Rain Water Leak - Someone with intimate body knowledge

[Bumpa]

Today I have removed the instrument panel and the glove box and have taken out the wiper spindles. The nut on the driver's side was absolutely seized to the spindle and I ended up cutting it off carefully with the Dremel. Fortunately I have some spares in my boxes of bits.

By disconnecting the spindles from the motor by slipping off the spring clips, I have the spindles right out of the car. Now I can see that water entering the spindle hole will not appear under the spindle. In fact I can put quite a few millilitres of water in there without any of it being seen inside the car. It tracks along between the main body and the plate on the inside, so I think I am on course to fixing the problem.

I shall put them back with lots of black non-setting screen sealant round the rubbers and hopefully (fingers crossed) the leak will be stopped.

[MIG Wielder]

I'm still trying to find where my 1850 is also leaking rain water.
I did a couple of things over the w/e.
I took Richard's advice and sealed the nearside gutter & trim with silicon sealant. I also had the nearside wiper wheel box out ( I also struggled with that 8-sided nut and had to cut it off ) first taking the glove-box out as well and also the air vent corrugated hose, as well as the demister vent.
I discovered that "washer" part of the wheel box is actually a metal cylinder with 4 anti-rotation tags on it. And the spindle of the wheel box is a very loose fit in the tube in the bulkhead. So I also filled this with silicone sealant and left it to set. We had a lot of rain on Sunday and the ally trays I put in the parcel shelf had a lot of water in today.
So no improvement. And the water is still coming out of that middle tooling hole in the bulkhead.
Just as another test I got the Wife to pour lots of water over the 'screen seal while I looked inside. I got just 1/2 a teaspoonful !

There is no rust on the bulkhead guttering, so I'm now also at a bit of a loss to work out how the water is getting in.
I'm also on the look-out for ideas please.
I suppose the good news is that I got 40 years worth of dead leaves and dust and dirt from the eye-ball vent pipe. And I discovered the back end of the nearside gutter was blocked with moss where it curves around to the rear screen.
Thanks ,
Tony.

[Richard the old one]

Is your car on level ground when the rain is coming in?

I have had water getting into the nearside rear foot well and this was coming in via the rear roof vents running to the side, then down the D post and then into the car foot well but I suspect some may have also been going into the boot area under the petrol tank. There was some rust adjacent to the vents so I have filled that and then sealed around the vents with silicon.

[cleverusername]

I'm still trying to find where my 1850 is also leaking rain water.
I did a couple of things over the w/e.
I took Richard's advice and sealed the nearside gutter & trim with silicon sealant. I also had the nearside wiper wheel box out ( I also struggled with that 8-sided nut and had to cut it off ) first taking the glove-box out as well and also the air vent corrugated hose, as well as the demister vent.
I discovered that "washer" part of the wheel box is actually a metal cylinder with 4 anti-rotation tags on it. And the spindle of the wheel box is a very loose fit in the tube in the bulkhead. So I also filled this with silicone sealant and left it to set. We had a lot of rain on Sunday and the ally trays I put in the parcel shelf had a lot of water in today.
So no improvement. And the water is still coming out of that middle tooling hole in the bulkhead.
Just as another test I got the Wife to pour lots of water over the 'screen seal while I looked inside. I got just 1/2 a teaspoonful !

There is no rust on the bulkhead guttering, so I'm now also at a bit of a loss to work out how the water is getting in.
I'm also on the look-out for ideas please.
I suppose the good news is that I got 40 years worth of dead leaves and dust and dirt from the eye-ball vent pipe. And I discovered the back end of the nearside gutter was blocked with moss where it curves around to the rear screen.
Thanks ,
Tony.

I found mine because I had to strip the interior out to do work on the car. It made it easy to see where the water was getting in and it was rot in the bulkhead. I couldn't find it before because sound deadening, the dash, parcel shelf and other stuff was obscuring it. In fact I only located it all by giving suspect areas a good prod.

I am not saying it is that but it isn't impossible.

[Bumpa]

As the original poster I thought I ought to let you know what I found. No corrosion I'm pleased to say, but a problem with a new windscreen. Have a look at my drawing.

The new glass is a tiny bit too small for the opening. As a result the rubber is sealed well around the glass at the bottom of the screen, but is only just overlapping the body surround. The rain creeps up and under where my arrow shows and drips inside from the lower edge of the rubber seal. I have got some Arbomast screen sealant and have injected as much as I can into the offending area and hopefully that will stop it. I haven't had a chance to try it yet.

[marshman]

Though not ideal you could go along the bottom of the rubber with a block of wood and rubber mallet and tap the rubber down very slightly to centralise is a bit better and get more overlap on the body, go very gradually otherwise you risk going too far and exposing the bottom edge of the glass. If you run the sealer up under the rubber first then when you tap the rubber down a little it should squeeze the sealant ensuring a better seal.

