Thread: Poida4x4's Disco 1

Originally Posted by Poida4x4

Wow! Thanks for the detail

Probably not of any use now that I see your real issue is about leaking into the air intake, if I understand correctly.

I have a disco 1 body shell to look at - all the dash, seats etc are out.

Looking from inside the cab to the window frame, the way the window is glued to it looks pretty simple and fool proof. The rubber trim on the outside bottom of the window is partly decorative, wind smoothing, but mainly guides water from the window over the plastic cover to the drain. The rubber to plastic cover transition has a lot of overlap.

I have a D2 with that plastic cover broken into three pieces. The woman I bought it from said "I took it to a mechanic for a minor job and this is how it came back". She'd tried gluing and taping the pieces together. One crack is right over the air intake, and I get drops of water falling into it.

If your bottom window rubber is secured to the bottom of the window, and lies over the plastic cover I can't see how water gets past, into the air intake hole.

Water from the wing would have to travel uphill to get to the centre to drop into the air intake.

Just a thought.

The windscreen stands off the steel frame by the thickness of the sealant.

Assuming the application of window sealant was less that generous, then I could imagine at the bottom of the window a channel existing between the glass and the steel frame, and maybe extending vertically up the A-pillars . The channel would effectively be inside the cabin. The sealant being the bottom of this channel.

Assume a couple of places where the sealant and glass have failed to adhere. One of these spots is right over you air intake. The other is more remote where the water gets in to the cabin side, runs along the channel inside your cab, then drops back outside over the air intake.

Are you simply applying a flood of water overall or are you dribbling water in selected spots? To find the possible entry point try dribbling water on the drivers upright part of the window frame. If no leak then try the left upright. Try right top horizontal, etc.

Are you able to put a finger or some absorbent material down between the dash and glass, about the area over the air intake to see if water is in side the cab?

What great advice from workingonit, that's terrific.
Reminds of when I got the Defender's cracked windscreen replaced under RACQ insurance. Next time it rained there was a puddle on the front passenger floor. The insurer said to take it back to the windscreen place, which took it in for another go. The windscreen bloke told me the bloke who did it previously had hardly put any sealant on it at all. After that it stopped leaking.
I notice that workshop has since closed.

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

What great advice from workingonit, that's terrific.

Thanks DiscoMick for vindicating my overly active imagination. I feel his pain...in a not too serious way. Now where's my ash and sack cloth gone?!.

My son and I spent days chasing leaks in the two vehicles I mentioned. I've got two other D1 with the same issues and a RRC project where I've spent weeks removing rust because of leaks.

I spent a bit of time on Friday sealing up around the windscreen and the drain at the bottom of it, considering workinonit's insights. The finish to my sealing is not as pretty as I'd hoped, but it's not too bad. Then I treated the floor with Penetrol, and applied a coat of paint yesterday. I was a bit despondent this morning to find a bit of a puddle in the floor after heavy rain overnight, so I ran the hose over it again but couldn't make it leak like before. It turns out that the door seal does indeed leak just a little bit in the bottom corner. I was planning on replacing this anyway (although I can't find it on Paddocks; any tips?).

All in all I'm pretty pleased that the main problem appears to be solved. I'll apply another coat of paint this morning and then reassemble everything on Monday arvo. Then it's booked in for a RWC at my local mechanic. It will fail this, but I'll get a list of what needs doing and order parts accordingly.

Originally Posted by Poida4x4

..... (although I can't find it on Paddocks; any tips?).

....

get it by the meter from clark rubber.
rubber extrusions - pinchweld.
If you get a rough measurement off your seal, you'll find various sizes on CRs website to suit.

Oh right. That sounds easy.

Rubber Seals, Pinchweld | Clark Rubber

So measure what I have and find something similar that matches?

Yeah, that's it.
I remember I was going to do mine after a drive out bush .. and loads of dust got inside the back more than the front/sides.
Sprayed D1 with strong pressure from garden hose, but doesn't leak at all .. tried again with the high pressure gun at car lovers style car wash .. again zero water inside, other than the drips off the top when the rear door was opened.

But for some reason, it lets in too .. wayy too much dust.
Only thing I can think of as a cause is maybe as I run the AC and on recirc, maybe there's some pressure build up in cabin and it squeezes the seal .. or some weird thing liek that.
But I get zero water, and lots of dust.

ps. checked the door handle/cover too .. and no leaks.

Like I said, I was going to do mine(seal) about a year or so ago after my last drive out Broken Hill way, and came home with too much dust in back.
Maybe(don't quote me) it's the 15x9 pinchweld type on their site.

Only thing to note if you do this is that it's not a single continuous piece, so there will be a seamed joint. For the joint you'll need a bit of solid rubber tube to slide into the two open ends to make a sealed join.
And as there are no 90° bends in the seal, it's an easy fit.

actually! .. now that this convo has twigged the old dying brain cells, I may go and measure up and get some .. and do it!
(it'll save me from the arduous task of chopping a tree that's been bugging me for a while now .. considering how lazy I feel today.)