Dampness on the bottom of the passenger side door card

Riba

Riba

Member
Ireland
Could use a bit of a brainstorming here...

Passenger side door card in wet on the bottom. I know that a general consensus is that the seal on the aluminium cover inside the door has failed and water is seeping in, but the door does not appear like it was ever cracked open. Plan is to remove the door card again, but I wanted to dry it out first because the moisture is making the card soggy and I'm afraid it will break if I try to remove it in this condition - I did give it a try with the trim removal tools but decided not to force it as it did not look good.

What's confusing is that the only place for the water ingress is between the window and the door, and the seal seems quite tight there. I even put a duct tape as an additional seal to help out while I dry it out but that did not seem to have made a difference. I've placed 2 kilos of silica gel in the car, and yesterday I sandwiched large pet pee pad to absorb as much water as possible and it was properly soaked this morning even though there was no rain overnight. I've checked the drain holes and they don't seem to be blocked.

I'll definitely remove the door card asap, but it is still puzzling that so much water would accumulate inside the door....what am I missing?

Cheers,
Tom
 
Could be a condensation collection point in cold weather. I've got this on two of the cars - I find when opening a door that isn't open often that there is condensation between the inner rubber seal and the outer one that can run downwards with vehicle vibrations, and also wouldn't easily be resolved by silica bags as the inner seal would prevent much of the air exchange with the cabin and thus drier air. The only real solution is being able to store the car indoors and leave the doors open so that the area can dry out.
 
Strange is that it happens on one door only... unfortunately don't have a covered space I can use at the moment, and this being western Ireland, dry days are a rare commodity. :)
 
Usually it is water coming down the window seal and filling the door. Make sure the drain holes in the bottom of all doors are completely clear of debris.

If the car is parked into the rain on that side of the car and perhaps not level the rain can get past the exterior door seals and run down to the bottom of the door and collect there until enough to get over the door seal and into the bottom of the door card.

Important that all exterior and interior door seals are in good flexible condition and not split, cracked or pieces missing.
 
audifan said:
Usually it is water coming down the window seal and filling the door. Make sure the drain holes in the bottom of all doors are completely clear of debris.

If the car is parked into the rain on that side of the car and perhaps not level the rain can get past the exterior door seals and run down to the bottom of the door and collect there until enough to get over the door seal and into the bottom of the door card.

Important that all exterior and interior door seals are in good flexible condition and not split, cracked or pieces missing.
Click to expand...
Revitalise all rubber seals with Gummi pledge. Miraculous stuff.
Mac.
 
Had this, passenger door only started growing mould. Door card off, aluminium shield off, clean up. Seal as in manual, sealing strip, mastic and tape etc. Sorted, dry door card and refit.
 
I inspected the external seals, both around the door and between the door frame and window and they all seem fine. I suspect it will be as philward says, still surprised that so much water would get through and settle on the bottom. Just need to be careful not to damage the card in this condition while removing it, usually I grab the bottom edge and give it a tug, but in this case I think the card will just fall apart. Will try from the lock side.
 
Don’t do that you will destroy your card. There is a tool for the job. It pings out the card studs without putting any stress on the card.

Edit, I think this is it:

IMG_0910.jpeg
 
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I have that tool, but it is very hard to slip it under the card edge without damaging the paint and I can't even pinpoint the exact location of the stud. I used some photos of the door with the detached card to figure out the exact locations but I was not confident it would work. Also the lower studs seem to be too far in to be reached by this tool. I might be wrong, I will revisit this on Monday.
 
audifan said:
Usually it is water coming down the window seal and filling the door. Make sure the drain holes in the bottom of all doors are completely clear of debris.

If the car is parked into the rain on that side of the car and perhaps not level the rain can get past the exterior door seals and run down to the bottom of the door and collect there until enough to get over the door seal and into the bottom of the door card.

Important that all exterior and interior door seals are in good flexible condition and not split, cracked or pieces missing.
Click to expand...
Just curious where and what do the drain holes look like?
 
Going to ask a silly question - are they on the actual aluminium frame or within the rubber seal ?

Thanks
 
Done your meditation and box breathing this morning ? Joking aside best of luck.

Edit
Riba, when you reassemble the door card do you have some silicone grease to put on the pop studs?

EDIT 2
 

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Riba said:
Yeah, I stuck a bamboo skewer in there to make sure it is not clogged. It wasn't too wet either.... we'll see what will the door surgery reveal.
Click to expand...
There are two skins, about half way up water flow is directed between the two skins and to the drains. If everything there is not sealed correctly water gets to the car interior side of the inner skin and soaks the bottom of the door card.
It is a few years now since I fixed this one, foam strip, liquid sealer, foil tape and mastic on a roll were required.
 
Still curious how did you find out that's things weren't sealed correctly?
Are there any visual cues ?
 
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