I have found over the years that windscreens of all cars vary quite a lot in their overall size - presumably due to tolerances in the manufacturing process and also variations between manufacturer, - they can vary more than enough to cause this sort of issue. When fitting screens and rear windows I always go round and check that the rubber overlap on the glass and the body is centralised - especially on screens that are "undersized". The worst screens are the ones that are tight, they cause much buttock clenching as you see the glass flexing before it finally slips into the aperture. Best fun are 1950's Standard Vanguards, split screen, single moulded rubber, fitted from inside the car, sit centrally on the bench seat and place feet firmly against the two halves of the glass, then push hard and pray!

Roger

[Bumpa]

Of course I didn't fit the screen myself. The original was cracked so the insurer arranged for a new one to be made by Pilkingtons in the correct tint of glass and it was fitted by National Windscreens in just about half an hour. It would have taken me hours and then I probably would have cracked the new one knowing my luck. Cost to me just £70. I think I will just leave it for the moment. My drawing exaggerates the problem somewhat. Squidging the Arbomast up and under seems to have stopped the leak. It hasn't seen any serious rain yet, although I have poured buckets of water over it this afternoon.

[cleverusername]

Of course I didn't fit the screen myself. The original was cracked so the insurer arranged for a new one to be made by Pilkingtons in the correct tint of glass and it was fitted by National Windscreens in just about half an hour. It would have taken me hours and then I probably would have cracked the new one knowing my luck. Cost to me just £70. I think I will just leave it for the moment. My drawing exaggerates the problem somewhat. Squidging the Arbomast up and under seems to have stopped the leak. It hasn't seen any serious rain yet, although I have poured buckets of water over it this afternoon.

I wouldn't leave it at that, the screen has either been incorrectly fitted or the rubber/sealing strip is defective.

So the fitters should either rectify their mistake or the company that supplied the defective parts should.

I had mine done by a local firm and used a new rubber and sealing strip and it is sealed perfectly. You shouldn't be having these problems and since they are the professionals, they should rectify their error.

[Bumpa]

I wouldn't leave it at that, the screen has either been incorrectly fitted or the rubber/sealing strip is defective.

So the fitters should either rectify their mistake or the company that supplied the defective parts should.

I had mine done by a local firm and used a new rubber and sealing strip and it is sealed perfectly. You shouldn't be having these problems and since they are the professionals, they should rectify their error.

Ah, but it was fitted in my garage nearly two years ago, before the car was ready for the road. They didn't supply the rubber, I did. And their depot is up in Glasgow, not very handy for me. So I don't think I have much grounds for complaint, nor the will to try.

[dollyman]

A pal has told me this stuff works well? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Captain-Toll ... Swa3BZ5iqu

Although i have never tried it, has anyone else?

Tony.

[Bumpa]

Thanks Tony. Yes I have heard of it too but not tried it. If the Arbomast hasn't stopped it, I might get a pot. The Dolly is outside and I'm waiting for it to rain. Normally, it rains here a lot in winter, but at the moment the forecast is strangely dry! I would use the hose but the water supply to the garage is shut off as it is prone to freezing. I had a burst in the garage a few years back and don't want a repeat.

[dollyman]

. I had a burst in the garage a few years back and don't want a repeat.
[/quote]

Another mate had the same happen to him, he did'nt go in the garage for a few days. Then total devastation including his rather deep pit overflowing. It did'nt fully dry out for over 4 months..... So i think that is a good move Mike.

Tony.

[michael C]

@Tony... I've been using that 'Captain Tolley' stuff for a few years on all sorts of things including the windows and fittings on a narrowboat, and it sorted my windscreen on the Dolly after everything else had failed/caused a sticky mess. The trick is to apply it over and over again - at first it will disappear into small cracks and gaps (easy to see as it's white when liquid then sets clear) so you need to keep topping it up where it's vanished. Because it's very thin and runny (and wipes away no trouble) it's easy to do a precise and almost invisible job, and it creeps into hidden cracks - hence it's name. I've used it liberally on the boat over 4/5 years and still on only my second bottle. No I don't have shares!
Best wishes

[dollyman]

@Tony... I've been using that 'Captain Tolley' stuff for a few years on all sorts of things including the windows and fittings on a narrowboat, and it sorted my windscreen on the Dolly after everything else had failed/caused a sticky mess. The trick is to apply it over and over again - at first it will disappear into small cracks and gaps (easy to see as it's white when liquid then sets clear) so you need to keep topping it up where it's vanished. Because it's very thin and runny (and wipes away no trouble) it's easy to do a precise and almost invisible job, and it creeps into hidden cracks - hence it's name. I've used it liberally on the boat over 4/5 years and still on only my second bottle. No I don't have shares!
Best wishes

Thanks Mike, i have now ordered a bottle to try on my brothers caravan that has a leaking window seal although very minor.

Tony.