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Fri Jan 11, 2019 6:30 am

I'm getting rain water on the passenger side front floor of our '87 Westfalia. I have one of those rubber mats there, and the edge near the door accumulates water, then eventually soaks the carpet. I see no obvious place that it enters. Is this a common leak? I fixed the one on the driver side that was coming from the radio antenna. Judging from where water sits on the mat, this leak would seem to drip from above....?

Fri Jan 11, 2019 6:31 am

How did you get the radio antenna leak fixed? I have a similar leak.

Fri Jan 11, 2019 6:33 am

I applied a film of RTV to the antenna base.

Fri Jan 11, 2019 6:38 am

Usually old window rubber allowing water to leak under or rust under the window rubber seal. The rust is pretty common.

Fri Jan 11, 2019 6:43 am

Likely your windshield seal is leaking at the bottom corner. The water can get under the seal anywhere above there. On a dry day have a friend take a garden hose to the windshield and front end while you carefully watch inside and you may be able to see where the drip is. Many have had success by using some sort of sealant under the seal around the windshield.

Fri Jan 11, 2019 6:50 am

dobryan wrote: Likely your windshield seal is leaking at the bottom corner. The water can get under the seal anywhere above there. On a dry day have a friend take a garden hose to the windshield and front end while you carefully watch inside and you may be able to see where the drip is. Many have had success by using some sort of sealant under the seal around the windshield.

Here is your "some sort of sealant".........

It is non hardening, flexes and still seals.

It also does NOT glue your windshield into the body!

Old rubber mounted glass needs to have some flex, modern cars sometimes use glass almost as a structural component.

Dave

Fri Jan 11, 2019 4:21 pm

Thanks for the ideas! The telltale puddle on the mat seems too far back for it to be windshield, and too far in to be from the door. (I think).

Maybe it gets in through the luggage pit in the roof.

I'll look into all these. Plenty of rain in the forecast here!

Fri Jan 11, 2019 6:04 pm

I second the windshield. Had a leak in the same place, replaced the windshield seal (third time's a charm!) and it went away. Mine was from the upper passenger side corner of the seal. I know this because I duct-taped the sh*t out of said corner and the leak went away. Get the oem windshield seal from van cafe. Don't waste your time or money on anything less.

Fri Jan 11, 2019 6:09 pm

Igeo wrote: Thanks for the ideas! The telltale puddle on the mat seems too far back for it to be windshield, and too far in to be from the door. (I think).

Maybe it gets in through the luggage pit in the roof.

I'll look into all these. Plenty of rain in the forecast here!

It is easy for water to follow a path (part of the structure, wiring, etc) and end up somewhere quite unexpected. I would say your windshield is vastly more likely to be the culprit than the luggage rack.

Sat Jan 12, 2019 12:11 pm

Ok I'm an idiot.
It's the windshield as suggested. Presumably the central slot that the "trim" piece fits into is not an entry point in places where the trim doesn't cover it.

So Dave, if I want to try and seal the windshield, can the 3M product you suggest be injected under the gasket, or do I need to remove the glass?