Re: [Water Leaking In] Common Areas of Concern

[drew <drew@dyermaker.cs.uoguelph.ca>]

On Wed, 16 Feb 2000, T Berk wrote:

> Here are my most common early VW leak prone areas;
> 
> 1. Windshield. Look for dried mineral tracks left behind by evaporation,
> easy to spot against the black rubber. I could repost my detailed fix
> for this but the short answer is to insert the silicon sealant (black)
> UNDER the lip of the gasket and run a bead all the way around, letting
> excess squeeze out. Do both gasket to body and gasket to glass
> circumferences. Don't skimp, a bubble or gap out of sight will fail the
> fix. The surplus can be removed before it sets up.

I've used the silicone treatment several times in the past, but my
experience is that silicone sealant works well if and only if both
surfaces are CLEAN (ie prepped with solvent) and DRY.  This is rarely the
case, especially under a dirty windshield gasket that has already
been leaking. The silicone will not stick well to the glass or the metal,
allowing wind/water to lift the gasket away from the windshield or car
once it has cured. I opt for the tar-based(?) sealant that windshield
shops use to seal gasket-style windshields - it stays tacky and sticks to
everything (including your fingers.)  Ask around at your local auto-glass
shop, they might even sell you a cartridge over the counter, or better yet
come out and do a "professional" job (yeah, right) for $20 - and it's
their skin that gets peeled off by the solvent used to clean up, not
yours.... :)

Of course, YMMV, and I always say go with what works for you...

> hth,
> TBerk

Drew MacPherson, Network Analyst, University of Guelph

drew@dyermaker.cs.uoguelph.ca           |  visit the Massey-Harris page:
http://dyermaker.cs.uoguelph.ca/~drew   |  http://m-h.cs.uoguelph.ca


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