Possible cure for Defender roof leak?

[alittlebitconcerned]

If anyone is interested, I've found a new 3M product called 'Extreme Sealing Tape'. If it does what it claims it would be a perfect solution for stopping water ingress through the seemingly impossible to stop crack that occurs between the two roof panels on a Defender.

It has excellant resitance to UV, extreme temperatures, moisture, and high water pressure. It's flexible, designed to stick to exterior metals for many years and comes in grey, white and black.

It's not cheap and requires a 3M surface primer, but considering the amount of time and effort I've put into trying to seal that roof crack I think it is well worth it if it works. Probably a bunch of other places it could also be useful on a defender.

I am waiting for 3M to get me a 50mm wide roll (narrowest available in Australia) cut into two 25mm rolls for IMO a neater solution. When I get it I'll give it a try and will post my results as I find them.

Here's some technical info...

http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?66666UuZjcFSLXTtNxfXlxMyEVuQEcuZgVs 6EVs6E666666--

[SimonM]

What have you tried prior to this?

I was thinking of giving this a go Capt. Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure (http://www.captaintolley.com/).

[alittlebitconcerned]

What have you tried prior to this?

I was thinking of giving this a go Capt. Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure (http://www.captaintolley.com/).

Sorry Mr Ploppy for not responding earlier. I subscribe to the threads that I start but for some reason I dont get the email notification when someone responds.

In answer to your question, I've had a few body shops look at it and work on it which basically equates to injecting quality gap filler into the seam; unfortunately all their efforts fail as soon as I twist the body off road. Your product may work but I wonder how it will handle the similar shearing movement.

I've applied the 3m tape and it certainly has stopped the water ingress, but the true test will be how succesfull it will be after I've twisted the body a bit which won't happen for a few weeks yet. Fingers crossed.

[Greyfox]

Nah , take away the leaks you take away the appeal.
What other veichle comes with leaks from new, and the dealer admits it? :confused:

[BilboBoggles]

I am fairly sure that Aldi just sold something very similar to this tape - All Weather adhesive tape. Cost about $4. But looks very similar.

[voltron]

Have you thought of getting the roof vinyl wrapped? Bonus is that
It will look like a brand new roof and i can't see why it wouldnt stop
Water leaking as its completely sealed.

[Scallops]

what's wrong with my Defy? It doesn't leak at all until I drive it through a river.:confused:

[BilboBoggles]

The problem is that the roof is made of two separate halves, front and rear. When you flex the vehicle and the roof twists, the two halves slide over each other a mm or so at the seam. After a few years the mastic sealant that glues the seam together dries up and you end up with a seam that leaks. So now when it rains you get water dripping down onto the inside roof.

One thing I've been meaning to try and I might have a go now, The mastic they use is soluble in turps, perhaps a mix of turps and oil might rejuvenate or soften the mastic again and allow it to seal. I distinctly remember the hours of work it took in softening the mastic on a classic range rover roof before I could pop it off... Maybe WD40 might do the trick.

[LowRanger]

Sorry Mr Ploppy for not responding earlier. I subscribe to the threads that I start but for some reason I dont get the email notification when someone responds.

In answer to your question, I've had a few body shops look at it and work on it which basically equates to injecting quality gap filler into the seam; unfortunately all their efforts fail as soon as I twist the body off road. Your product may work but I wonder how it will handle the similar shearing movement.

I've applied the 3m tape and it certainly has stopped the water ingress, but the true test will be how succesfull it will be after I've twisted the body a bit which won't happen for a few weeks yet. Fingers crossed.

I would like to see some pics of how and where you applied the tape:D

[The Cone of Silence]

...as would I.

The dripping onto my arm I can handle, but the puddle in the footwell concerns me.

[LowRanger]

I think that mine is from the cracks along the guttering,rather than from the seams across the roof:mad:

[Jeff]

I thought like LowRanger, the seam between the gutter and the roof was the main culprit.

Jeff

:rocket:

[alittlebitconcerned]

Iv'e applied it so it covers the seam that runs across the roof.
This is where the front and rear sections of the roof join.

It's now been on several months and the problem is absolutely sorted, at least in regards to that leak. I've taken my 110 on some really chassis twisting routes recently and the tape is holding up perfectly, and doesn't look like failing anytime soon.

I couldn't recommend it more in this application.

I'll try and get some photo's up soon.

[The Cone of Silence]

Photos would be great as I think there'd be a lot of interested parties on this site keen to try and fix what seems to be an extremely common problem.

Are you going to be at the LR Expo in Castle Hill by any chance? Would be great to come and see what you've done.

Bobby