Leak_____Help!_______Pics inside!
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 380
Likes: 1
From: Janesville Wisconsin
Leak_____Help!_______Pics inside!
its been raining every day since i got this car. Ive had the carpet out twice dried and cleaned. cleaned every drain in the car, sealed up the hinges, sealed the weatherstrip above the hinge,
Now the weatherstripping looks good and is DRY where the window rests on it. WHERE THE HELL IS THIS LEAK COMING FROM?
Im going to ghost ride this car off a cliff in a bit here.
-pic 1 - you can see where it has been running down the kicker panel
-pic 2 - today i now noticed its all running off the a-pillar.
- pic 3 - window seals perfect all around, all dry under the glass.
-pic 4 - extra pic
-pic 5 - here you can see the seat is all wet.
Now im going back out to tare the carpet back out......ggrrrr
Now does anyone have any input? anyone elses leak like this?
Now the weatherstripping looks good and is DRY where the window rests on it. WHERE THE HELL IS THIS LEAK COMING FROM?
Im going to ghost ride this car off a cliff in a bit here.
-pic 1 - you can see where it has been running down the kicker panel
-pic 2 - today i now noticed its all running off the a-pillar.
- pic 3 - window seals perfect all around, all dry under the glass.
-pic 4 - extra pic
-pic 5 - here you can see the seat is all wet.
Now im going back out to tare the carpet back out......ggrrrr
Now does anyone have any input? anyone elses leak like this?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 5,561
Likes: 448
From: Atlanta metro Ga.
C'mon, give us a real challenge.. 
Your leak is quite common, mine leaks slightly on the driver's side. I have purchased a new retainer and weather-strip to solve the problem, just haven't installed them yet.
It's leaking in the top corner where the plastic trim and windshield meet. If you look down the between the plastic trim and roof, you'll see that the original weather-stripping sealant has "shrunk".
No effort (so far) to seal this from the top side is successful in my experience, although admittedly once I identified the source I resigned myself to re-doing the weather-strip.
Email me if this isn't clear, I'll walk you through it.
BTW, weclome fellow FRC brother!
Your leak is quite common, mine leaks slightly on the driver's side. I have purchased a new retainer and weather-strip to solve the problem, just haven't installed them yet.
It's leaking in the top corner where the plastic trim and windshield meet. If you look down the between the plastic trim and roof, you'll see that the original weather-stripping sealant has "shrunk".
No effort (so far) to seal this from the top side is successful in my experience, although admittedly once I identified the source I resigned myself to re-doing the weather-strip.
Email me if this isn't clear, I'll walk you through it.
BTW, weclome fellow FRC brother!
Last edited by Dan_the_C5_Man; Mar 31, 2007 at 11:46 AM.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 380
Likes: 1
From: Janesville Wisconsin
ok, but seeing its going to rain again im sure and the stealers arnt open to get new weatherstrip, im trying to seal it myself. I took the metal strip off, cleaned it all out, letting it dry. You can see where my headliner has been getting wet. Im going to run to autozone now and get some black silicon sealer and see what other good sealers they have.
heres some pics of it taken apart.
Notice the carpet is out AGAIN! and shampooed and being dried.
heres some pics of it taken apart.
Notice the carpet is out AGAIN! and shampooed and being dried.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 380
Likes: 1
From: Janesville Wisconsin
Ok i just got it done as it started to sprinkle and 5 min later the biggest downpour of the season. As I sat in it watching.
NO LEAKS!!!
yea it was a pain in the a$$ as I hate trim and interior work, id rather pull the engine.
The factory uses a foam tape between it all, I used black RTV, a nice bead under the plastic peice, a bead on top of it, and then some weatherstrip adhesive on the weatherstripping.
NO LEAKS!!!
yea it was a pain in the a$$ as I hate trim and interior work, id rather pull the engine.
The factory uses a foam tape between it all, I used black RTV, a nice bead under the plastic peice, a bead on top of it, and then some weatherstrip adhesive on the weatherstripping.
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 4,394
Likes: 6
From: Melbourne FL
Ok i just got it done as it started to sprinkle and 5 min later the biggest downpour of the season. As I sat in it watching.
NO LEAKS!!!
yea it was a pain in the a$$ as I hate trim and interior work, id rather pull the engine.
The factory uses a foam tape between it all, I used black RTV, a nice bead under the plastic peice, a bead on top of it, and then some weatherstrip adhesive on the weatherstripping.
NO LEAKS!!!
yea it was a pain in the a$$ as I hate trim and interior work, id rather pull the engine.
The factory uses a foam tape between it all, I used black RTV, a nice bead under the plastic peice, a bead on top of it, and then some weatherstrip adhesive on the weatherstripping.
But, when I took the metal weatherstrip retainer off my plastic trim piece was really tore up. Cracked all over the place at the ends and at some of the screw holes. It didn't seem to make much sense in taking it any further as the whole thing probably would have crumbled had I completely removed it from the car.
You were able to reuse your plastic trim piece?
I've also consulted a long time corvette tech about this and he strongly steered me away from using any urethane/RTV adhesive products and highly recommended using seam sealer product that remains elastic over the live of the product. GM is recommending a seam sealer from Kent products. http://www.kenteurope.com/uk/shop/vi...nid=&type=Auto
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Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 380
Likes: 1
From: Janesville Wisconsin
my plastic piece was perfect. My metal piece did have some indentations where the screws were, i tapped it flat with a hammer. Body seam sealer will actually dry harder than RTV silicon. The permatex black RTV has a picture on the package of them doing weatherstripping.
My car is black but they also make clear.
My car is black but they also make clear.