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2016 Cherokee Water Leak

56K views 62 replies 38 participants last post by  Kelvin 
#1 ·
Just a heads up to anyone with a 2016. Over the past couple weeks my new car smell seemed to be rapidly going away with a wet musty smell. Last week I decided to start upgrading my stereo and pulled the carpet in the front passenger side. It was like a lake under the carpet and had water running out of the padding. I took it to the dealership the next day and they said I wasn't the first and with all the rain that they had seen 10 last week. Apparently there is a seam in the firewall someplace that was never completed on the assembly line and needs to be fixed. If I hadn't pulled the carpet up I wouldn't of found it until it was much worse. I guess one woman had 3" of water in her floor so to her it was obvious. Just a heads up if your windows start to fog up on the inside or you get a musty smell you may want to check it out!
 
#2 ·
Welcome to JCC and congrats on the 2016.

Sucks to have to find that the way you did...what did they do (or will they do) to fix/repair/complete the seam in the firewall? Did they tell you where it is?
 
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#7 ·
Hi josh6025,
I may have found a Technical Service Bulletin relating to your referenced concern:

NUMBER: 23-015-16 REV. A
GROUP: Body
DATE: April 13, 2016
SUBJECT: Water On Front Carpet Or In Rocker Side Sill
SYMPTOM/CONDITION:
The customer may describe damp or wet carpet in the front footwell or in the rocker sill.
This condition is primarily found on the left side but may be on the right or both
footwells. The cause of this leak may be due to a sealant void on the body seam, allowing
water to enter the vehicle interior.

Your certified Jeep dealer will be able to best assess if this is a relevant bulletin to your vehicle and if any future steps are necessary. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance.

Anna
JeepCares Social Media Specialist
 
#8 ·
I am a little sus on the reason for the post. Autospecialist as the name and one and only post complaining of somethong I have not heard mentioned yet.

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#9 · (Edited)
Sorry guys works been hectic and forgot to check this till now. As soon as I get it back I'll answer all your questions! The original repair receipt is in the glove box. Its been back to have the carpets replaced because it smelled like mildew after it was fixed and I didn't even take it. I picked it up 2 days ago, after 22 days without it and they replaced all the carpets and jammed 2 orange air fresheners in the vents. The smell was so bright that even after I took them out it was like inhaling orange adhesive remover. I took it back this morning and they are running ozone thru it now I guess. The good news is I popped off the sill panel yesterday and pulled the carpets up after it was raining pretty hard the night before and everything is still dry!

Also for the inconvenience they are covering my car payment for the month and I'm driving a 2016 Grand Cherokee Summit right now which is pretty pimp!

Its nice to know that jeepcares monitors these forums and provides helpful info!
 

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#10 ·
I take it back and apologies for the suspicion in my response!

I jave now seen a second person with the same issue, but must be reasonably rare since only 2 complaints. Glad they got it sorted for you.

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#12 ·
Same Issue W/ 2015 Cherokee

I am in Northern California where we are receiving tons of rain and had the same exact issue w/ my 2015 Cherokee last week. Couldn't figure out why it smelled like something had died inside my car and finally pulled up my mats to find the drivers side floor soaked in both the front and back seat areas. Took it to the local dealer where I bought it and after a few days, they figured out it was a leak in a body seam. That was 5 days ago and they are still trying to dry my carpets. I am concerned that the odor is still going to be present because it smelled horrible and there was mold all over the carpet. I also think it is crazy that the leak occurred in the first place; it's a Jeep! This is my first experience owning a Jeep and I have not been impressed thus far. My radio/GPS went out within the first 6 months that I owned it and now this.
 
#16 ·
2017 Trailhawk - Water Leak

Tomorrow I drop my 2017 Trailhawk off at the dealership for the 3rd time. During the winter, was getting ice buildup on the inside of the windshield. Dealership tried saying it could be cause by moisture from snow being drug into the jeep. Next time it happened, I took a video to show them. They were a little shocked on how much ice there was. However, they still couldn't find a leak. Took it home and decided to look under the floor mats. Passengers side front and back carpet were soaked. Took it back to dealer and they said leak was coming from the cowl section that wasn't sealed properly during manufacturing. They resealed it with foam they use. Last week after heavy rain, carpet was wet again. They are thinking tech was able to get to everything because of the dashboard, so now they are talking about removing the dashboard to get to all the nooks and crannies to seal. Now tonight I noticed drivers back passenger carpet is damp. Also 2 days ago, while accelerating and going up an incline, the jeep starting bucking. Wondering now if I bought a lemon.
 
