T-Tops leaking cant figure it out! HELP!
09-04-2008, 09:11 PM
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T-Tops leaking cant figure it out! HELP! so in illinois its pissing rain and i noticed that water was coming through the rear part of the passanger T-top. i pulled it in the garage and pulled it off, there is a plastic piece that goes in the main "water drain" its about 2 inches long and at the end has a box that keeps the structure of the rubber, if that makes any sense. i put a picture of someones car that has the area where its leaking circled, i cant figure out how to seal it back up and its raining bad!!! i need to get this fixed ASAP cause this is my DD. ive never had this problem so i dont think its anything old.
09-04-2008, 10:25 PM
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Hi there! This is my experience that I had with my most recent leak. After removing all the plastic covers I found out that my water leak was behind the weatherstriping. That means between the rubber and the metal. This is what I did and it worked for me. This is a solution only if the leak is behind the weatherstriping and your weatherstriping is in good shape.
There is a bolt that holds that plastic piece in the weatherstriping(is kinda like a drain) remove this bolt and remove the plastic piece. Next pull the weatherstrping out of that area. This might be a little hard but it can be done. Next clean all the weatherstriping area that makes contact with the metal.You will see some pieces of black foam strips that are glued to the metal area. Remove those and clean all the glue residue. MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE A CLEAN SURFACE. Next get some black silicone (not RTV one) and put a big mess of it in the area that the weatherstriping makes contact with the car, specially were the black foam area was. You need to put some in the grove were the weatherstriping sits on the car. Put some even below the plastic piece. Put the bolt back on and then with your finger start to clean all the excess of silicone. Put some along the edge of the weatherstriping from the end of the corner of the car all the way toward the middle of the T-top divider. This helps to avoid water getting underneath the grove of the weatherstriping at the end.
It sounds complicated but it is not. Just make sure that everything is clean and that you put enough silicone to cover the gaps. Let it sit for an hour and then use a water hose and check to see if you still have the leak. I even have to strip down my T-tops because it was leaking behind the the metal piece that holds the weatherstriping. This save me from buying all the expensive weatherstriping when that wasn't the problem.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
There is a bolt that holds that plastic piece in the weatherstriping(is kinda like a drain) remove this bolt and remove the plastic piece. Next pull the weatherstrping out of that area. This might be a little hard but it can be done. Next clean all the weatherstriping area that makes contact with the metal.You will see some pieces of black foam strips that are glued to the metal area. Remove those and clean all the glue residue. MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE A CLEAN SURFACE. Next get some black silicone (not RTV one) and put a big mess of it in the area that the weatherstriping makes contact with the car, specially were the black foam area was. You need to put some in the grove were the weatherstriping sits on the car. Put some even below the plastic piece. Put the bolt back on and then with your finger start to clean all the excess of silicone. Put some along the edge of the weatherstriping from the end of the corner of the car all the way toward the middle of the T-top divider. This helps to avoid water getting underneath the grove of the weatherstriping at the end.
It sounds complicated but it is not. Just make sure that everything is clean and that you put enough silicone to cover the gaps. Let it sit for an hour and then use a water hose and check to see if you still have the leak. I even have to strip down my T-tops because it was leaking behind the the metal piece that holds the weatherstriping. This save me from buying all the expensive weatherstriping when that wasn't the problem.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
