Seat leon mk1 Dreaded Water leak !

[Chief117]

Hello Everyone ! Any help would be greatly appreciated !
ive owned my leon mk1 for about 2 years now and I had the water problem where the water would leak in from the door. Recently the weather has gotten really bad and the water is leakin in badly. I had a go at the seal and sealed the passenger door with silicone (removed the door card and the metal plate and sealed from underneath the plate and put back on and sealed bottom of metal plate ) the problem is gettin worse as I turn right I can see the water pouring in from the bottom of the door ! And also from underneath the glove box !
Ive read the dubsteve post about the leak too.
can anyone guide me as too how fix this issue ?

(Sorry for long post)

 

[ben450]

Hello Everyone ! Any help would be greatly appreciated !
ive owned my leon mk1 for about 2 years now and I had the water problem where the water would leak in from the door. Recently the weather has gotten really bad and the water is leakin in badly. I had a go at the seal and sealed the passenger door with silicone (removed the door card and the metal plate and sealed from underneath the plate and put back on and sealed bottom of metal plate ) the problem is gettin worse as I turn right I can see the water pouring in from the bottom of the door ! And also from underneath the glove box !
Ive read the dubsteve post about the leak too.
can anyone guide me as too how fix this issue ?

(Sorry for long post)

Silicon is crap mate. I done mine with that and it started leaking again. You need butyl tape. Get all the silicon off losing the metel penal under the door card and put the tape all the way round. I done mine underneath the plate and on top. Make sure you get off all the old crappy seal and give it a good clean.

 

[Chief117]

Thanks for the reply mate just a few questions

what size of butyl tape do I need and where can I get it from?

Im not sure how to put the butyl tape on is it just the same as the silicone where u loosen the metal plate and
Apply it underneath then tighten the plate and put it on the top ? How would you set it in behind the metal plate ?
Thanks !

 

[pedro1989]

I used ~5mm thick iirc and got it from eBay.

Loosen the plate and there's a ridge going all the way around it where the old sealant used to be. Need to scrape it all out and then place the butyl sealant all the way along it in the ridge.

Then just bolt back on and job done

Only thing I found was that the tape was really sticky and when trying to get the white backing paper off it would often come off the plate and stick to my fingers etc. Quite annoying but not too difficult.

Good luck!

 

[Chief117]

Thanks for your reply

will order some butyl tape and have a go just need a dry day asap !

Any idea about the pollen filter area ? Water was coming down behind the glovebox area too

 

[pedro1989]

I think that's a common one too. There's some seal around it or something?

I've not had first hand experience with that one. Maybe someone will chime in if you can't see anything obvious

 

[LEE69]

pollen filter and the electrical box under the wipers, uses the same shite seal the doors originally had. Change all 3 areas when doint it job done and forget about it.

 

[Chief117]

i Had another go at the door seals with silicone and water still keeps coming on the sills. will come around to using butyl tape asap but from talking to other people they are saying to change the rubber weatherstrip sitting between the door all around when you close it ? could this solve the problem of the water staying there ? because i did use alot of sillicone around the whole metal carrier !

 

[LEE69]

Do it once properly with butyl

 

[Chief117]

Yeah i just ordered some there. Might aswell ask Do you think £260 is reasonable for changing the timing belt and fixing the water pump ? Had my car on the ramp last week and from the bottom you could see coolant residue pink colour. the mechanic said thats why your temprature guage beeps in the morning 3 times cause ur coolant is leaking.
Problem after problems !

 

[LEE69]

new belt water pump and tensioner? yeah good price that.Yeah is a warning the coolant is low/empty they also can beep if they re gunked up, just give them a scrape with a long screwdriver when the coolant is cold.

 

[Chief117]

He didnt mention the tensioner shall call him tomorow and ask.
Thanks for your replys mate !

 

[LEE69]

yeah if tensioner fails.......i'd be replacing it
and no bother

 

[ben450]

Do it once properly with butyl

I agree the silicon is crap. Butyl sealent and mine have been sweet since.

 

[matty_fr]

Sorry to butt in on this, but I'm always paranoid mine will start leaking at some point. Has anyone noticed if there's a pattern to this problem, like if it's just certain models or a certain year of mk1's that get the leaky door seals, or is just all of them?

 

[traumapat]

Its all of them matty.... sorry. But its an easy job to do albeit time consuming

 

[matty_fr]

What do SEAT say about it? It's a pretty big problem if you ask me, imagine all that water trapped in/under the carpets and potentially rusting away if left. Can't think of any other car I've ever had that's taken on water like these do :/

 

[potter88]

My rear passenger footwell has started feeling a little moist recently so will have to do that later this month once i've finished all my overtime

 

[h0tr0x]

little tip with the butyl strip i found, put it in the fridge/freezer before you use it, its nowhere near as sticky when cold and much easier to handle.

 

[Cupra Ross]

You'll do a better job if you totally remove the accessories carrier to put the butyl tape on. That way you can be sure that all of the old foam sealant and silicone is off. If you do it this way, you need to lower the window until you can see the 2 clamping bolts through the holes in the carrier, loosen the clamping bolts, raise the window again, tape the window to the top of the door then completely lower the window mechanism (window stays in place). You can now remove the accessories carrier plate complete with window regulator.

If it's been sealed with silicone, be very careful not to bend the accessories carrier when you're prising it away from the door. If you bend it out of shape, you'll find it very difficult to seal it again.

Good luck.