2006 TJ windshield cowl seal replacement problems

[Don A.]

Last year I replaced the majority of the rubber seals on my ‘06 TJ. The original windshield cowl seal started to whistle after I dropped the windshield to install the windshield trim.

Drove me f***in nuts so I decided to just replace it.

However it’s one of the seals that mopar has discontinued so you have to get aftermarket. All the brands seem to make an identical version that is for all 1997 to 2006 models. I bought the Fairchild brand.

The thing is that they changed the seal for the 04-06 years. So the aftermarket seals don’t sit properly at where the seal ends. Basically at the corner of the dash. Water comes in during rain and I’m at a loss on how best to solve this.

I kept the original gasket/seal and I’m thinking I might swap it back in, but maybe use some 3m seam sealer or something to get it to seal properly.

Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with this issue?

I hate having to “make it work” instead of fixing it right.

Here’s a picture of the seals to better illustrate what I’m talking about.
The original is shaped differently and is much firmer that replacement.

 

[Chris]

Last year I replaced the majority of the rubber seals on my ‘06 TJ. The original windshield cowl seal started to whistle after I dropped the windshield to install the windshield trim.

Drove me f***in nuts so I decided to just replace it.

However it’s one of the seals that mopar has discontinued so you have to get aftermarket. All the brands seem to make an identical version that is for all 1997 to 2006 models. I bought the Fairchild brand.

The thing is that they changed the seal for the 04-06 years. So the aftermarket seals don’t sit properly at where the seal ends. Basically at the corner of the dash. Water comes in during rain and I’m at a loss on how best to solve this.

I kept the original gasket/seal and I’m thinking I might swap it back in, but maybe use some 3m seam sealer or something to get it to seal properly.

Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with this issue?

I hate having to “make it work” instead of fixing it right.

Here’s a picture of the seals to better illustrate what I’m talking about.
The original is shaped differently and is much firmer that replacement.

View attachment 605665

Using the original seal with some 3M seam sealer could be a solid temporary fix, especially if the rubber is still in decent shape. Just make sure you clean it thoroughly before applying the sealer, so you get a good bond. You might also consider using some rubber conditioner on the original seal to help restore its flexibility and ensure it seats better.

This is the bad news about owning an older vehicle. The aftermarket parts are iffy in regards to fit, and as you've found, apparently they don't make a specific seal for the 04-06 models.

It may be worth looking into some sort of custom seal. I'd even suggest talking to automotive restoration shops that specialize in this sort of thing. They restore old vehicles all the time and I'm guessing that one of those shops might know a place that does custom fit seals. It has to exist since people restore old vehicles all the time.

 

[Don A.]

Using the original seal with some 3M seam sealer could be a solid temporary fix, especially if the rubber is still in decent shape. Just make sure you clean it thoroughly before applying the sealer, so you get a good bond. You might also consider using some rubber conditioner on the original seal to help restore its flexibility and ensure it seats better.

This is the bad news about owning an older vehicle. The aftermarket parts are iffy in regards to fit, and as you've found, apparently they don't make a specific seal for the 04-06 models.

It may be worth looking into some sort of custom seal. I'd even suggest talking to automotive restoration shops that specialize in this sort of thing. They restore old vehicles all the time and I'm guessing that one of those shops might know a place that does custom fit seals. It has to exist since people restore old vehicles all the time.

Thanks Chris. I came across a NOS seal on eBay that claims to be what I’m looking for. But I won’t know for sure until it arrives because there wasn’t a pic available. Fingers crossed.

I’ve reached out to a couple places. Steele Rubber is a great place to get restoration seals and weather stripping. But when I called them they said the cost of a one off part would be crazy high because of the tooling that goes into creating the molds. I couldn’t find any others that even offered it.
I even played with the idea of making my own mold. But that doesn’t seem very feasible really. Idk

Honestly, just having someone else say the seam sealer idea isn’t the worst idea ever is encouraging .

