Konish Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Fellas, I know it's more than intuitively obvious to most of you, but I just thought I'd share some insight I had on a very simple, but frustrating water leakage problem I had into the cockpit; and a really simple solution. I recently fitted some KIA Sportage weatherstripping to both my doors openings to replace the poorly mounted and ill-fitting aftermarket ones. It fit great while seemingly creating a nice, tight seal. The bonus was that I no longer had to slam the door closed either and all the COPIOUS amounts of old glue were nicely hidden. Imagine my dissapointment when after a small, unexpected shower, there was water inside my car again. Deflated was more the feeling. However I did notice that water was pooling inside the weatherstripping around the door handle area above the interior scuff plate...but I never made any kind of connection. Last weekend while wanting to examine the window regulator fuzzies (the window rattles when partially rolled down) I discovered the vapor barrier was basically torn to shreds and re-hung with pieces of duct tape. As it was still wet, I could see it clinging to the interior door panel which was also wet. When it rains, water leaks into the door void (past the window squeegee) and drips onto the vapor barrier. Becuase of the shape of the door and interior door panel, the water lands on the shredded strips causing them to move away from the door and "stick" to the interior panel. The water now has a perfect wicking path straight into the interior of the car exiting out from underneath the interior panel. Bad not only for causing a wet interior, but it also slowly warps and rots your expensive interior door panel as they saturate with moisture. So, I got a .1 mm thick, heavy duty plastic sheeting and attached it with some silicone along the lines of the old barrier, waited for it to dry and trimmed around the perimeter with a really sharp razor...probably 2 hours max time with a lot of fiddle-fartin' around. Result? Another unforecasted shower last night (heavy and long), and the inteiror was dry as a popcorn fart...well at least the cockpit area anyway...don't get me started on the rear hatch seal. Hope this helps someone else that drives a car with a less-than-dry interior... R/ Dustin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jknc90 Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Is this the early body style sportage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Count me interested too. I've never liked the quality of the repros, or NOS weatherstripping I have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konish Posted January 21, 2010 Author Share Posted January 21, 2010 Yes, the early body style. Do yourself a favor, just call a KIA dealer and order 2 new sets for a Sportage. They are only about $75/piece and beats pretty much anything you'll find in a junk yard. My buddy got 4 full sets (8 strips) and only 2 strips were really usable and I think they're marginal in terms of condition (some wear and "thin" spots but no tears). There was a huge thread on this not too long ago, but the real focus of the post was to check your vapor barriers...because if they're in bad shape, you might as well forget making the weather stripping work... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonRHD Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Can you post pics of your finished result? I think I might have the same problem.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konish Posted January 22, 2010 Author Share Posted January 22, 2010 I didn't think to take pics of the final outcome, but it's pretty simple. Cut out large enough vinyl sheet to cover just beyond the interior area of the door. Adhere with a very, very thin bead of silicone and let dry for about 20-30 minutes...trim excess. Reinstall door panel and do any final trimming if required to hide the sheet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonRHD Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 sweet thanks for the info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilson_WWSC Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 is there anyway someone who has the correct brain mapping to understand word intensive instructions that can put this into a picture? I do not follow passages very well. If someone or op could draw a simple picture or something, i would greatly appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zedman240 Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Hope the silicone you used is the acid free one made for automotive use... it usualy eats through the paint then rust appears..It also happens when people use silicone to seal a leaky windscreen... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konish Posted January 22, 2010 Author Share Posted January 22, 2010 Not acid free that I know of...I'm not going to stress it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.