Thread: Leak proofing - removing gutter plastic trim

Hi mate, I believe if the windscreen plenum is broken, it can let water in via the HVAC opening.
The AULRO shop has the gutter corners at a very reasonable cost.

Originally Posted by ozscott

Hi all. Drying out the D2. Think I should remove the gutter trims and the A Pillar finishers (outer covers) and seal up anything that looks suspect. Anyone done this? Any tips on removing and salvaging as much of the plastic bits as possible? Anyone find reasonably inexpensive replacements for the gutter trims? Apart from tops of A Pillars (around windscreen corners), gutter cracks and alpine windows is there any other areas to look at for water ingress on driver's side footwell? The plastic cowl under the windscreen is shot but there shouldn't be leaks there...(but may be ). Cheers

I had a leak in the driver side footwell and it was caused by a blocked A pillar drain hole. The hole is accessible from underneath the floor where it exits on the inboard side of the sill panel. I’ll post a photo soon…

Originally Posted by onebob

I had a leak in the driver side footwell and it was caused by a blocked A pillar drain hole. The hole is accessible from underneath the floor where it exits on the inboard side of the sill panel. I’ll post a photo soon…

Thanks mate. I cleaned that hole out. Cheers

I just went through this process on my D2. Problem turned out to be some areas of rust under the windscreen that had perforated. Cleaned the rust as best I could and sealed it with skinning butyl mastic as sold by Bunnings. Probably best considered a temporary repair, but it did seal it from the leaks. On the downside, my probing with a dental pick to find the rust must have nicked the windscreen, leading to it to start one of those cracks not long afterwards that is growing by the day. Such is life.

Originally Posted by reefmagnet

I just went through this process on my D2. Problem turned out to be some areas of rust under the windscreen that had perforated. Cleaned the rust as best I could and sealed it with skinning butyl mastic as sold by Bunnings. Probably best considered a temporary repair, but it did seal it from the leaks. On the downside, my probing with a dental pick to find the rust must have nicked the windscreen, leading to it to start one of those cracks not long afterwards that is growing by the day. Such is life.

Thanks mate. So you peeled back the windscreen rubbers? Reusable or throw away? Cheers

Originally Posted by ozscott

Thanks mate. So you peeled back the windscreen rubbers? Reusable or throw away? Cheers

I had no need to peel them back with the butyl mastic. Just needed to cut the nozzle fine and inject it in and then massage the seal to spread the sealant. I used masking tape to help with the cleanup if the stuff that oozes out.

To answer your question though, I'd suspect throw away if they are old because they do go hard with age.

Originally Posted by reefmagnet

I had no need to peel them back with the butyl mastic. Just needed to cut the nozzle fine and inject it in and then massage the seal to spread the sealant. I used masking tape to help with the cleanup if the stuff that oozes out.

To answer your question though, I'd suspect throw away if they are old because they do go hard with age.

Thanks mate. What led to this? Did you peek under the rubbers and see the issue or just assume or work out based on other potential leak spots looking fine, that around the windscreen was where the issue had to be? Cheers

Originally Posted by ozscott

Thanks mate. What led to this? Did you peek under the rubbers and see the issue or just assume or work out based on other potential leak spots looking fine, that around the windscreen was where the issue had to be? Cheers

Funny story. There was evidence that water has been leaking into the driver's foot well for a while, but only slightly. It wasn't dropping over anything electrical on the way so I didn't worry too much about it. And then one day, the missus borrowed the car and complained the touch screen on the radio had gone crazy. Turned out water was dripping from the top middle of the windscreen directly onto the screen, frying it's electronics. I wasn't overly surprised as I noticed a small bubble under the seal in the vicinity. Fortunately, I had a replacement screen but I needed to stop the drip.

Since the PO had used a mix of silicon and hot glue to "seal" around other areas of the screen - a dead giveaway that it's been leaking in the past - I removed the A pillar trims inside and outside and adjacent gutter trims (note: all are VERY brittle with age) and dug further. A garden sprayer was used to pinpoint more holes. Cleaned them up as much as I could and sealed. The leaks have now stopped as far as I can tell.

Hopefully in your case, it's just a sealant issue and not rust, but where I live (in the tropics) it's not uncommon for rust to occur under replaced windscreen's sealant as paint can be scratched in the process of cutting out old screens which will promote rust if not treated prior to installation of the new screen.