When it rains

[GallenH]

I can't seem to search this effectively so....Last week I was up in the high country of AZ where it rained daily. During a hard pour I started to get an inside leak along the top edge of my rear door (my 97 PW is Dodge with single rear door). Even placed a bucket to catch water. Next morning I cut a 6" wide piece from an old air mattress and simply closed in the top of the door with about 2" protruding on the outside to act as a "drip cap". That afternoon it rained hard again. No leaking. The seal on the top of the door appears ok. No cracks or missing pieces. Anyone experience this or have a suggestion for a solution?

[mkguitar]

I think that you need to test your weatherstrip seal... same test as for the fridge ( and for saxophone...)
Close door on a dollar bill and check for resistance pulling the bill out... repeat a hundred times for such a large door.


weatherstrip available at steele rubber products, matching the end profile against the catalog.


fabric store on cave creek just South of Bell Road stocks a selection of common weather strip ( but call first before driving).


on some PW's the manual suggests parking slightly nose up, pooled water from rain or condensate can leak past the AC seals on those models ( includes my lexor)

[GallenH]

Good thought. I only looked at the seal. I did nothing to test its wear. I'll have to try doing the dollar along the top. Wonder how many got the sax pad reference.

[blackbourn3704]

I had the same problem with my 95RT190P. The root cause was the design of the door opening. Unless parked with front of van lower than rear, all the roof water drains to the rear, flows over the gutter and down into the door opening. Open the door and look. There is nothing to divert the flow so the water just follows the contour from the original gutter right into the door opening. If the seal on the door does not fit absolutely perfect into the door opening it will leak. I fixed mine by adding a strip of adhesive backed vinyl moulding to the original guttering so the water would be diverted and run down the outside of the door. I put the large side (1/4") with the adhesive backing on the rear face of the gutter and the small part underneath. I can't remember where I bought the moulding, but I'm attaching some pics which may help.

[mkguitar]

neat idea adding a drip edge- that looks similar to door edge guard

[blackbourn3704]

Originally Posted by mkguitar

neat idea adding a drip edge- that looks similar to door edge guard

You are probably right. If you cant find any I have some left over and could mail some.

[blackbourn3704]

By the way, if you have a storage bin under the floor like I have in my Roadtrek you may want to check it. By the time I discovered my leak I had accumulated 4 inches of water in that bin. Did not improve any of the tools I had in there. I plan to drill a small drainage hole in it when I get my round tuit

[otr]

working to relocate the spare tire which is on one of those rear door mounts, our rear door, 2000 Dodge really sags from the weight, I wonder if your leak was on the passenger side where our door sags

[blackbourn3704]

Originally Posted by otr

working to relocate the spare tire which is on one of those rear door mounts, our rear door, 2000 Dodge really sags from the weight, I wonder if your leak was on the passenger side where our door sags

My '95 has only one door with the spare mounted on the left side. No sagging at all. Leak was caused by poor design in that there was no "drip edge" to keep the water away from the door seal. As the seal became less flexible with age (just like me) it became less effective (like me). See my previous post for my remedy (for the leak that is).