#18 ·
I have a 2016 Jeep Trailhawk. Recently the car started smelling like mold/mildew. Terrible odor. The dealer found mold and wet under right back seat carpet. Telling me we mast have spilled something. They checked the ventilation system. No problems found. I know for a fact nothing was spilled back there.. Any body else having this issue?
 
#19 ·
2016 trailhawk. We've had lots of rain lately. I got into some mud today and was at the carwash. Pulled the front mats and the passenger side was wet before I started washing anything.

I got home and used my shop-vac to pull about 1 1/2 cup of water out from the front and rear passenger footwells. Drivers side front and back seems dry.

4-16 build date, so I hope the tsb applies. Phone call to the dealer tomorrow.

The water in my pic is gross because of the dust in the shop-vac.


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#26 ·
Local dealer said that the mud i drove through pushed the AC drain hose off the bulkhead fitting on the frame. I'm not sure that I believe them. I don't see any evidence of mud on the interior of the Jeep, even after removing all the interior trim. Instead, I think that the AC drain hose was not installed correctly at the factory or worked off in the winter.

Anyway, remove the trim panel in the passenger side foot-well on the center console. Check that the AC drain runs from the evaporator core to the bulkhead fitting on the transmission tunnel. If it has worked off, re-connect it.

Once that is done, you will need to dry out the carpet/padding. I've parked my Jeep outside and placed a space heater in the cabin. I also pulled the door jam trim so I could lift up the carpet and blow the warm air from the space heater into the padding. I'll run it over night with the windows open. My goal is to dry out the pad so that mold or rust won't grow.

I don't see a way to lift up the rear passenger carpet without removing the front passenger seat. Does anyone have any hints? The seat fasteners don't look like a hex or a torx head. What tool I need to buy?
 
#27 ·
Local dealer said that the mud i drove through pushed the AC drain hose off the bulkhead fitting on the frame. I'm not sure that I believe them. I don't see any evidence of mud on the interior of the Jeep, even after removing all the interior trim. Instead, I think that the AC drain hose was not installed correctly at the factory or worked off in the winter.



Anyway, remove the trim panel in the passenger side foot-well on the center console. Check that the AC drain runs from the evaporator core to the bulkhead fitting on the transmission tunnel. If it has worked off, re-connect it.



Once that is done, you will need to dry out the carpet/padding. I've parked my Jeep outside and placed a space heater in the cabin. I also pulled the door jam trim so I could lift up the carpet and blow the warm air from the space heater into the padding. I'll run it over night with the windows open. My goal is to dry out the pad so that mold or rust won't grow.



I don't see a way to lift up the rear passenger carpet without removing the front passenger seat. Does anyone have any hints? The seat fasteners don't look like a hex or a torx head. What tool I need to buy?


I don't know the tool you need but I remember a shop I went to last year needed to buy tools just to install gear into my Dart and they are the same bits.


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#28 ·
Hello.

I notice the water problem on the rear passenger area when I was going to vacuum the rear floor of my 2016 Jeep Cherokee Sport. My Jeep has some Goodyear carpets (very similar to the Weathertech ones) on top of the removable factory carpets. Long story short, there was water and lots of very nasty mold (and black, white, green) sandwiched between the goodyear carpets and the factory removable carpets.

I cleaned the whole thing but I'm worried about the issue, thinking that the water may come from the A/C. I guess I need to take another trip to the dealer to get that fixed.

Do anyone here has the same issue? What did you tell the dealership and how did they fixed the problem?

Thanks!
 
#30 ·
When it is time to rid yourself of the mold smell that will linger, i swear by the BioCide CLO2 Auto Shocker. Smells like a pool for a bit and when that smell wears off there is no smell left... just make sure you run the AC for at least 15 minutes. I left it for 24 hours and ran the ac (auto started it) once at the beginnig of the 24 and once at the end for 15 mins apiece. It saved our Ford when even pro detailers couldnt get the smell out.

Plus it is only 20 or $30 and has a money back guarantee.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001H8VLFC/ref=cm_cr_arp_mb_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8

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#31 ·
New member, (just registered) after i searched online for this problem. I just came inside from going to get something out of the back passenger seat of my 2016 jeep Cherokee. I picked up something in the floorboard and noticed it was wet. I felt the floorboard and it was soaked, to the point that water is squishing when i press down on it. I am the only passenger in this vehicle, nothing has ever been spilled in it, and the Windows are always up when it's parked regardless of season. I did notice last fall/winter that i was having a lot of issues with condensation building up inside all the Windows. I even took a video of it for proof. This spring i turn on the AC and it smells musty. I'm so torn up about this.
 