The new old stock seal should be here by the 15th. Now I just have to be patient and tell myself I’ve been spoiled by 2 day shipping.

 

[Chris]

Thanks Chris. I came across a NOS seal on eBay that claims to be what I’m looking for. But I won’t know for sure until it arrives because there wasn’t a pic available. Fingers crossed.

I’ve reached out to a couple places. Steele Rubber is a great place to get restoration seals and weather stripping. But when I called them they said the cost of a one off part would be crazy high because of the tooling that goes into creating the molds. I couldn’t find any others that even offered it.
I even played with the idea of making my own mold. But that doesn’t seem very feasible really. Idk

Honestly, just having someone else say the seam sealer idea isn’t the worst idea ever is encouraging .

The new old stock seal should be here by the 15th. Now I just have to be patient and tell myself I’ve been spoiled by 2 day shipping.

I wonder what "crazy high" entails.

You could do a run of enough of them that you could sell them and make your money back. That depends on the cost of course. If they told me $3000 (or something like that), I'd do it in a heartbeat knowing for sure I'd make my money back.

 

[JKP]

Well, it wouldn't be a one off for them if they did it. There are plenty of those Jeeps out there.

There was enough demand for the 05-06 only OPDAs that Crown and Dorman reverse engineered and produced them. I've also seen Standard Ign and a few others, but don't know if they are just rebranded Crown or Dorman.

Crown, Omix, etc will probably add it, but who knows when.

 

[JKP]

Thanks Chris. I came across a NOS seal on eBay that claims to be what I’m looking for. But I won’t know for sure until it arrives because there wasn’t a pic available. Fingers crossed.

I’ve reached out to a couple places. Steele Rubber is a great place to get restoration seals and weather stripping. But when I called them they said the cost of a one off part would be crazy high because of the tooling that goes into creating the molds. I couldn’t find any others that even offered it.
I even played with the idea of making my own mold. But that doesn’t seem very feasible really. Idk

Honestly, just having someone else say the seam sealer idea isn’t the worst idea ever is encouraging .

The new old stock seal should be here by the 15th. Now I just have to be patient and tell myself I’ve been spoiled by 2 day shipping.

Don,

Is this part a correct match for the OEM? https://www.ebay.com/itm/2743624202...pid=5337789113&customid=&toolid=10001&mkevt=1

 

[Don A.]

Don,

Is this part a correct match for the OEM? https://www.ebay.com/itm/2743624202...pid=5337789113&customid=&toolid=10001&mkevt=1

View attachment 606125

Yeah that looks like it! Man I don’t know how I missed it. Thanks! Great price too

 

[JKP]

Nice to know it's out there. I replaced mine several yrs back when the OEM was available, but no intentions of ever getting rid of my 06.

 

[Don A.]

I wonder what "crazy high" entails.

You could do a run of enough of them that you could sell them and make your money back. That depends on the cost of course. If they told me $3000 (or something like that), I'd do it in a heartbeat knowing for sure I'd make my money back.

I’d say check it out if you’re interested in the investment. I don’t have that kind of financial flexibility really. But yeah it was in the thousands but I didn’t have them give me a hard number quote.

 

[Don A.]

Nice to know it's out there. I replaced mine several yrs back when the OEM was available, but no intentions of ever getting rid of my 06.

For sure. I plan on keeping mine forever, pass it on to my son maybe when I can’t drive it anymore…maybe lol.

In 2023 when I replaced the original I could not find a new mopar seal for ‘06 at all. Kept finding the previous model, or they were used. I just went with the aftermarket and tried to make it work.

This forum is great.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[Don A.]

I wonder what "crazy high" entails.

You could do a run of enough of them that you could sell them and make your money back. That depends on the cost of course. If they told me $3000 (or something like that), I'd do it in a heartbeat knowing for sure I'd make my money back.

Here’s their website if you want to reach out to them. Seems to be ran by good people.
https://www.steelerubber.com/