water leaks door and hatch
 

1. While my door panel is off waiting for parts I noticed water in the bottom of the door. I'm going to guess it's due to gaps in the lower weather stripping. Parts ordered for both sides. There is an oblong hole at the bottom of the door on the lower trailing edge on the 95 but not on my 96?

2. Water in the right storage compartment in the hatch.
I am noticing a slow drip above the storage compartment coming through a rectangular opening in the carpet. I don't think it's the weather stripping since I don't I can feel water coming in through. Are there drains in the rear? Almost looks like water may be going into the light cluster from above.

Replace the rubber stripping first?

Now that is it stopped raining I pulled off the weather stripping and found lots of crude underneath. I cleaned it up. Still wonder if I should replace the weatherstripping since it's fairly cheap or wait until it rains again.

I say you wait for some more water to come down the sky to check if it still leaks.

Still leaking.
I'll order a new seal and might as well order the lower trim for the glass.

Where does the water go anyway?
The water that rolls down the outside lip of the hatch?
Into the light cluster?

I replaced the seal. Makes it a little harder to close the hatch.
Also replaced the plastic trim on the lower part of the window.

Damn thing still leaks!
I sprayed water lightly around the hatch.
The right side leaks slightly.

Also replaced the trim on the car doors that push against the window.
Doors leak too. Is that normal?
Only reason I'm noticing it is that I've been driving without door panels until I finish gluing the standoffs.

Could it be the seal around the taillight? Sometimes the screws holding it against the body can get stripped as well, which can make the seal less effective.

The drip seems to be higher up.
Water drips down from the rectangular cutout in the carpet.

Took another look at my hatch leak.
Pulled the speakers, carpet and trim panel around the rear seatbelt.
Pulled down the headliner a bit.

Water is still dripping along the body and hatch.
Also noticed a drip from a seam along the C pillar.
JB Welded the seem on the inside and outside.

We'll see.

Did find the drain hoses.
They are working fine.

Getting very frustrated to the point I'm considering selling.
Water is not getting through the gasket.

It's getting in some other place.
It still drips through a seam inside the car. See photo.
What doesn't drip there, drips along the body.

Now I think it's a loose seam between the body and inner shell.
I can see water seeping through the seam that is just above the rectangular cutout in the carpet.

I'm going to seal it up and see what happens.
I think I got another leak solved by sealing up some joints.

Good job Steve! Do not give up on this car!!

That didn't work!
I still see a drip coming in.
I'm going to silicon the inside now.

Plus I took my 96 ti for a little ride before heading to the track this weekend.
Friggin oil light is flickering at idle. I thought when I changed the oil sender unit that problem was fixed.

Steve,
Did you ever resolve your leak. I have a very similar leak. I am seeing water in the rear passenger storage bin. I have seen dripping from the rectangular opening in the carpet as well. I have seen water running down inside the passenger rear pillar as well. Can't tell where it is coming from though.

Uhg! I feel like one thing people don't talk about with the TI is the leaks. These things have worse leaks than the Russian state department in the 2016 American election process. and they are hell of frustrating, just the same.

I waited two weeks to get a new boot seal from ECS because water was getting in the hatch. I was happy to see that it seems to be working (after one day of rains), but then found a whole new unnoticed leak in the passenger foot area. Standing water on the door seal, looks like possibly working it's way through the door?, although there isn't much puddling up at the bottom of the door.

My whole interior is out and I'm trying to find the source, but not fun. Maybe another seal that I'll order and wait another two weeks for....blah.

I feel like this is something not often discussed about the body design. I can understand my Calitop being a problem in Seattle, but this hardtop shouldn't be such a pain with the H2O!

Leaks up front could be the small drains under the car in the floor pan just behind the front wheels. I took compressed air and blew it into the half-moon shaped drains under there when i was getting water in the footwell a couple years ago.

I am now also getting a bit of water in the rear driver side cubby seemingly underneath the hatch seal. I changed the antenna grommet, it was cracking, but that wasnt it.

Another possibility for the passenger footwell could be the windshield cowl drains, I had to deal with that when I bought the car. The rubber drain outlets below the cowl had become brittle and clogged, allowing water to back up which made its way to the passenger footwell.

Still leaks! The one in my hatch is far less though, the new hatch seal helped. I didn’t think that the antennae grommet could leak being a high point and all. However there is still a small amount of water getting in, and the grommet is heck’a’cracked. I’ll replace it and see. After that, no idea.

The passenger side leak IS coming through the door. It seems our doors are designed to have water run through them. When I put the hose on it, water would run down the window guides into the door. Somehow it was working it’s way around the vapor barrier and into the car. The factory used Butyl tape to affix it, so I’ve got some of that on order and will re-do and hope for the best. Spent too much time on these leaks.

I also have lower outer window seals on order for both my TI’s. I tried Pelican this time (west coast) but doesn’t seem any quicker than the east coast suppliers (still 2 weeks to in hand). I checked with the dealer and they could have gotten it in 3 days (albeit $20 more each and I ordered 4).

Off topic, but can somebody explain to me how these online retailers work? Why does it take 5 days for them to even get it shipped? Why don't they ship from storage depot straight to me?

I am still dealing with the leaking issues in the trunk area. Anyone notice the body seam sealer cracked around the top of the trunk. Maybe the culprit.

You mean the seam sealer in the very top corners of the hatch? If so, mine is cracked too, has been for years. I still get a bit of water in the driver side cubby when it rains.

It seems to be the seams for me. I Siliconed some of the seals and the leak moved.
I don't care anymore.

My recently bought 318TI has a leaky boot (trunk)
Anyone got to the bottom of this problem?

Could be clogged drains from the sunroof. For me I think it's gaps between the inner and outer welds.

We get water in the driver side footwell, front and rear. Cleaned out the sunroof drains in the front with weed trimmer line. We shall see. Also purchased new vapor barriers to install. PITA!

Just a note on water in doors from my 16 years as a tech: All doors get some water in them. The felts and seals around the glass are designed to minimize the volume of water that enters the door. There is always a drain somewhere below/outside of the door seal that allows the door to drain onto the sill. It's common for those drains to get plugged up. I have yet to encounter this on my 98ti, but I've seen it dozens of times on customer's vehicles. If the door drains are clear, it's possible the seals at the glass are shrunk to the point that they allow in enough water to splash around and exit the door somewhere else. If you're seeing water on top of the seal, I suspect one of these way be the cause. Hope this helps.

Scott

On a Leak Hunt, Too
 

My Ti gets wet carpet on the driver’s side any time there’s rain. It’s got the California roof, which is an obvious vulnerability. The sunroof drains are clear, but it’s a complex assembly and the water’s coming in from somewhere.

I’m going after everything rubber, as that’s all 20 years old. Might as well replace it while it’s available. PITA, but that’s the price of a classic car.

When I had that leak it was caused by clogged holes in the frame rail. Water would back up inside the firewal and flow into the cabin.

Thanks for that tip. I replaced the plastic covers that are underneath the wiper arms and cleaned out the area underneath. I'm pretty sure I had everything draining out nicely, but I will recheck. That’s a lot easier to fix than the sunroof