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Water inside my freedom top panel

15K views 19 replies 10 participants last post by  Old Dogger 
#1 ·
Hello looking for some guidance on why I am getting water actually inside my passenger side freedom top panel ? No leaks inside the interior but after rain can hear water slosh around inside and drives me nuts and don't want it to freeze with winter around the corner .
 
#5 ·
Or remove the panel keeping it flat and level and slowly tilt it in all directions until you see a water trail. It has to come out somewhere. And while you're at it, get a 12 ft roll of Butyl Tape or Window Weld, and seal all 4 sides of the Right Panel Center Seal. Dont use Silicone on the seal. And also look at the tops of the Panel where the Thumbs screw are at and see if there are cracks from Over Tightening. The Maximum Turns on those Thumb Screws is about 18 Turns. My guess, thats how the water is getting in. If so, seal the cracks with some Black Adhesive Silcone. And keep track of the number of turns those Thumb Screws are! Mine are about 16 in the Winter and 12 in the Summer.
 
#4 ·
I had that problem on my right freedom panel. It would fill with water then leak out the thumb screw on my wife. I told the dealership there was a defect in the panel seam but they insisted on changing the seals. They did this 3 bloody times before they acknowledged there was a defect in the seam of the freedom panel. At that point they replaced the panel under warranty and it hasn't leaked since. That was 3.5 years ago.

So I would take it to the dealership and get them to look at it. You may be looking at a few visits as they love changing seals first but eventually they will change the panel if they can't get the seals to work.
 
#8 ·
^^^..Agreed...I knew what the problem was with my freedom panel but the dealer insisted they change the seals and they did that 3 times through 3 visits then they finally listened to me and checked the panel itself by submerging it and saw where the panel was leaking.

Jeep dictates repairs to try first by the dealership then they progress from there, problem is the 3 visits that did not repair the issue would have cost as much as just replacing the panel in the first place so now they end up paying twice what they had to.
 
#10 ·
I wasn't saying to put the silicone on the actual weather stripping, I meant on the fiberglass if able to find where the water is getting in. Me personally, if my panel just needed a dab of sealant to stop water from sloshing around then I would just fix it myself instead of all the wasted time back n forth with a dealer. If I'm still under warranty and I have a real issue or something needs to be replaced then I'll take it in.
 
#13 ·
There are holes in the panels. They are supposed to be there. You are most likely over tightening the thumb screws. That compresses the seal and lets water get to the holes.
Look under the seals and locate the holes, then lean the panels somewhere holes down and they will drain.
 
#14 ·
Sometimes the freedom panels are defective. I never tightened my thumb screws much at all yet the panel filled with water and the holes were well under the seal. I actually had a defect in the panel seam where they are glued together once the panel was replaced it never happened again.
 
#19 ·
Yup. I drove my new used jku off the lot 4 days ago, and the first thing i noticed, which i didn't hear during the test drove was a gentle sloshing sound coming from the passenger freedom panel. It's the first car noise I've ever had that actually made me laugh. It was like being at the beach. Finally, I took the panel off and drained it. Then, since I had the panels off, I turned up the music and took a 40° first-time cruise down Lakeshore Drive. Heaven! Anyway, this is definitely a common freedom panel issue, and I have not yet heard a definitive answer, but agree that it's pretty much gotta be a split side seam. At least its not a leak into the cab!
 
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