Air flow at lower left corner of windshield?

djmcmath · 02-29-2004, 07:58 PM

Ok, here's my newbie question of the day:
Took the car out for the first spring drive today -- nice, with one small exception (I hope). After waiting through traffic to get to the edge of civilization, finally, I can get up to speed. But just as I'm coming up to 60, I hear a noise of rushing air. Concerned, check fans -- all the fans are off, dampers closed, etc. Shouldn't be any air. Sounds like it's coming from in front of me, and it's cool (not warm), so probably from outside. Panic immediately sets in as I mentally review the "my trunk came unlatched" threads, so I pulled off the road and checked that real quick -- no joy, trunk is buttoned up nice 'n' tight. So I get it back up to speed, and sure enough, it's still there. So I start feeling around the bottom of the windshield, and it feels like there might be a draft at the lower left corner of the windshield, or maybe farther back, at the corner of the door. Has anybody else seen this before? I tried a search, but couldn't find anything applicable, sorry. Thanks in advance for all your help (again). Car is an '86.

Dan

PS -- yes, I got some pics of the drive, but I probably won't have time to scan and post them until tomorrow sometime, sorry.

dd74 · 02-29-2004, 08:13 PM

Windshield seal?

Check to see if it's rotted, or can be easily pulled out of place in the are you're concerned with.

Feeling daring? Take a garden hose, turn it all the way up, and fire the water (hmmm..."fire the water?") in and around the windshield - if there's seepage, that's one step toward a remedy.

fogcity · 02-29-2004, 08:26 PM

Yeah, I have that too, but at both lower corners and probably both upper as well. Wait till it rains real hard and it will become clear.

djmcmath · 02-29-2004, 08:34 PM

Tnx, dd74; checked the seals -- nothing obviously wrong, though I'm not going to rule out a miniscule hole. I'll try the garden hose routine tomorrow after I get back from work. FWIW, I washed it Friday afternoon, and don't remember discovering anything like untoward moisture on the inside anywhere. Also, to add to my bafflement, I haven't done any work anywhere near there. Aargh. Any other ideas? Are there any plastic bits in the door/hinge/fender assembly that could have come loose, or something?

Dan

dd74 · 02-29-2004, 08:37 PM

There are round rubber plugs in the door. Double check that they're in place, though I can't see how these could admit water...

djmcmath · 02-29-2004, 08:50 PM

Fogcity, you say you have this problem too? But I've driven in the rain, and recently, and it doesn't seem to cause any problems. I'm mystified.

dd74 -- Round rubber plugs in the door? Really? Like at the forward end, somewhere? I'm not sure I see how that would let air in ... wait, maybe if ... my imagination is less that spectacular this late at night, but it seems like if there was a rubber plug allow flow from outside, through/across the opening where the door hinges into the inside of the door, that would yield a lot of noise and a little flow up through the inside of the door and into the passenger space. Maybe maybe? I'll go out and look for missing rubber plugs ...

Dan

PS -- if that's it, I owe you a beer, dd74.

djmcmath · 02-29-2004, 09:19 PM

dd74 -- found the rubber plugs, they're both in place. Then I felt around in that gap-space between the door and the front fender. Nothing loose, no holes, nothing missing (as far as I can tell). I did discover rust, however -- it looks like the front left sunroof drain (see my excitement in another thread at discovering what those little holes were) has been depositing moisture into the area where the bottom of the A-pillar joins up with the fender and the door, and it's rusting. I couldn't tell how bad it was, but it's peeling up the paint and poking through in several places. Aargh!!! Oh, and it was such a good afternoon to turn into such a rotten evening...

Thanks for all the help, guys. Now it seems I have far worse problems, though.

Dan

dd74 · 02-29-2004, 09:26 PM

Yes, sir. Far worse - potentially. Best bet: take tomorrow off, and head your car to a good body man and show him your symptoms. Why I would exercise such urgency is only because of where you live (hint: rainfall, cold air and Seattle's overall seaside demarcation). Rust will kill your car faster than ten 5,000+ RPM dragstrip launches.

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles.

djmcmath · 02-29-2004, 09:29 PM

Thanks for the sympathy and the plan, dd. I think perhaps I'll do just that. If I don't post anymore, ya'll can assume I jumped from someplace high enough to do the job.

Dan

dd74 · 02-29-2004, 09:34 PM

It ain't that bad. If he sees rust in the door as well, at least you have an excuse to go fiberglass.

djmcmath · 03-01-2004, 05:13 AM

LOL, good point. Hopefully he'll find rust in the bumpers so I can go to RUF's, too.

Dan

TerryH · TerryH's Garage

One old trick is to turn on max blower with the car sealed and apply soapy water. Bubbles will appear at leak points.

Terry

993.986. · 03-01-2004, 07:48 AM

Hey, I had the same thing happen to me. I have an 87 Targa and at about 60-65 mph there is a sudden rush of air (it's way loud). I thought it was coming through the vents. Could it be due to maladjustment of the vent cables/flappers. I was going to try to block the hood vent to see if this made a difference, have you tried that? BTW my front blower motor (run by the dash slider) isn't working right now, I don't know if this has anything to do with it.