Water in sliding door, lower roller housing.

[wotsit1]

Hi All and sorry if this has been covered before. I had a good search before posting.

After a heavy rain we (T6.1 Ocean) are getting a fair amount of water accumulating in the cut out which side door lower roller sits in. See below marked red. The last few times there is enough water to pour out when the door is opened. Its funny as the the rest of the door seals appear sound and are dry...

Is that normal? I am just slightly worried its going to start to rust up down there.




Thanks in advance

W

 

[TripleBee]

Haven't noticed anything similar on mine over the 15 years of ownership.
How does the seal look like on the sliding door. Are there any points the seal isn't tight when the sliding door is closed? How does the sliding door line up to the rest of the body of the van? Do you see any marks on a higher point where the water would be coming in?

 

[Oscarthebeddie]

Hi All and sorry if this has been covered before. I had a good search before posting.

After a heavy rain we (T6.1 Ocean) are getting a fair amount of water accumulating in the cut out which side door lower roller sits in. See below marked red. The last few times there is enough water to pour out when the door is opened. Its funny as the the rest of the door seals appear sound and are dry...

Is that normal? I am just slightly worried its going to start to rust up down there.


View attachment 142698View attachment 142699

Thanks in advance

W

I had water in this area, check for play in your sliding window pushing from outside then the in, if it gives check the locking pins above and below the butterfly catch on the window they do wear out.

 

[wotsit1]

Haven't noticed anything similar on mine over the 15 years of ownership.
How does the seal look like on the sliding door. Are there any points the seal isn't tight when the sliding door is closed? How does the sliding door line up to the rest of the body of the van? Do you see any marks on a higher point where the water would be coming in?

Thanks TripleBee, I'm going to check all the seals and alignment again tomorrow in the daylight. Its a real mystery as I can see any watermarks to suggest where It might be coming from.

 

[wotsit1]

I had water in this area, check for play in your sliding window pushing from outside then the in, if it gives check the locking pins above and below the butterfly catch on the window they do wear out.

View attachment 142700

Thanks, will also check this, thanks for the tip

 

[wotsit1]

Thanks TripleBee, I'm going to check all the seals and alignment again tomorrow in the daylight. Its a real mystery as I can see any watermarks to suggest where It might be coming from.

After a lot of rain this week and checking all the seals it looks like water is getting in at the top of the sliding door and then running down the driver's side door pillar and then pooling up the sliding door runner area.

There is a slight gap in the rubber seals where a section looks to have been squashed and I also wonder if the sliding door needs adjusting. Do you think this would be a Warranty job?

 

[Hawthorn37]

I get water pooling in this area most times I wash the van and rinse with a hose. Happened since new. I must admit I thought it was normal.

 

[Guy.M]

I get water pooling in this area most times I wash the van and rinse with a hose. Happened since new. I must admit I thought it was normal.

Same for me.

 

[AlistairC]

I had the same in my T5 and although it was some time ago I think I remember cause and fix.

For ages I thought water was transiting around the door seal but eventually worked out that it was the sliding door handle which, if I remember correctly has a feature that takes leaked water and channels it down to the bottom of the door where it is released into that void.

The runner void then holds onto this water due to the outer seal which may be doing its job too well!

I believe I took a Stanley and cut a small slot in the rubber seal to allow that section to drain out.

If the handle seal was working, the amount of leakage would never be noticed. If the seal already had a slot, again you’d never notice.

On mine if became a gush after heavy rain!

The handle seal is fixable but it can be quite a job to access.

You can test by running water over the handle and see if the water exits from a small outlet on the underside of the door when open.

Might be your problem!!

Here is link to previous…

Sliding door water ingress

Anybody else get water leaking past the sliding door? Recently when parked on the drive after overnight rain I will find water on the roller area for the door probably a good cup full. Had the van for over 2 years never used to get this. It doesn’t leak into the interior of the van. Took the van...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[CALIFORNIA-VW53DUB]

This is the top seal which runs from the back of the rear sliding door, all the way to the front A pillar. It is held in place by the cheapest, thinnest two sided tape. Mine failed by the A pillar, causing water to pool in the drivers footwell. Replaced under warranty.
Although it looks like it is attached you can bet there is a ‘break away’ gap in the seal, where that two sided tape has failed.
When it was replaced under warranty, they used Sikaflex on it as well............as well as the rear lino flooring, and door frame, messy buggers!

