Window seals

[duquette5]

Anybody have any luck tightening up the window seals between the front and rear doors? I noticed this week that the seal on the drivers side has a gap and is letting in rain.

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

Originally Posted by duquette5

Anybody have any luck tightening up the window seals between the front and rear doors? I noticed this week that the seal on the drivers side has a gap and is letting in rain.

You have rear doors on your NBC? Or are you talking about a different car? Or are you in the wrong Forum?

jk, At five, probably six years old, the neoprene, or EPDM seal between the two windows is deteriorating and hardening. Caused primarily by ultra-violet light. I doubt that there are any adjustments that can be made. You might try some rubber (silicone based) lubricant. That may help temporarily. Probably going to need to replace the gasket that is performing the seal.

Learn more about EPDM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPDM_rubber

MORAV

[jason m]

Originally Posted by MyOtherRidesAVette

You have rear doors on your NBC? Or are you talking about a different car? Or are you in the wrong Forum?

jk, At five, probably six years old, the neoprene, or EPDM seal between the two windows is deteriorating and hardening. Caused primarily by ultra-violet light. I doubt that there are any adjustments that can be made. You might try some rubber (silicone based) lubricant. That may help temporarily. Probably going to need to replace the gasket that is performing the seal.

Learn more about EPDM
EPDM rubber - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

MORAV

There is a specific lubricant for the seals and is available thru VW. my sister had to get some for her EOS after VW service lied to her and told er seals needed to be replaced.

[Zann]

Originally Posted by jason m

There is a specific lubricant for the seals and is available thru VW. my sister had to get some for her EOS after VW service lied to her and told er seals needed to be replaced.

In their defense, lubing up the sides where the windows meet may short term fix the issue but with cold/heat/car washes/rain that lube can't possibly hold up long term exposed like that...unless you keep it nearby and crank it out like toothpaste.

I could see the dealership wanting to fix the issue once and for all my replacing a worn seal instead of advising lube which in most cases might lead to the person returning twice as pissed that its still leaking.

I believe the lube might help preserve a good seal from going bad but doesn't properly fix a already defective seal.

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

Originally Posted by jason m

There is a specific lubricant for the seals and is available thru VW. my sister had to get some for her EOS after VW service lied to her and told er seals needed to be replaced.

Originally Posted by Zann

I believe the lube might help preserve a good seal from going bad but doesn't properly fix a already defective seal.

From my two "friends", and we are all three on the same page. Unusual! And it is more of a deterioration issue than a wear issue. See my first post.

I referred to it as a silicone based lubricant, I drew upon the wrong memory bank, it is actually a glycerin based lubricant. I used to buy it in my business for a similar purpose, but found it over-rated and not worth the time and money. But if anyone wants the proper stuff for lubricating all their rubber gaskets and seals, this is it. You may be able to find something equivalent in a parts store, just look or ask for a glycerin or glycerine rubber lubricant. From our Vendor's online catalogue
GL22 - CRL Rubber Conditioning Glycerine
Our price $4.43/16 oz bottle, Your price $7.50 plus actual shipping chgs via PayPal. Can have it drop shipped (UPS) anywhere, from a dozen or so locations around the country. P/M me. I'm guessing VW gets $20+ for about half as much.

MORAV

[CGK]

Regarding the the space between the front window and the B-pillar seal on the rear window:
It sounds like your front window and possibly the rear window may be slightly out of adjustment.
You can adjust the front window movement in or out by locating the adjusting bolts at the bottom of the door. Look for two rubber caps(one at the rear and one at the front) on the bottom of the door underneath the door panel.
slowly turn the adjusters in either direction, depending on where you need to pull the window in, until the glass edge of the front window slightly compresses the B-pillar seal to make a water tight seal.
You may have to experiment with it a few times to get it just right.
If the rear window is out of alignment, that is a fairly complex job. It involves taking the rear interior apart in order to get to the adjusting screws and they require a special tool to make the adjustment.
As far as the B-pillar seal deteriorating, that's probably not going to happen. The rubber extrusion has a special coating that is hot cured during the manufacturing process just as the top header seal is. I know this because the company I work for makes both of those parts for VW at our Guadalajara, Mexico plant.
Hope this helps

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

Sheds a whole new light...

