How to fix water leak at door sill ?

It's been raining here again and I've just discovered two more places where water is getting into my 2003 Golf - at the bottom of both front doors. I'd appreciate any suggestions on how to fix this.

This is the bottom rear of the driver's door. The rubber finger supports/aligns the bottom of the door (I think).


Water is pooling on the door sill at the location of the rubber finger and is then wicking up over the door seal and running down under the driver's seat.


You can see the water track here.


The bottom of the door card also shows the water track.

Do you have a moonroof?

Bill

40X40 said:

Do you have a moonroof?

Bill

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No, I don't.

I did have a water leak through the wiper tray at the hood release cable grommet.

Fixed.


And I still have a water leak at the top of the driver side A pillar. I have flowable-siliconed five inches of the windshield at the the top corner with no effect. When the weather improves I'm going to silicone the entire top of the windshield.

Make sure the drain hole are nice and clear on the bottom of the doors too, mine were a bit clogged up and I think the water can build up in the door and over flow into the car.

Seatman said:

Make sure the drain hole are nice and clear on the bottom of the doors too, mine were a bit clogged up and I think the water can build up in the door and over flow into the car.

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I'll check that.

I was also thinking I'll cut a half inch off the end of that rubber finger thingy. The theory I have right now is that the end of the rubber finger is holding water against the door seal and that capillary action is then wicking the water over the door seal.

Other thoughts: adjust the door latch so that the door closes slightly tighter; replace the door seal.

Seatman said:

Make sure the drain hole are nice and clear on the bottom of the doors too, mine were a bit clogged up and I think the water can build up in the door and over flow into the car.

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I'd go with this idea.

Bill

40X40 said:

I'd go with this idea.

Bill

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Well, I checked the drain holes in both front doors and they are all completely open. The rubber strips attached to the bottoms of both doors (P/Ns 1J4-837-697-B & 1J4-837-698-B) are kind of rotten, though I don't see how that would be causing my water infiltration. So I'm back to some elaborate theory about small gaps and capillary action.

Remove your door panel and look at the access plate that you can remove to get inside the door. On my 99 the screws at the bottom of the panel were left loose and when it rained water would weep out and actually exit between the bottom of the door panel and the door, and come inside. Once I had about 2 inches of water in the floor! Tightened those screws up and never leaked another drop.

Pat

Murf300 said:

Remove your door panel and look at the access plate that you can remove to get inside the door. On my 99 the screws at the bottom of the panel were left loose and when it rained water would weep out and actually exit between the bottom of the door panel and the door, and come inside. Once I had about 2 inches of water in the floor! Tightened those screws up and never leaked another drop.

Pat

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Thanks! I'll check that.

Migbro,
This water leak at the front passenger door at the finger(?) is exactly my problem as well. Did you ever come to a solution?
Chris

Any fix for this yet ?

For what its worth, I had this exact problem with my 2005 Passat TDI. I took off the door panel / card, and found that the inner vapor barrier panel seal had failed along the bottom. I loosened off the vapor panel, bought some polybutyl tape, laid it in place along the bottom of the barrier and a few inches up the sides, and tightened everything back down. Before replacing the door card, I did a leak test with a hose, and there were no leaks. Its been leak free for 3 years now. Time spent, about 2 hours. Cost: about $10. Based on the pictures above, I would say that the OP's issue is identical to what I had.

DezlDan said:

SNIP... For what its worth, I had this exact problem with my 2005 Passat TDI. I took off the door panel / card, and found that the inner vapor barrier panel seal had failed along the bottom.

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Very much like the problem I had on my 2008 Honda Fit Sport, which I documented here. We don't have this leak problem on our 2002 and 2003 Golf TDI's, so I've never looked inside their doors. But, the Honda fix may help illustrate what's going on behind the Golf door card. Yes?

Did the OP or anyone else solve this leak issue? My 02 wagon has leak same place but on drivers and passengers side.

nickdvm said:

Did the OP or anyone else solve this leak issue? My 02 wagon has leak same place but on drivers and passengers side.

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Nick, for what its worth I feel that I have narrowed my leak(s) down to the door seals themselves. I had multiple points of entry so perhaps my situation was a bit beyond what most see on a normal basis(?)

I just went through this with my 98 and 03 NB. The 03 was leaking under the dash where the main wire bundle goes through the plastic square cap. resealed that and checked with a garden hose and the second leak came as above. I thought the same as OP but couldn't find the smoking gun till my daughter complained about a musty smell in her 98 NB. I gutted the interior and both sides pass and drivers front and back were wet.
No sun roof, no leak from hatch so I figure it was the same as the 03 NB and coming from the wire bundle area....wrong. Now i'm like ***! Where is the water coming from, so with my daughter inside am me outside with a hose we found the leak.

On the pass side it was worse, I noticed that the door seal was wet on top of the seal, also noticed that the door wasn't closing completely, adjusted door to close tighter, no-joy.
When I leak checked it again I found the lower door card wet above where the door seal was wet, just below the speaker grill.
I popped the door car away and found a water trail between the door and the metal panel that holds the window track. Seal looked intact and all bolts on card were tight.

