Page 1 of 1

leaky rattly Polo

Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2005 12:26 pm
by minis84
Hey

My GT, great as it is, is starting to annoy me a little bit.

There are several rattles coming from bits of trim, mostly inside the doors really, so I'm going to go down the scrappers soon and get as many interior trim fixings and screws as I can. Just thought I'd share that with you!

Anyway, my main reason for posting is that my car has developed a leak. I got in it on sunday night after the rain and there was a damp patch in the passenger footwell. If you pressed into the carpet then water squeezed up through. I follwed a trail of water, and it seemed to be coming from the passenger side door seal. There is a tiny tiny slit in this seal. I've also noticed that the seal against the window at the top of the door (not the frame at the top, but where the glass slides down) on the outside is split. You can see down inside the door.

Would this split, coupled with the damaged door seal, allow water to come into the car? I'm guessing its going down into the door, coming out through the door drainage holes, leaking over the dodgy door seal and into the footwell.

Does anyone have any opinions on what else it could be?

Thanks!

Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2005 4:56 pm
by adrian_mk3
I had a leak from the gromit where the bonnet release cable goes into the engine bay, flooding the passenger footwell. A bit of sealent solved it.

Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2005 9:15 pm
by hardhitter
yeah, the water is more likely to be pouring in from the cable grommit for the bonnet release. see if the drain holes in the plenum chamber are blocked and clear them. then see if the gromit is ok. split door seals dont leak much and the door glass seal wont usually leak.

Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2005 9:39 am
by minis84
thanks for the advice guys. I checked the plenum chamber and everything is ok in there.

Its happened again this morning, and there's a large wet patch in the footwell again, and a definite leak in the door seal.

Will GSF stock the door seals and window seals do you think? If not I guess I could get them from VAG (although I bet they're not cheap).

Also, I have a major problem with the wipers. They vibrate and bounce at low speeds on the low speed setting. A wash with the screenwash will cure it, only temporarily. It doesn't do it on the high wiper setting (because the speed is enough to overcome the resistance), or at speeds above about 60mph (because the blade is being pushed against the screen I imagine). I've tried polishing the screen to no avail, i've even tried white spirit to remove any grease/sap etc, but it didn't work. Does anyone know of any magical cures for what appears to be a sticky windscreen?? Someone has suggested a graphite based product to lubricate the screen, does anyone know of this??

Thanks in advance!

Tom

Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 5:04 pm
by schneil
I had a similar leak - tured out it was the windscreen seal. You might need a new seal

Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 9:40 pm
by pettsy
minis84 wrote:Also, I have a major problem with the wipers. They vibrate and bounce at low speeds on the low speed setting.
Tom
mine did that when they were generally just worn and nackered.replaced them with a set from local motor factors and that sorted it :idea:

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 12:07 am
by minis84
Hey

Pettsy - the wipers are brand new, Bosch ones, and I've had them replaced twice because of the bounce. Still it persists....

schneil - thanks, i'll investigate it, although i'm pretty convinced it is the door seal thats gone, i'll look at the windscreen seal too!

Tom