Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler JK radiators

Water inside door panel

RescueJKev

RescueJKev

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Joined
Jan 5, 2021
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13
Location
Knoxville, TN
Hey y'all. I took the doors off my JK last night and noticed a "sloshing" sound coming from the passenger side door while I was carrying it. Any ideas how this could happen? Does the JK not have a "weep hole" on the doors? No rust visible so far but i'd like to keep it that way.
 
Look on the rear corner of each door and there should be either a plastic cap, a piece of tape or just a clogged hole.
 
There has to be a drain of some sort. The rubber seals around the side windows are never perfect and water is going to get in there unless it's factory new.
 
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This is what I see on the bottom of the door. Are these supposed to “open” or something? Because they definitely aren’t.

jkdoor.jpg
 
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Mine aren't open. That hole also isn't at the lowest point so I don't think it would do much good for water drainage.
 
I should note that the sound might not even be water. It sounds like sort of like one of those rainstick things from the rock store at the mall lol. Is there any way to access the inside of the door by taking off the panel? I’ve heard that these Jeeps have inner inner panels or something as well.
 
RescueJKev said:
This is what I see on the bottom of the door. Are these supposed to “open” or something? Because they definitely aren’t.

View attachment 118878
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Yes sir, those are your drains. I pictured mine below. Are your clogged with crap or have they purposefully been closed with something? You pic threw me for a second because of its orientation.

2014 JKU Sahara.
Open the door and look between the weatherstripping and the outer skin of the door panel. My front doors have 3 each 5/8" x 3/8" holes. 1 on the hinge side, 1 in the middle and one on the latch side. The photo shows the driver's side bottom left, or latch side, of the door. The black on top is the weatherstrip, the seam below the hole is the rolled and welded seam of the exterior door panel to the tub of the door. The back doors, because the bottom edge of the door is pretty short, only have 2 holes each.

Think of it this way- the entire door is a tub, a bowl. The exterior panel of the door is a flat lid or cover to the tub. The holes are located almost right where the rolled and welded seam brings the exterior door panel and the door tub together.

Jeep Door.jpg
 
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Anybodyhome said:
Yes sir, those are your drains. I pictured mine below. Are your clogged with crap or have they purposefully been closed with something? You pic threw me for a second because of its orientation.

2014 JKU Sahara.
Open the door and look between the weatherstripping and the outer skin of the door panel. My front doors have 3 each 5/8" x 3/8" holes. 1 on the hinge side, 1 in the middle and one on the latch side. The photo shows the driver's side bottom left, or latch side, of the door. The black on top is the weatherstrip, the seam below the hole is the rolled and welded seam of the exterior door panel to the tub of the door. The back doors, because the bottom edge of the door is pretty short, only have 2 holes each.

Think of it this way- the entire door is a tub, a bowl. The exterior panel of the door is a flat lid or cover to the tub. The holes are located almost right where the rolled and welded seam brings the exterior door panel and the door tub together.

View attachment 118879
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info! I didn’t intentionally close them off but they are definitely blocked off. I’ll look at the other one and decide how to proceed.
 
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HUcPOMU.jpg


This is what the underside of a normal door looks like, for reference (in case anyone with a similar issue finds this thread and wants to see).

Upon clearing away the sealant from the first image I discovered that my passenger panel actually has broken glass in it from a shattered window that must have occurred at some point in the past. Instead of clearing the glass properly, it would appear that someone just decided to plug up the holes with gasket maker or something similar.
 
Clearing glass before repair falls under the category of good enough. It is basically impossible to get all the glass out of a vehicle after an accident. Even if you are super meticulous about it either the next day or the next month some will work it's way out of a crevice somewhere. I figure they cleaned what they could see and replaced the window.

Plugging the holes is dumb, but the whole things sounds like a home job, the person probably thought something was missing there and "fixed" it.
 
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MacGuyver said:
Clearing glass before repair falls under the category of good enough. It is basically impossible to get all the glass out of a vehicle after an accident. Even if you are super meticulous about it either the next day or the next month some will work it's way out of a crevice somewhere. I figure they cleaned what they could see and replaced the window.

Plugging the holes is dumb, but the whole things sounds like a home job, the person probably thought something was missing there and "fixed" it.
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They definitely plugged the holes to keep them from raining glass chips every time the door is opened and closed. I covered them with aluminum tape for the same reason until I am able to remove the inner panel to properly clear the glass.
 
Good luck. It's been a bit since I've removed the door panel, but I feel that sucking the stuff out through the bottom might be easier. Not much working room in there. Can't hurt to check though... And probably not a bad idea just to see what other wacky 'fixes' are in there.
 
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MacGuyver said:
Good luck. It's been a bit since I've removed the door panel, but I feel that sucking the stuff out through the bottom might be easier. Not much working room in there. Can't hurt to check though... And probably not a bad idea just to see what other wacky 'fixes' are in there.
Click to expand...
It isn't possible to remove most of the glass through the drain holes unless I expand them. Many of the chips are too big to fit through the holes and they lodge in place, causing a jam. I can push the bigger chips back up into the door and remove smaller chips until the bigger ones get stuck again, but that strategy was taking ages when I gave it a shot last night.
 
RescueJKev said:
It isn't possible to remove most of the glass through the drain holes unless I expand them. Many of the chips are too big to fit through the holes and they lodge in place and cause a jam. I can push the big chips back up into the door and remove smaller chips until the bigger ones get stuck again, but that strategy was taking ages when I gave it a shot last night.
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Figures. Perhaps door off, panel off, upside down with a rubber mallet and some light taps on the bottom. Do it above a sheet or tarp to collect the debris. May the DIY gods be with you.
 
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Here's how to remove the inner door trim panel, disconnect the window and open the door so you can get a shop vac or something to clean out the glass:

 
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