Okay, this is like a Jeep Commander greatest hits bullet point. The leaking sun roof drain tube.
Like a lot of folks, I had this issue for a while and it was really confounding. In my case, it seemed to have been exacerbated by the sun roof frame. The tubes clogged at a point that the XK sat idle for about 7 or 8 months. Water that didn't drain managed to rust the frame nicely, and right when I got the engine replaced, that sun roof came apart. Replacing the frame was not a big deal. But I continued to have all kinds of problems with the drain tubes due to whatever amount of rust that had fallen into them, along with any dust or crud that had built up over the years.
I solved the drain tube problem by getting a roll of weed wacker line at home depot and fishing it down each drain hole, this took quite a lot of effort and patience but eventually I got both drains free. I checked the grommets at the base of the car and they were fine, a previous owner had removed those red nipples that tend to build up crap inside, so just the grommets were holding the blue tubes in place. Pouring a bottle of water into the sun roof trough at this point resulted in a loud sucking sound and a nice puddle formed under the car.
But, a couple of months later (last month), my problems returned. Okay, no problem, I'll just fish the weed wacker line back in there and wiggle it around again for good measure. Seemed to do the trick. But, in the month or so since then, I'm still getting a wet floor mat on the driver's side, or if it's a heavy storm (South Florida here), a small puddle. For a little bit there, I thought that perhaps the grommet had become unlodged and allowed the water to pour into the floor of the cabin. But, I had seen evidence of some water dripping from time to time through the pillar handle above the dashboard. I wouldn't expect to see that happen unless the drain were clogged. I tried the weed wacker line again and poured another bottle of water down, sure enough it drains and I don't see any leak at the handle area. So I opened up the trim to get at the grommet under the carpet again and it's fine, still right where it is supposed to be in order to drain water out of the frame of the car.
So I took the weed wacker line, and this time I removed the grommet from the tube and fished it upwards starting at the bottom, instead of down through the drain. It seemed like it was going almost all the way up there before I felt any resistance, maybe a little kink at some point around the dashboard area. I don't think that it was a clog where I felt the last resistance and could not push the line up any farther, but I just have no way to tell if it was a clog, a piece of rust from the old sun roof frame, or if it were butting up against any angle near the top of the drain. I started to google around more on this, because I did not like the look of that old blue tube at this point. It's like it was taunting me.
I came across this video. It's for a Jeep Grand Cherokee with the same issue, wet floors from sun roof drain tube leaks. Turns out his whole issue was the blue tubes being broken from age, heat, etc.
I'm thinking about trying to tackle this but I haven't seen any takeaparts for the Commander. I guess it is similar to his but the Commander just looks more "together" somehow. But if this is the exact same problem I am having it would make a great deal of sense. I had assumed that the blue tube Chrysler used was a single piece, running the height of the cabin,but from the looks of it, there are shorter lengths that are connected by black rubber tubes. Assembling the Jeep with shorter tubes this way would make for easier assembly in stages, but more of a problem with age as each individual piece that has to fit together now becomes a potential leak point. [Edit: After taking the whole thing apart I can definitely say your Commander will have a single blue tube, not sections.] I won't be able to get to open up anything until at least after this hurricane, but does anybody have any info or link handy on how to get at that tube? Below the dash isn't an issue as I've been in there several times by now, above the dash is more where I need to have a looksee. If I find that the XK has segmented blue tubes just like his XJ I think I am going to go straight to replace the entire length of it with a single tube.
Like a lot of folks, I had this issue for a while and it was really confounding. In my case, it seemed to have been exacerbated by the sun roof frame. The tubes clogged at a point that the XK sat idle for about 7 or 8 months. Water that didn't drain managed to rust the frame nicely, and right when I got the engine replaced, that sun roof came apart. Replacing the frame was not a big deal. But I continued to have all kinds of problems with the drain tubes due to whatever amount of rust that had fallen into them, along with any dust or crud that had built up over the years.
I solved the drain tube problem by getting a roll of weed wacker line at home depot and fishing it down each drain hole, this took quite a lot of effort and patience but eventually I got both drains free. I checked the grommets at the base of the car and they were fine, a previous owner had removed those red nipples that tend to build up crap inside, so just the grommets were holding the blue tubes in place. Pouring a bottle of water into the sun roof trough at this point resulted in a loud sucking sound and a nice puddle formed under the car.
But, a couple of months later (last month), my problems returned. Okay, no problem, I'll just fish the weed wacker line back in there and wiggle it around again for good measure. Seemed to do the trick. But, in the month or so since then, I'm still getting a wet floor mat on the driver's side, or if it's a heavy storm (South Florida here), a small puddle. For a little bit there, I thought that perhaps the grommet had become unlodged and allowed the water to pour into the floor of the cabin. But, I had seen evidence of some water dripping from time to time through the pillar handle above the dashboard. I wouldn't expect to see that happen unless the drain were clogged. I tried the weed wacker line again and poured another bottle of water down, sure enough it drains and I don't see any leak at the handle area. So I opened up the trim to get at the grommet under the carpet again and it's fine, still right where it is supposed to be in order to drain water out of the frame of the car.
So I took the weed wacker line, and this time I removed the grommet from the tube and fished it upwards starting at the bottom, instead of down through the drain. It seemed like it was going almost all the way up there before I felt any resistance, maybe a little kink at some point around the dashboard area. I don't think that it was a clog where I felt the last resistance and could not push the line up any farther, but I just have no way to tell if it was a clog, a piece of rust from the old sun roof frame, or if it were butting up against any angle near the top of the drain. I started to google around more on this, because I did not like the look of that old blue tube at this point. It's like it was taunting me.
I came across this video. It's for a Jeep Grand Cherokee with the same issue, wet floors from sun roof drain tube leaks. Turns out his whole issue was the blue tubes being broken from age, heat, etc.
I'm thinking about trying to tackle this but I haven't seen any takeaparts for the Commander. I guess it is similar to his but the Commander just looks more "together" somehow. But if this is the exact same problem I am having it would make a great deal of sense. I had assumed that the blue tube Chrysler used was a single piece, running the height of the cabin,