10 replies to this topic

[charlie]

I have wet carpets in both front footwells. I've took the carpets and mats out trying to locate the leak. The water is leaving run marks down the bulk head.
I have found water at the very top of the dashboard just under the windscreen rubber.
I have looked at the rubber seal fron inside and out, its condition is ok.
BUT I have noticed the windscreen seal is not one piece like I was expecting. I have noticed that the two loose ends of the rubber are at the bottom edge of the windscreen. Is this correct ? I would have expected them to be at the top edge of the glass.

If it is correct any other ideas as to how water is getting through the seal into the car?
Cheers.

[wobblybob]

get a watering can and get someone to poor it around the seal and and where else u think it might be while u sit inside and look,

[miniboo]

mine leaks in the bottom corners. hopefully it is the seal and not rusty scuttle!!

[Sprocket]

Change the seal, they perish and go hard over time and reduce their sealing efficiency.

If the car is roughly ten years old, now is the time to change the window rubbers.

[charlie]

thanks. when I do get a new seal, do I fit it with the two loose ends at the top of the screen or do i fit it with the join along the bottom of the screen? cheers

[Sprocket]

Not sure what you mean by loose ends, the genuine seals are one peice, the filler strip has a join usualy at the top

Oh and when you get a new seal, get new filler strip too and to aid the fitting get the filler strip tool as well, its a bugger without it

[charlie]

i mean- the seal that is in now looks as though when I take it out I could lay it in a straight line.It doesn't look as though it is one piece the shape of the windscreen. Have I got wrong seal in?

[miniboo]

are you on about the silver locking strip in the middle?

the rubber is generally a one piece

[charlie]

when I look at the rubber seal from inside the car, at the bottom of the glass in the middle of the windscreen, it looks as though this is a join, ie as if the seal was not one whole piece, but one strip of seal and this is where both ends meet

[Dan]

There is a join as it's manufatured from a long roll of material rather than being moulded solid, but it's welded up at that join. If your seal is coming apart at the welded join then it's definitely time for a new one! As Sprocket says, they harden over time and stop gripping the glass (the glass moves all the time as you drive the car so the seal needs to be able to move too). Then water can creep around the edges, you may find it pooling in the seal at the lower corners inside the car. It's possible when fitting a new seal to cut some drains into it to try to avoid this but eventually they all fail.

[pablo_agogo]

Hi, Just a little tip I use to find a leak: Sprinkle Talc powder ( or anything dusty! ) around the interior floor space. Then use a controlled water source to play around the outer seams. Starting low on the car and working upwards. If you have someone in the car 'spotting', you can play the water around in one go: else play the water around one area, then check inside after each 'splash'. This way it may be possible to 'track' the ingress.

Doors seals are a bugger for letting in water 'under the door & over the sill'. Another area, apart from the windscreen rubber; is the slampanel/scuttle area. Open the bonnet and the seal sits from one wing across to the other on the scuttle channel. Rain can enter here if the seal is knackered or missing - running down the engine side bulkhead, and into your wheelwells.

Good luck with your investigations, soggy feet are never nice