Water leak

[Roger Hall]

Every time I open the drivers door about 1/2 of water runs off the door sill. I have tried resealing the drip rail and the outer weather strip on the upper part of the door. Also the sunroof drains apprear to be working and uncloged. Then the power window stoped working and the moisture build up is starting to damage the bottom of the door panel. The powerwindow motor is badly rusted on the inside and about a teaspoon of water came out of it. I removed the rear seat panel and the door panel I am going to drive it like that for a while and see if I can find the leak. The obvious place would be the rubber trim along the bottom of the window but it apears to be in good shape.

[Moneyguy1]

I had the same problem with an old 1977 924. THe water would build up on the sill and indeed damaged the cardboard door panel. The problem was too tiget a fit between the perimeter seal of the door and the opening. There was no place for the water to run out of and so it accumulated inside the bottom of the door itself until you opened it and it would gush out. I believe it is a function of the door settling downward over time, forcing the seal tighter against the sill. Since the driver's door is used far more than the passenger, this could happen. I rebuilt the bottom half of the door panel out of tempered masonite, recovered it with the original leatherette, installed new plastic sheeting for protection and cut a small groove in the bottom of the seal near the center. Since I had crank windows, the motor failure was not a problem. Measure the clearance on both sides between the door bottom and the sill and see if my theory "holds any water".

[Roger Hall]

Thanks I will check it out

[SoCal Driver]

So a door seal should not seal?

I don't think so!

Your door is out of adjustment. Most likey at the top back. This lets water past the seal and into and build up in the bottom "sump" area. I think the door structure eventually warps/bends over time. I had original seals on the 83 and found the new replacements have the assembly gap at the bottom rather than at the top back corner. Yeah german engineering!

This is most likely the means by which the rear passenger foot wells get flooded.

Also the wiper seal accross the bottom of the window is shot letting the water run into the door cavity. The door actually has drain holes across the bottom to let water out of the cavity!

[Moneyguy1]

H i Hugh..Think about it, though....The drain holes in the door are inside the seal area. Any water that gets in the door really as no place to go IF the seal really seals..I lookd at a few other makes of car, and the design is different, with the seal either on the jamb itself or at least on the inner periphery of the door, with "weep holes" stamped in the bottom (which our cars do not have). I have tried to figure this arrangement out. If, in the corners, where the inner and outer stampings meet, there is a collection of crud, there is no drainage, and if the door is misaligned, it could only make it worse by further compressing the gasket. VW uses a flap at the bottom, and the gasket attached to the jamb sidea rather than the door itself. No problem with drainage.

I am only hazarding a guess; I do not know the actual cause. It is an unusual configuration. Out here in AZ, it isn't the problem it was in upstate New York!!!

[adrian jaye]

Roger I'd alspo check that the Moisture seal (ie the large plastic sheet stuck to the door) is intact with no rips.

It's task is to direct mopsiture and water, to the botom of the door where it can just fall outside into the drian holes and not into the cabin

[SoCal Driver]

I found that my rear passenger foot well problem was the door seals and the adjustment. The new seals I bought at the dealer had the "ends" of the seal at the back bottom.

I thought it was funny that a seal should not "seal".

[Roger Hall]

I was wondering if there should be weep holes in the seal. It does seem odd the placment of the door drains inside the seal. The door may be out of alignment since I had to replace the stay. However it shuts tight you can feel the pressure in your ears when you shut the door. It was raining last night and I wanted to go sit in the car with a flash light, but we had company.

Thanks for the input guys

[SoCal Driver]

Well, just pulled one of the extra doors I have down and took a look for the cavity drain holes.

There are three and they empty outside below the seal.

[Roger Hall]

Right on SoCal I just looked I could find two and they are outside the door seal.

[SoCal Driver]

Door was from an 86 944. Use a bass string off of a guitar to clean them out.

Deteriorating door panels was mentioned. I've had some success using superglue (sold in large bottles at hobby stores as ZAP!) and wood shavings to build up areas around the window switches.

One of these days I'll buy some masonite and get out the zig saw.

[Moneyguy1]

For the area around the window switches, once it is cleaned of loose pieces, a 1/8 thick piece of tempered masonite can be glued on the back of the door panel with the appropriate hole for the switch cut out beforehand. Make the overall piece 1" bigger in both directions to give you 1/2" all round for gluing area. But, replacing the entire bottom half of the panel with masonite (only use tempered; the soft stuff will absorb water). Joining the top part to the new masonite can be done with thin sheet metal and pop rivets. Then glue the vinyl skin back in place as well as the little fasteners. Not too bad a job. Install new plastic sheet to prevent future damage. Tape it tight with duct or aluminum tape (I prefer the aluminum)

[Roger Hall]

The felt seems to have separated from the rubber on the weather strip on the outside of the window. This is allowing water to run down inside of the door panel on the rear mostly. Water is then redirected by the vent at the rear door jam. The water then runs into the door sill and into the rear quarter pannel. I bleive that water is also running down the window regulator amature into the window motor.