Leaks cured ...... finally

[K3NJW]

Found a new leak site for those that are still trying to beat the rain. Round the door seal at the bottom where it runs over the carpet leather strip. It was running into the door round the rubber seal and in through that point. So the side carpets were still dry but the floor ones soaked. I ripped the seal off, trimmed the carpet and ran a bead of Thompson Roof and Gutter sealant round and reseated the seal.... and even after this mornings Armegedon downpour it's as dry as a bone. Having discovered this wonderous rubberlike stuff, I also redid all the silicone under the bonnet, bake fluid resevoir and all. £3.49 from Homebase well spent.

I was so p*ssed off with the water I'd even booked a test drive in a VX22o and an RS32 Golf.

[shadowninja]

well done

you can come round and sort mine out now... I've yet to see what this morning's downpour has done for the interior, but I swear I heard gold fish glubbing at me. I might put a spot of sand in, grow some bonsai coconut trees and build myself a little exotic island in the mini lake

[adove]

This sounds interesting... was it the floor carpets BEHIND the seats that got soaked? If so this is a problem I sympathise with! If the door seals have cured it I'll give it a go. Cheers Nigel

PS VX220 !!?! at least you could be sure of a golf not leaking...

[K3NJW]

No, it was the footwell carpets, which is why it took me so long to track down..... I assumed the water was getting in under the dashboard. I cured the rear carpet wetness by waterproofing the roof with Thompsons, but the door seal may be worth looking at. There were certainly two points in mine where it was getting in. To be honest it was so simple to fix it might be worth pulling the seal off to check. I cleaned the surrounding fibreglass and the inside of the seal with white spirit and put the bead around with a decorator's gun.

[plipton]

Woo hoo.

Must try this - My chimp's so wet I have a team of olympic breast-strokers practicing in the passenger footwell at the moment.

[Blue Streak]

I used to have a leak behind the seats but can also testify that Thompsons water seal on the rear hood sorted it. I had tried using Fabsil before but it still leaked. Thompson's sorted it though.

However I also resealed the brake reservoir and the door locks as well......now totally dry.....

[chim450]

Blue Streak said: I used to have a leak behind the seats but can also testify that Thompsons water seal on the rear hood sorted it.

My carpets behind the seats are soaked. What is the Thompsons water seal originally designed for?

[CraigAlsop]

chim450 said:
My carpets behind the seats are soaked. What is the Thompsons water seal originally designed for?

Brickwork

[K3NJW]

True, but if you read the label, (not the one on the super plus variety, just the plain cheap stuff), it's also a waterproofing treatment for canvas and tents. Anyway 7 or 8 coats of that and my roof, which used to leak like a sieve, is now totally waterproof, not a drop even during the recent arival of the Horsemen of the Apocolypse!!

[Blue Streak]

Agreed,

I thought the leaks behind my drivers seat were due to water spilling over near the velcro during a downpour. But actually they were due to seeping through the hood in a sustained soaking. Thompsons really helped, it is almost certainly around the stitching that it is most useful as the hood is essentially a sandwich of fabric, rubber and fabric. Therefore the only leaks should be around the stitching. However the waterproofing may also help by getting the water to run off in the first place as well.

[taylormj4]

Well, I'm going to be an advocate for Fabsil.
Did 2 coats with a garden-type spray gun and rain now beads up and runs straight off. Lovely.
Also found that certain positioning of the velcro strips helped - pull the hood down as far as possible with the outer velcro and the riase the inner one a bit before sticking down. This pushes the hood sides into a more vertical position and seems to make the rain run straight over the stitching.
Matthew

[chim450]

Blue Streak said:Thompsons really helped, it is almost certainly around the stitching that it is most useful

Great, I shall give it a go this weekend. I'll let you all know how I get on.