Water Problems

[Guest Majmx]

In the UK it has started to rain again after a very dry summer.

Since the rainy season started I have been accumulating water along the rubber seal located directly below the left plastic trim step plate that you observe when opening the driver's door. Water accumulation has resulted in the carpets becoming damp and water collecting on the floor pan.

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At first I thought water was collecting in this area because I was driving the car in rainy weather. On as sunny day, rare this time of year in the UK, I left the door open and dried out the rubber strip and the carpets.

After all traces of water and dampness has been removed I parked the TC on a level surface, made certain all windows and doors were tightly closes and waited for the next rain shower to take place. After six hours of light rain the rain stopped and I went out to inspect the car.

During the rain storm somehow water had collected on the rubber seal located directly below the plastic trim step plate. Water collection was sufficient to cause the carpets to become damp.

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Needless to say I am at lot as what the next step should be to determine what is causing the water to collect on this rubber seal. :confused:

Recommendations / suggestions on how to eliminate this water hazard would be greatly appreciated for rain is forecast for the next three day and our UK garage was not built to handle anything bigger than a Morris 1000.<O:p

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Cheers,

<O:p<O:pBob S

<O:pTC America Member

[Guest My TC Toy]

Bob,

If I read you correctly, you think your car is leaking at the drivers door sill. That is an odd place for a leak to occur, as there is a defined metal lip behind that seal. I would suggest you look further up the seal, and all around the door, and make certain that the seal is securely attached to the metal lip. There is a second seal that seals the primary seal to the metal lip.

If you cannot find a problem try to determine if the leak is elsewhere and manifesting itself in the location you suggested, ie check wiring grommets through the firewall, coul and kick panel. It could be a grommet popped out and water is entering there.

One other suggestion would be to remove the door panel and check that the plastic sheet is in place. Any water entering the interior of the door is deflected by that plastic sheet away from the door panel to the bottom of the door. If this sheet is torn, water could be running to the inside of this sheet and thereby entering the car,

Good luck

Bob

[Guest BarelyFit]

Then there is the persistent leak from the upper corner of the doors toward the windshield. Hemi claims it is one of the only drawbacks to the design of the TC. Mine leaks there as well. I have made temporary fix-its for one drive only. I use a small piece of plastic bag to seal the gap between the roof seal and door seal. It usually pops out when opening the door.

Sit in the car during a downpour and you may see it running down and collecting on you sill plate.

[TCParts]

One of the easiest fixes for the water drip problem is by tightening the "J hooks" on the hardtop and softtop. This usually stops the dripping water on your knee and window controls. We have demonstrated this a number of times at the TC America national meets.

In addition, make sure the drain holes in the bottom of the tonneau area are debris free. If water in the tonneau area does not drain out the way intended, it ends up in the passenger area drenching the carpet. At one Florida meet the owner had a few inches of water sitting in the tonneau area - Sally Lane took a pencil to unclog the two holes and it drained in a matter of seconds.

Edited November 2, 2009 by TCParts (see edit history)

[ghostymosty]

I found on my 91 TC that if I got the top seal damp before setting the Jhooks that I no longer had a corner leak. Works kind of like a suction cup that you get damp to stick to a window. I found this out by accident when I rushed to put the top up due to a sudden rain storm in Louisiana.

[Guest LouZ]

Reading David's account of the damp seals reminded me of a common practice I have done for so many years on all my cars I don't even think about it anymore.

I start my winterizing campaign around the house, and cars, and all the rest of the equipt. now. one of the things I do is rub clear petrolieum jelly (Vaseline) into every piece of weatherstrip on everything I can find Door seals, Window seals, House, Cars, everything..

I take a gob of vaseline on my finger and rub it into the complete surface of every piece if rubber type stuff I can find. I try not to miss any spots, and rub it in real good leaving no excess. The real purpose of this is to freshen the syrface, and not leave any place to allow ice to stick and possibly tear the rubber. This may be considered as "Overkill" by some; but I never had a rubber seal leak, and still don't. Lou

That big triangle thing where the mirror is - - - I rub it into the whole thing.

[Guest rodieu2]

I have a question on water leaks I'm getting water in the passenger side (rear) floorboard that soaks the floorboard it must be the plugged drain holes in the bottom of the tonneau area. Currently the hardtop is installed do I have to remove the hardtop it in order to open the drain? Are the drains accessible from underneath the vehicle? I was thinking of using compressed air to open the plugged tubes. Has anyone tried this?