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There are endless problems with replacement windscreens, especially in Discos. They just never seem to seal right. If you can find the leak Sikaflex windscreen sealant is great and you would think a windscreen specialist would have some around for those seals that do not fit right. About $9 a tube and apllies with a good caulking gun. Be aware this stuff sticks to everthing and spreads everywhere, so take care applying it, wear latex gloves 2 thick. Great stuff though, tonnes better than silicone, but extremely difficult to get off. I have seen this tuff survive longer in a mill feed chute than the steel liners. Best applied from behind the screen and head lining etc, so it is not seen.
:)
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Thanks Pavo
You say "... if I lift the rubbers on the side A-Pillars up and spray in there, I can eventually see water running down the side wall in the footwell."
This is where the water ends up on mine too. It seems to get down the side seal some how?? SO sign of water anywhere around the inside of the screen.
CraigE
Thanks also - taking to it with a tube of the right stuff was my next plan. I am told silicone will just rust the car - they said it is too acidic?
Must be a reason these leak - to me it looks like bad design at the top where water can get under the initial flange - once it is in and has to find an outlet.
Thanks Keith
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Skiboy,
If you have a 96 disco, then it doesn't have a traditional windscreen rubber.
From the 95MY, all Disco screens are bonded to the body. The rubber you think is the seal are just finishers.
If it's leaking, then the fitter hasn't used enough sealant/adhesive to fit it properly.
BTW, the screen is bonded otherwise the SRS airbags would pop the screen out in an impact.
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Scott
Thanks for that - yes it is the double air bag disco
They said I could not drive it for 4 hrs until dry so that air bag not put the screen in an accident.
Not enough sealant was my thought too but I know nothing about this stuff so was nto confident - hence knowledge of others valuable here.
Really starting to think I should get a second opinion from another screen firm before I get this guy back so have more amo to argue with.
Keith
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It needs to have the screen taken out again to seal it properly.
Not enough sealant = not enough strength (as well as not being water tight).
It's not really a matter of just squirting in extra sealant with the screen still in place - it might fix the leak but it won't be bonded to the body properly.
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Screen leaks
I agree with taking the side trim off and using a spray to find the leak- I can't tell whether or not my current windscreen is original - but it had a leak, and it turned out to be a bubble in the sealant: ie when being applied, it got caught between the glass and the metal, and since the rubber moulding is just trim and maybe to keep dirt away, water running down the roof sits on the edge of the screen, and finds it's way into the cabin down the side pillars.
I repaired it like a tyre patch- reamed it out a little with a very small screwdriver, then bought a small tube of silicone with a pointed tip. Using it like a hypodermic, I filled up the bubble with silicone from underneath till it came out the top. So far so good- dry.
When it comes to drying out underneath the foam insulation on the Disco, I put a brick under the foam and let it air a week or two. Ugly I know, but taking the carpet and foam out is a big job.
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Skiboy, yes I do get a very small leak from the top of the screen internally and a little bead of water runs down the inside of the screen. But this is the rarer leak and doesn't happen often...has to rain for a while. And even then, it is not the contributor to the wet footwells.
I looked out at the car this morning and the dew just runs down the side roof gutters and drips into the windscreen rubbers. This just goes straight down the side mouldings (behind them) and it must leak form there somewhere. Don't actually cut the mouldings off. Like Scouse mentioned above, the screen is bonded in and the mouldings are part of this whole process. I have taken mine back to Windscreens O'brien and what he does is:
1. Spray a little bit of watery detergent under the seals.
2. Use and air compressor from the inside and blows air around the seal. Do this methodically and bit by bit (starting from the bottom) and the air will make the detergent bubble. This didn't occur on mine so it was hard to find the actually windscreen leak.
He said he would happily pull out the screen and re-do under their lifetime warranty, but he said he was confident it wasn't their fault - he actually did the screen. I know my car has a little bit of rust there, so it could be a couple of things for me...and if he took the screen out and the rust is the source of the problem, that's at my cost!
I kind of went back to him a couple of years after I had it re-sealed.
I think I might try and clean out the Septones sealant I put in the top, and then use sycaflex on the side's and top. If I mask it nicely, then I should be able to make it neat. But who know's when I'll get around to it.
Also, like scouse said, when you peel the mouldings back, don't think because there is no sealant there, that that is why it's leaking. The bond is behind the screen and you can't see it. But those gaps are a very nice home for the water to sit!
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Thanks all - been helpful
Initially we did the detergent and air gun to seal the original leak - this left the screen cracked 2 days later
I suspect we will do the detegent thing again - when I get this guy from Novus on the phone - BUT
As stated above the water runs off the side chanels and down into the rubber face strips. So it will find any holes. Bad design. Water sitting behind a rubber fange?
ANyway I am inclinded to stickaflex (sp?) the top (all the gap) and the sides so there is no where for the water to run behind the rubber outer and thus it can't find the imperfections in the original sealing.
Carpet drying with some fine weather - rain weekend forcast so will have to get the cover out. Might let it get wet and see if I can see where running down.
Keith