 

[wotsit1]

Thanks for the replies everyone. The vans been into VW and apparently the sliding door window unit needs replacing! Its letting water into the door which is coming out if the base and into the roller door housing...... Not covered by the extended warranty apparently..gulp!

 

[Oscarthebeddie]

Before you commit to a replacement have a look at other threads about window seal leaks.
Have you tried putting duck tape around the window opening to work out where you ingress is coming from.
I replaced the closing mechanism on the window for £15 this fixed my water ingress issue many people have had the window replaced by VW and ended up with the same issue again.

Thanks for the replies everyone. The vans been into VW and apparently the sliding door window unit needs replacing! Its letting water into the door which is coming out if the base and into the roller door housing...... Not covered by the extended warranty apparently..gulp!

 

[Perfectos]

Before you commit to a replacement have a look at other threads about window seal leaks.
Have you tried putting duck tape around the window opening to work out where you ingress is coming from.
I replaced the closing mechanism on the window for £15 this fixed my water ingress issue many people have had the window replaced by VW and ended up with the same issue again.

Here's a thread or two regarding one or two potential issues

Use the search function or Google to find others

How to replace the sliding window on the kitchen side

Update! Window back in its frame with a new D-shape rubber sealing. That was the easy part. Still has no solution for the drain holes other than replacing the whole frame. For anyone considering renovating the sliding window here comes a couple of pics. But as mentioned I have no idea yet if the...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

Leaking Sliding Window

Afternoon all, sorry for jumping onto an old thread. Can anyone advise if the bottom plastic runner/trim, that the window slides along, is actually fixed to either the glass or is it fixed to part of the metalwork of the door ? TIA. From what I remember it is all bonded to the glass.

vwcaliforniaclub.com

Did they fix the leaky side window for the the 6.1?

I've searched for recent complaints of this but not turned any up - is it fixed? My T5 has the felt seal around the window and leaked, undetected until it had ruined the floor, interior trim and rusted the seat bases! I just sealed the gap with silicone in disgust and took the handle off...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

Drain holes on sliding window ??

Hello all , where are the sliding window drain holes and how do you unblock them ?? Thax

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[jakubklapka]

Thanks for the replies everyone. The vans been into VW and apparently the sliding door window unit needs replacing! Its letting water into the door which is coming out if the base and into the roller door housing...... Not covered by the extended warranty apparently..gulp!

I had similar issue and it's actually very easy to check. Just take a hose or canister and dump good amount of water around the window - take care of not dumping it anywhere else (like around the doors etc.) to pinpoint the issue. After that, open the doors and look from below - you might see water coming from little plastic hole - that is fine, I believe that is drain from the door handle. But if you see water coming also from behind the plastic (which holds the table), than it's the culprit is the window.

I took that into vw shop during regular check, hoping they will just replace the seals, but they said that they don't have procedures for that and they can only replace whole window ‍ But at the end, they just cleaned it and that stoped the issue.

 

[Perfectos]

Clean the seals regularly:
Apply Silicone spray on the seals, work in with a clean small brush, wipe off with a clean cloth.
Then apply a light spray and let it dry before closing with window. (Or apply with a small brush)

Silicone tyre dressing will do the same applied by small brush. (Read the packaging)

Silicone is a release agent for rubber, will not harm it, swells rubber slightly, gives it a new appearance and lubricates it / stops oxidation & helps form water tight seal.

Other products such as Gummi Pfledge etc will do the job as well.

 

[wotsit1]

Brilliant. Thanks everyone for the replies, such a great resource this forum! Im going to give the window the once over at the weekend, clean and check the drains etc. Fingers crossed I can avoid another trip to VW.