#32 ·
New member here as well, registered for this issue as well. Bought my 2017 Cherokee Trailhawk in AZ, then immediately moved up to Juneau Alaska for a job. With less than 6000 miles, and I have a mini swimming pool in my rear passenger floorboard. It rains quite a bit here, but this has only appeared in the past 2 weeks. I've bailed/soaked it out twice, thinking the first time maybe I left a window open the first time. The second time I was certain the vehicle was sealed. Gave my local dealer a call, and was stunned with their response.

They'll need my vehicle for 3-5 days, maybe a week to find a leak ("It rains in Juneau all the time, everything leaks"). Ok, that sucks. What type of loaner do you guys have? "Oh, we don't have loaners. We have a shuttle you can use!"

What.

So let me get this straight. I am to be without my vehicle which I bought new 8 months ago for potentially up to a week, with no replacement, just a shuttle that I have to call every time I want to go somewhere?

Ugh. I had no idea Jeep service was like this. Hopefully the TSB will get them to finish it quickly. I'll post back once I get it back.
 
#33 ·
New member here as well, registered for this issue as well. Bought my 2017 Cherokee Trailhawk in AZ, then immediately moved up to Juneau Alaska for a job. With less than 6000 miles, and I have a mini swimming pool in my rear passenger floorboard. It rains quite a bit here, but this has only appeared in the past 2 weeks. I've bailed/soaked it out twice, thinking the first time maybe I left a window open the first time. The second time I was certain the vehicle was sealed. Gave my local dealer a call, and was stunned with their response.



They'll need my vehicle for 3-5 days, maybe a week to find a leak ("It rains in Juneau all the time, everything leaks"). Ok, that sucks. What type of loaner do you guys have? "Oh, we don't have loaners. We have a shuttle you can use!"



What.



So let me get this straight. I am to be without my vehicle which I bought new 8 months ago for potentially up to a week, with no replacement, just a shuttle that I have to call every time I want to go somewhere?



Ugh. I had no idea Jeep service was like this. Hopefully the TSB will get them to finish it quickly. I'll post back once I get it back.


If the dealer doesn't have a loaner, which they aren't required to provide, if the vehicle is still under the factory warranty which it sounds like it is they'll get you a rental from a nearby rental facility. They need the vehicle that long so they have time to find the leak, demold and smell the vehicle, seal the leak, give the seal 12-24 hours to set and then retest for a leak. All you will need to pay is a refundable 50$ deposit on the rental.


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#34 ·
Getting rid of mold and mildew can take a full day or more alone. The seal before being subjected to pressurized water can take 2 days.


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#36 ·
Got an update- I think the gentleman I spoke to may not have been up to date on the situation. They were able to get the Jeep in for service, and was able to get me a loaner. They said in order to resolve it, they needed to order a part which would take about a week to get here. They called a few days later saying they had fixed it. Would guess they probably used an auto sealant of some kind.

Fast forward to a month ago, and started getting the same leak again. Scheduled my service again, and she's been in the shop for about a week or so. They called to let me know their guy found where the leak was, but was not confident enough to fix it, so they were taking my car to a local body shop to get the issue resolved. I'll try to update once I get the Jeep back.
 
#39 ·
Pseudo update, and some input from you all if you can-

Been a couple of weeks with my Cherokee back. Few days with heavy rain, but mostly been just light rain or no rain and overcast. So far, floorboards are not a swimming pool, so that's a start. No snow at the moment, so that eliminates the thought of snow piling up from shoes, and then melting down. What I am seeing is a significant amount of condensation on the inside of the vehicle glass surfaces when parked outside for a few hours. Of course, this being Juneau, that turns to ice depending on the day. Now I am aware some condensation is expected in a 91% humidity environment, but I am curious to those of you in similar climates how much condensation you get? There is enough condensation on the front windshield (on the interior) that it creates a layer of ice that cannot be simply wiped away. Need to let the defroster run for 15-20m. On days where it didn't freeze, I'll use a large hand towel to wipe it off the windshield, and that towel will be entirely sopping wet by the time I get the windshield in a visible state. The water that remains will drip down onto the dash.

So, my question is this- do you guys in similar wet/cold climates experience this much condensation? Other vehicles parked around mine don't seem to have anywhere near this much condensation when I head out for lunch or need to pick up a part for work. Just trying to get a feel for what I should be expecting here.
 
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