Leaks at door / window seals

[mccrackenj]

Hi everyone - looking for some help.

I'm still getting a leak behind drivers seat on my 94 Chimaera. The carpet trim behind the door window is getting wet and dripping onto floor. I've treated the hood, especially the 'triangular' side sections again but to no avail (but the rest of the interior is now dry) - so I wonder is it the vertical seal between the rear hood section and the door glass causing the problem? (it is a bit worn)

Is this a likely culprit?

If it is, there are a few items in the Woolies catalogue that look like the right item - anyone familiar with the Woolies catalogue care to have a look and give me their opinion?

www.woolies-trim.co.uk/doorseal.html

I'm looking at the "Door/Boot Seals and Edge Trims" page on the website - items 264, 266 etc.

Thanks

John

PS: I should add that I have no 'elephant ears' - so the next job is to try to make a pair of those.

>> Edited by mccrackenj on Tuesday 17th January 14:32

[dparpotta]

yes it is the problem. had exactly the same thing happen to mine. the trick is to leave excess length of seal (very cheap from tvr dealer)so that when the door is shut, it traps the seal.in my experience, the elephant ears do not aid at all. many people dont have them and have bone dry cars.
hope this helps.
danos

[mccrackenj]

Danos

That's great - thanks for the quick reply.

Never thought about going to main dealer for this sort of thing. Apparently there's only 1 TVR dealer in all of Ireland, North or South - but, thankfully, they're 1/2 mile from my house! I'll go round on Sat morning & see if they can sell me a length of seal.

I'm determined to get this car watertight if it's the last thing I do.

Thanks again

John

[ads]

dparpotta said:

yes it is the problem. had exactly the same thing happen to mine. the trick is to leave excess length of seal (very cheap from tvr dealer)so that when the door is shut, it traps the seal.in my experience, the elephant ears do not aid at all. many people dont have them and have bone dry cars. hope this helps. danos

I don`t have the ears, but do have the extra length of the seal, so that the door traps the seal when shut, and my car does not leak - yet! So I too think this could solve your problem.

[jonathant]

The other place that's work checking is at the bottom seal - I've got two "pinches" in the rubber seal. I found that water somehow gets onto the seal where it then trickles down along the door. The pinches allows the water to drain out via the sill rather than into the car.

[Alan Wylie]

As another Chim owner just down the M1 from you, I recommend Philip at Parkgate to sort out your leak problem!!

[mccrackenj]

Hi everyone - an update:

ads & danos - you were both right. I bought a replacement seal for up over the rear roof section (only £4 plus VAT per metre) and left about 2" extra at each end so those bits now get trapped when the doors are closed. I cut the metal backing off these pieces leaving only the oval bit. I've had to wait a while for a few good downpours to test it but -

I NOW HAVE A BONE DRY COCKPIT, HOORAY!

Problem sorted for £14 and an hours fiddling.

Alan - thanks for your post, just saw it this morning. I spoke to Bob at Parkgate who claims to be their 'leak man' - he was very helpful. You'll have to point yourself out to me if you're at a club event - dark green 1994 4.0 reg FEZ ****. Cheers