[duquette5]

I think CGK nailed it, the gap at the top is wider then the gap at the bottom by the B Pillar. I'll go out tomorrow and try to adjust it.

@MORAV - I do use a similar glycerin based product already. The door glass on my Porsche used to stick bad without it on really cold days.

Originally Posted by CGK

Regarding the the space between the front window and the B-pillar seal on the rear window:
It sounds like your front window and possibly the rear window may be slightly out of adjustment.
You can adjust the front window movement in or out by locating the adjusting bolts at the bottom of the door. Look for two rubber caps(one at the rear and one at the front) on the bottom of the door underneath the door panel.
slowly turn the adjusters in either direction, depending on where you need to pull the window in, until the glass edge of the front window slightly compresses the B-pillar seal to make a water tight seal.
You may have to experiment with it a few times to get it just right.
If the rear window is out of alignment, that is a fairly complex job. It involves taking the rear interior apart in order to get to the adjusting screws and they require a special tool to make the adjustment.
As far as the B-pillar seal deteriorating, that's probably not going to happen. The rubber extrusion has a special coating that is hot cured during the manufacturing process just as the top header seal is. I know this because the company I work for makes both of those parts for VW at our Guadalajara, Mexico plant.
Hope this helps

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

If that gap is pie shaped as you indicate that would definately be an adjustment issue. Sounds like a pretty simple fix. The trick is going to be to determine which window is out of alignment, and which end to raise or which end to drop, without causing problems elsewhere around the window.

MORAV

[jason m]

Originally Posted by Zann

In their defense, lubing up the sides where the windows meet may short term fix the issue but with cold/heat/car washes/rain that lube can't possibly hold up long term exposed like that...unless you keep it nearby and crank it out like toothpaste.

I could see the dealership wanting to fix the issue once and for all my replacing a worn seal instead of advising lube which in most cases might lead to the person returning twice as pissed that its still leaking.

I believe the lube might help preserve a good seal from going bad but doesn't properly fix a already defective seal.

Funny story about this. She just purchasd this vehicle from the dealership as a VW Certified vehicle. She has had it less than 2 months. Has put two thousand miles on it and she has already had to take it back 3 times. for the 45k trans svc (required maint) roof leak where she was told the seals were bad and needed replacing and one other time. Needless to say when my sister was done with the service manager they took care of the seals under warranty. Once again a VW dealership screws up and trys to get the customer to pay for something that should have been addressed when they "certified" the vehicle for sale.

[lovethesun123]

I'm so glad I found this thread. I've got the same problem right now. It "looks" like my drivers side rear window is not going up all the way and meeting the pillar. Funny thing, though, it only does it when the top is UP. With the top down, all the windows go and and fit together just fine.

I took it to the stealership today to get it fixed, since I have the Platnum VW extended warranty. Well (sigh), they called and said that they took it apart and it is only an adjustment that is needed and my warranty does not cover adjustments... So, they wanted $235.00 to adjust/fix it. UGH!!! This didn't seem right to me since they just fixed the regulator in that window in Oct of 09. They said that that repair was done under warranty and warranty repairs are only covered for 12 mos or 12,000 miles. (Imagine the explatives going through my brian right now). Needless to say I'm going to pick it up un-fixed. :-)

So, can anyone give me any feedback on my situation??? Why is it that it only happens when the top is up? Does the adjustment have anything to do with the top or just the window? I'm going to try to get them to tell me what window needs adjustment. Hopefully it is the front since an earlier reply said that the front is fairly easy to get to and do.

Any help or advise is appreciated.