door seal where it has
the dog-leg by the mirror.

My car leaked there and I made a small slice in the door seal to insert a
thin rubber hose to hold the seal out. Gluing the slit closed after
repairing.

Geoff Green

95 XJS 4.0 conv, 76 XJ-S, 61 E-type OTS, 05 F250 Turbo Diesel, 10 Focus

Keeping track of every Jaguar XJ-S, with your help.
http://www.xjsdata.com

3.6 XJS Register paulzimmer@btopenworld.com

Eventer Register pascal.mathieu@perso.be

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In reply to a message from North Waikato Admin sent Sun 22 Nov 2009:

I can add another source of a leak. When I had an 1985 door
on my coupe, I found the entire fly window assembly to be a
leaky mess. I had to do a complete removal, give it a
thorough cleaning and reattach with black RTV. After tahat
it was leak free until I could afford the 19094 replacement
door. It continues to live leak free in a 1985 on the east
coast.–
equiprx
Pacifica, CA, United States
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Thanks to Greg, Geoff and Duncan for the replies. My leak is
definitely coming from the area of the windshield seal or bottom of the
A pillar, as the water accumulates above the knee bolster and drops in
the area of the brake pedal.

I assume that there is no way the A pillar drain can cause such a water
leak, except by contributing to a windshield seal leak on the
side/bottom corner of the seal beneath the A pillar chrome? This is
NOT a case of leaking from the door seal, as the water enters well
above the level of the upper door hinge and the door seal dogleg.

QUESTION (1):
Can anyone suggest a leak source other than the windshield seal that
will cause rain water to enter ABOVE the knee bolster and drain down in
the area of the brake pedal? (This is with the vehicle parked, and the
air/wiper plenum drains are clear.)

QUESTION (2):
As the car left the factory, was there any kind of rubber tube around
the metal A pillar channel beneath the A pillar chrome, or is this some
bodge applied later by a shop, or perhaps even some Service Bulletin?

When I drilled out the rivets and removed the A pillar chrome, on BOTH
sides there was some soft, sticky rubber running the full length of the
metal drain channel beneath the chrome trim. No such part is shown in
the parts catalogues I have. It appeared that someone had taken a soft
rubber hose of ~ 1/2" ID, slit it lengthwise, and stuck it in there to
make sure the water stayed in the small channel, all the way from the
gutter at the top to the base of the A pillar. This rubber was VERY
soft, nearly the consistency of the type of always soft/sticky packing
that is used around expansion valves, etc.

Problem was that the rubber had collapsed and debris had accumulated
beneath the chrome trim, to the point that the drain was really
directling the water onto the side and bottom of the windshield seal,
rather than into the drain hole at the bottom of the A pillar.

I scraped this soft rubber off the drain channel, and did NOT replace
it with anything. I’m simply relying upon the metal channel beneath
the chrome A pillar trim to carry the water from the roof gutter to the
drain hole at the bottom of the A pillar. I’ll followup with whether
this improves the situation or makes it worse, but my real problem is
probably a windshield seal that needs sealer applied at the side &
corners.

George Balthrop, Clifton, VA USA
89 and 85 XJ-S Coupes; 89 XJ40 VDP

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In reply to a message from George Balthrop sent Sun 22 Nov 2009:

This is the cause of the drivers footwell leak on my 1984 XJS.

As noted, the water off the roof gutters drains downinside
the chrome windscreen trim. It then runs in a drain channel
which is inside the top of the front wing, then out and down
the edge where the front wing joins the inner wing.

Now, where this ‘‘hidden’’ drain comes out, the sealer fails
and the water tracks back under the wing, where it
eventually rusts through the metal underneath, and drips
into the car, down the A pillar. The A pillar is stuffed
full of foam at the top, which eventually would cause the
whole pillar to corrode.

Since said hole was mended, the footwell has kept bone dry.
You could probably do a temporary fix by applying new sealer
along the wing/body joint, at the A post end.

Regards

Rob–
The original message included these comments:

Can anyone suggest a leak source other than the windshield seal that
will cause rain water to enter ABOVE the knee bolster and drain down in
the area of the brake pedal? (This is with the vehicle parked, and the
air/wiper plenum drains are clear.)


1984 XJ-S 3.6, 1989 XJ-S V12
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