1988 dodge xplorer 2 front sky lights leak

[JerrMan]

That pretty much says it all.
I have clear caulked these so many times.
and were back to leaking.
Has anyone ever removed them and either cleaned up the rubber and put them back on. My rubber is starting to crack. Most Likely why it's leaking.
Or removed them and replaced the rubber seal? Or maybe you had it repaired?
I bet I'm gonna tear up some stuff taking these out.
How bout taking it to a windshield shop?
I gotta do something before winter.
Any help is appreciated.

[VTPete]

My 1996 Dodge based Roadtrek has three front windows like that. They leaked despite my caulking them. In the end, I brought them to the local Portland Glass outfit and they removed all three, cleaned them up and reinstalled them.

The good? It seems to have done the trick as they were sitting in rain for 8 hours today and have no leaks.

The bad, it cost several hundred dollars and now they look like a monkey with a grease gun got to them. When you reinstall them, you have to use this black goop (ok, I can't think of the name) and when you squeeze the windows back in, the goop squeezes out unevenly. Because it's like tar, you have to leave it as it is. Trimming later is possible.

My windows had two seals. Where the window connects to the window frame and where the frame squeezes into the body of the van. I never figured out where the leak was, but it was on ALL THREE windows.

My suggestion is bite the bullet and have a professional auto glass team tackle it.

-Pete

[JerrMan]

my silicone job looks bad too. I'm gonna have an auto glass shop look at it.

Oh ya Black RTV will do it. If I do it bet I make a mess,

[GeorgeRa]

Facing this issue this is what I would do:

1. Remove all silicone sealant, there is no chemical way to do it so intensive mechanical removal is necessary. There is no sealant/adhesive which would adhere to even an extremely thin layer of leftover silicone. Start with razor blades, and follow scrapers like this one - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001SBLEGY?psc=1 You need to get to clean base material. If the window material is glass you could use sodium hydroxide (NaOH) drain cleaner and mechanical scraping.

2. I would use the same sealant which is used for windshields, it is polyurethane. Sika or 3M Sikaflex® / SikaTack® | Sika Corporation U.S. or https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-...3242009&rt=rud. I would also use marine sealant by 3M such as https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-...3241623&rt=rud
Whatever you do, don’t use silicone, removal is difficult as you will experience soon and nothing will adhere to it.

[Ron J. Moore]

I have read about a lot us with the window leaking problem. It seems no matter what has been used it failed. When I read about VTPete getting professional help, it is good to see it work. Having said all that, I keep wondering if the Dicor Lap Sealant would work; since it is used on the roof when installing fans etc. Ron

[JerrMan]

Look what I found on Amazon.
I think this might work.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NL48TFK...=3LN5LO80IQNML

[Phoebe3]

Wow. Nice instructional video, too. If only it were that easy in real life...

Thanks for sharing! Might be helpful for my old truck.

[Ericv]

Easy to do. Remove the screws from inside, remove frame. Cut any silicone from the outside frame an gently pry the window out of the hole. Clean off all the old butyl tape from the outside of the hole. Thoroughly clean the frame, pull the old rubber seal off the outside. Gently pry the glass out of the frame. Clean it, clean the sealant off the frame. There are some glass spacers about long toothpick size...save those. Apply window sealant. Iused black silicone, and set the glassput yhe spacers back in where they came from. Make sure the glass is sealed. Install new weather strip. You can get it from pellendent.com I used the H009-344. They sell a sample kit for $4 so you can make sure you order the right one. You may want to practice installing the rubber before you add sealant a little twist and push it falls right in. If it buckles, go back and do it again. Places new butyl tape on the frame, take pliers and close the areas where the old screws came put so they'll grab, set the window, reinstall the inside frames and screes ( Go from the center out. Then mask around the outside of the window fram and silicone.Spaingly. but make sure no gaps. Pull the masking. Stand back and admire.