Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2008 16:23:23 -0600
Reply-To: Aaron Pearson <aarondpearson@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Aaron Pearson <aarondpearson@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Rear hatch leaking water into my Westy? Now: felt slider for
roll-up windows
In-Reply-To: <4d1b79350801211413n6e911be9ke3186210c649be61@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
i recently did all the window gaskets and on my van (no rust!). i noticed that the driver's and passenger's door gasket system is far from watertight, no water gets in the van, but it seems like it could easily get in between the felt slider and the j-shaped gasket along the bottom of the window. is the door designed to allow water to run through and out? am i missing something?
aaron
'87 syncro westy ej22
----------------------------------------
> Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2008 16:13:48 -0600
> From: jim.felder@GMAIL.COM
> Subject: Re: Rear hatch leaking water into my Westy?
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>
> Scott,
> I've seen the PVC pipe trick you describe and I want to point out other
> features:
>
> You don't have to keep them handy, they are always there, surrounding the
> pistons and ready to be popped into place when needed, and they are very
> handy when you want to support additional weight that the pistons can't
> handle, like a bicycle or two.
>
> Jim
>
> On Jan 21, 2008 3:54 PM, Scott Daniel - Shazam <scottdaniel@turbovans.com>
> wrote:
>
> > I'm very impressed jim, very astute and thorough.
> > I'm a nut about cleaning door gaskets and leaves n' junk out of places,
> > but
> > I've been wondering how water got INSIDE the rear hatch door.
> >
> > I wasn't going to comment even, but wanted to add about a nice little
> > trick
> > for shot rear hatch struts. You get a piece of white pvc pipe from the
> > hardware store, about 10 inches long, that stuff that's about in inch
> > outside dia.
> > Then you undo the 'rod' end of one strut, put the pvc pipe over it,
> > connect
> > the rod back........
> > * and lube those pivot points !* ...........and when you open the hatch,
> > the
> > piece of pipe falls into place and locks the strut in the extended
> > position.
> >
> > After you try to close it a few times forgetting to lift up the piece of
> > pvc
> > a bit........you remember, and from then on you just open the hatch, it
> > stays put, and you just have to reach up and 'release' the pipe to close
> > the
> > hatch.
> > A perfect 50 cent improvement/upgrade/repair.
> > Scott
> > www.turbovans.com
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> > Jim Felder
> > Sent: Monday, January 21, 2008 1:27 PM
> > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> > Subject: Re: Rear hatch leaking water into my Westy?
> >
> > In my experience, there are two places you should look.
> > Open your hatch (or prop it open in your case... don't forget the
> > time-honored method of clamping a small pair of vice-grips on the rod
> > where
> > you want the piston to stop, but just be sure your pistons are already
> > shot
> > if you use this approach) and get a scrubber and clean the surface of the
> > rubber seal where it goes across the top of the hatch opening inside. Now,
> > clean the painted surface of the top where the seal mates to it when the
> > hatch is closed. It takes surprisingly little dirt in this area to cause a
> > leak. Clean out the "tray" up in the body recess above the seal while
> > you're
> > at it, all those leaves and sticks you never see don't help.
> >
> > Second, check to see if your rear window seal has a joint at the bottom
> > center like my 83 does. If there's a gap there, you will definitely wet
> > your
> > mattress... I've watched it happen. Go get some black silicone sealer and
> > masking tape. Mask the top and bottom edges of the seal and squirt in the
> > sealant. Come back in about an hour when the sealant isn't gooey anymore
> > and
> > remove the tape. You may have to cut with a razor blade against the glass
> > to
> > get a nice edge to the sealant.
> >
> > Jim
> >
> > On Jan 21, 2008 2:50 PM, Kim Brennan <kimbrennan@mac.com> wrote:
> >
> > > The rear hatch window seal, like your front window seal can start to
> > > leak. It's one possibility.
> > >
> > > On Jan 21, 2008, at 3:26 PM, neil N wrote:
> > >
> > > > Hi all.
> > > >
> > > > Last week I opened the rear hatch and found it would close part way on
> > > > its' own. ?? I put in new supports just over a year ago. Shouldn't
> > > > happen I thought.....
> > > >
> > > > My theory is that water gathered and froze, adding extra weight. Today
> > > > in warm sun, water ran out of bottom of hatch and it functions as it
> > > > used to. Mystery solved. But rear matresses are kind of wet. Water is
> > > > getting into van.
> > > >
> > > > My Westy is parked on an incline with rear end pointed downhill.
> > > > Recently weather has been cold.
> > > >
> > > > Where are the typical water leaks points on the rear hatch?
> > > >
> > > > Water normally gathers in rear hatch bottom and drains out when opened
> > > > when parked on incline. Is this normal?
> > > >
> > > > IF it isn't a water leak, could it be that with a frozen chunk o ice
> > > > at the bottom of the hatch, any "new" water coming in would overflow
> > > > into/onto the rear?
> > > >
> > > > TIA, and hope my questions make sense!
> > > >
> > > > Neil.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > Neil Nicholson. 1981 Air Cooled Westfalia - "Jaco"
> > > > http://web.mac.com/tubaneil
> > > >
> > > > Engine swap beginings: http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/
> > >
> >
> >
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