water leak behind dash

Hello, I'm new to Jeeps in general, so bare with me. I purchased a '74 CJ5 online from a guy when I was deployed overseas a few months ago. The jeep is in outstanding condition, however I'm slightly concerned with a minor problem. On the hood there is a grate. Under it there looks to be a hose that goes behind the dash, and back out through the firewall to drain under the engine. Next to it looks to be some kind of air intake. I'm not exactly sure what it does. However, the problem I'm having is I live in Florida, it rains every day, and water is coming through this "air intake" and it's draining behind my dash, onto my guage cluster, and my non-marine audio head unit.

I'm just curious of what the purpose of this vent is, and what my solutions are for fixing it, if there are any.

Thanks, Dustin

 

I had a similar problem with my '75 where the windshield cowl was leaking, allowing rain water to run down behind the dash. I picked up a new cowl seal for about $30 but can't recall where I got it. I do believe 4wd.com sells them.

 

I had also that problem on my 79 cj5 and fixed it when I replaced the thick gasket that you find when you lay the windshield frame on the hood.
Wasn't expensive or hard to replace...if the area under the gasket isn't eaten by rust!

 

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to purchase a new gasket for that, and see if it works.

Appreciate all the help, Dustin

 

I have a '73. The cowl vent (in front of the windshield) has a 1 1/2 inch drain. The drain is normally run thru the firewall with a piece of rubber hose. Mine had the same issue when I got it. The PO "forgot" to deal with this and the water runs out just to the right of the shifter. The PO had put in an after market heater and covered the orginal hole in the firewall. My plan is to use a S shaped radiator hose and drain this thing out the floor pan somewhere. I'll post pics when completed.
I have a pic of the orginal setup if anybody wants it.

 

Another 74 cj5 owner - one more thing to check. Take the screws out of the hood grate. Below that is the air intake for heat and defrost. At the bottom is a collection area for rain water that drains out a 1 1/2" hose through the firewall to engine bay. This hose can get kinked,clogged with debris or rotted out. Also check the area where the hose connects to the box.

Mine was rotted out here and gushing water as you describe. Buy the hose, epoxy and clamp from your flaps to replace.

 

Hey SwampRatt, would like to see a photo of that if you have it handy. My cj5 is a 55 body and I am getting dripping water at the vent plate where
it meets the dash. Thanks!

 

This post you refer to is 10 years ago!

 

oops.. well, I did a water intrusion search but didn't really come up with much in terms of my specific issue. Should I simply add a new post?
Sometimes forums get a little testy if the same question keeps coming up and a poster doesn't do a full search. Thanks for the heads up.

 

hahah ok will do! Great disk brake article by the way!
cheers