I ran a bead of clear RTV along the bottom of the removable metal door panel from the back to about 2 inches up the front ( yes all my bottom drain holes are open ) and rechecked with a hose.......bone dry now on the inside.
I checked the drivers door same issue, same fix, same end result.

I then went and check the 03 NB, leak in same spot, repaired the same way, now no leak. This is what I found on my cars , I hope this helps.

Thanks for the tips. Was planning on pulling door panels yesterday but, rain beat me to it. Hopefully it will stop today and I can get after it.

Thanks!

Sorry about your experience. I was looking at a brand new e golf the other day. I have decided to hold off on buying any new VW vehicle as I feel that collectively VW problems that move from one model year to another have been allowed to persist.
Water entry in general is a problem on these vehicles.

drywaller said:

Sorry about your experience. I was looking at a brand new e golf the other day. I have decided to hold off on buying any new VW vehicle as I feel that collectively VW problems that move from one model year to another have been allowed to persist.
Water entry in general is a problem on these vehicles.

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Not in defense of VAG, but VAG is hardly unique in this regard. Try searching on water leaks on Fords if you want to see how leaks can persist in different vehicles for MANY years. (I've got a 1993 F250 that I've been battling leaks off and on now for a good three years- it's a farm truck, I only have minimal time to toss at it; a friend bought a new F150 a few years back and recently discovered that the rear seat area was soaked).

For what it's worth, my (now) 16 year-old Golf doesn't leak at all. It was, however, a garaged car by the PO (of 12 years). After one year at my place (figure 70+" of rain a year) being outside it's still fine. Wife's car is a PNW car and it's suffered from leaks: I've fixed some drain hose issues as well as resealed the front door card panels; still suspect the driver's window seal is bad as it's leaving excessive amounts of water on the sill (not wicking up and over, but there's moisture inside the door, which tends to fog up the windows [my car doesn't fog up like this]).

Moral of story: climate and storage have a LOT to do with how something holds up.

csstevej said:

I ran a bead of clear RTV along the bottom of the removable metal door panel from the back to about 2 inches up the front ( yes all my bottom drain holes are open ) and rechecked with a hose.......bone dry now on the inside.
I checked the drivers door same issue, same fix, same end result.

I then went and check the 03 NB, leak in same spot, repaired the same way, now no leak. This is what I found on my cars , I hope this helps.

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You're a hero! I, and the carpets in my car thank you! We've just had epic rain in drought-parched Southern California, and I've chased down three annoying leaks now. Thanks again

migbro said:

No, I don't.

I did have a water leak through the wiper tray at the hood release cable grommet.

Fixed.

And I still have a water leak at the top of the driver side A pillar. I have flowable-siliconed five inches of the windshield at the the top corner with no effect. When the weather improves I'm going to silicone the entire top of the windshield.

Click to expand...

How do these rip apart like that? Can you even order them? Mine was all tore up too... made a good silicone plug for it! Lol

Try this link? This for Seat(VW) 2000-2006

http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=44216

Chased the same kind of leak on the B4V for years. After getting a paint job that included replacing the windshield and addressing some cancer spots around it, no more leaks. So check all around your windshield.

BRKSWGN said:

You're a hero! I, and the carpets in my car thank you! We've just had epic rain in drought-parched Southern California, and I've chased down three annoying leaks now. Thanks again

Click to expand...

Glad I was able to help

Still chasing my tail on drivers side water leak. Removed and resealed (third time) the door panel with strip calk, then hail and massive rain.....still leaking. Sigh. Will reseal again with butyl rubber caulking.

Tom,
Have you had any luck?
I am struggling with the same weeping issue on my rear doors. The leak is not coming from the inner door seal on door. But from the door frame seal.
I had pulled the carpet in January to look for a leak and found my major source coming from under the clutch pedal, After some trial and error I sealed the electronics cover below the windshield wipers. However I am still finding some small pools of water in the rear passenger footwells.
I found water rolling down the door frame seal when I pull it back while running water on the door. I then pulled the door card to find water building up against the door frame seal and sitting on the door sill:


I ran water on the door for ten minutes to see if the water that is built up would cross over the door frame seal. It never did. Pulling up the trim the water seems to be leaking in under the door frame seal in the front corner.


I am not sure why the water is sitting on the sill and then weeping underneath door frame seal. I am thinking I should pull the seal and put adhesive down to reseal it. Or could the door be out of alignment and this rubber finger on the door seal is trapping the water in the front corner of the sill? Its location correlates with the wet area of the door sill in the second photo.

Has anyone figured this out?

Still leaking and too busy to look at. Let me know your success.
Tom

Mine are leaking, both front doors. Had the drivers door panel off, its leaking between the metal door panel-regulator and the door. Guess I'll have to remove it and run sealer along it.

The sills don't seal per se, so excess water in that area is generally from a failed door seal. On these older cars you might get away with cleaning the rubber and the mating surface, or it may need replaced. If you need a new one, go to dealer and be sure to haggle over the price.