Hi all,
Thanks for all the suggestions on Matilda's leakage problems!
In response to Loren's questions (below) - with the top down, of course! They happen when parked or driving. The water comes in at the corners, and gets caught in the bunched-up fabric from the poptop - definitely the corners, not the middle of the van (left to right). If I straighten out the bunched-up fabric then water pours out of it. Actually it could be in the middle too, now that I think of it - but I can't straighten out that part of the fabric because the latch is in the way, so I don't see it. So it's definitely coming in at the front edge of the poptop.
I think the points about the pressure from the struts being forward rather than up when the top is down are good. That suggests that the leakage may not be due to the struts, though it did start recently, and all of a sudden there's a good bit of leaking that seems to date to when I attached the struts.
The water does not seem to be coming through the holes where the poptop bar is attached to the top. It is coming from the front edge and corners.
Removing the struts is not easy, so taking them off to deal with the no-kayak situation is not viable. I do pull the top down only from the non-kayak side, and push up on the kayak side, in an attempt to even out the pressures when raising the lowering the poptop. I'd thought of putting something heavy on the other side to balance it out. I may end up with my tires up there, if I switch to snow tires to go back up to Newfoundland this winter.
I think I'll have to add sealant goo as some people have suggested, and perhaps clean out the luggage carrier drainage. Those things might solve the problem.
Joy
_____ From: Loren Busch [mailto:starwagen@gmail.com] Sent: Saturday, December 13, 2008 12:23 AM To: Joy Hecht Subject: Re: [VANAGON] leaking in the rain
RE: Leaks Joy, it just dawned on me that people responding to your question are making various assumptions. So can you clarify. Are the leaks occurring with the top up or down? I think most of us assumed down. And the leaks occur when just parked, with the top down? And also when driving? ------------------------------------------------------------ + To unsubscribe from the Vanagon List send an e-mail to + listserv@gerry.vanagon.com with SIGNOFF VANAGON + in the body of the message. ------------------------------------------------------------ |
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