air leaks?

[black]

anyone else have issues with window and door air leaks???

pisses me off to no end.

and i can not track down exactly where they are coming from.

[TheEdgeofSanity]

yes. its common in older cars. the seals lose their elasticity and really the only way to fix it is to replace the seals.

[Kilroy]

Also, in winter the seals harden, and can also prevent a proper seal from happening.

[cherrington17]

black, i also just posted about this. next time you hear it, try to see if its the door seal.(between the door and the frame, at the top center) i can feel the air litterally pulling the door about 1cm away from the frame, allowing wind to whistle through.

on my drivers side, i can't even get the tip of my finger in between the insulation, but on the passangers, i can get a my finger, to the first bend. and they both have the same amount of insulation/in the same condition....


no idea how to fix it...

[bdyman]

well i say this replace the weatherstrip, so now take a piece of paper put it in th between the door and the car close the door and try to pull the paper out if it pulls out loosely all the through out the door then there has to be some adjustments
is the door hitting the striker correctly??? is the door aligned corectly?? a simple fix is bending the door frame, place your knee on the inside of the door and pull on the top of the door frame, do it slowly and then check with the paper again
if that worked and the door is hittin the striker and the gpas are nice then its fixed
real simple

[cherrington17]

i'll have to try that. for me, i know i had an accident on that door a while back. but it did that before the accident, just not as bad.

i would replace the weatherstripping, but mine is like new. and i wouldn't want to spend like $200 for new stripping that i don't need.

[Oldsnut]

Originally Posted by cherrington17

i'll have to try that. for me, i know i had an accident on that door a while back. but it did that before the accident, just not as bad.

i would replace the weatherstripping, but mine is like new. and i wouldn't want to spend like $200 for new stripping that i don't need.

If it still does that after you try bdyman's suggestion, try a very small diameter dowel rod in various areas under the fold in the stripping to slightly push out the strip to fill the gap in the area where you find a leak. I have not tried this in any of my newer cars but it use to work on some of the older cars from the 70's-80's. Back then weatherstripping was inferior to todays materials. Worth a shot.

[cherrington17]

i already put a bead of silicone behind the weatherstripping, and it seemed to help a little... but not much at all.

[bdyman]

were there cars punched real hard in the a-pillar?? and the rocker by chance??? a poorly repaired a-pillar and incorrect alignment with the door can still casue water and air to leak in
so when i say a-pillar i mean the piece where the door hinges are

[cherrington17]

it wasn't a hard hit. it was mostly to the front fender... but it certainly could have bent the door slightly... and maybe they did fix it, just not well enough.

[black]

perfect, i cant wait to get home to try it, will post the results.

thank you all for the input.

i hate air leaks.

[black]

ok, it worked, mostly.

i did what bdyman said.

that fixed my door.

i found that on the back door, the little window is leaking, bad.

i guess the body shop never seated the window right.

i put clear caulk on it.

now it is sealed.

[cherrington17]

^ i did what bdyman said and its better, but not completely sealed. i guess i'll just have to wait till my parents have a good standing with a local bodyshop... just have them fix it for free.