Footwell leaks: front panel repair/re-seal.

[Morganizer]

Thanks, especially to Golf Cart for laying it on the line.

I'm convinced that water is getting in the side windows, and Lordco is bringing in some AC Delco Silicone Emulsion for me. I'm going to apply that to the door seals and sunroof seal while I'm at it.

Experiment last night: Left the door seals off, and water accumulation at the driver's feet is about the same. If silicone emulsion improves it, then it was the door seals. If not, I'm pulling the headlight as described in Wet Foot Syndrome.

Meanwhile...

I pulled the head liner to remove mold, and to get at my sunroof motor, which runs slow and works hard (I don't dare run it without assisting the movement with a firm hand). I lubricated the cables with silicone spray, and added grease to the coily part of the cable, but only mild improvement. So I removed the motor and gearing assembly, and I'll disassemble and lubricate that.

Here's what I need help with: my sunroof stops, opening and closing, at about 8" open. I have to release and re-press the button to move it past that point, every time. Does this mean someone has reassembled it and screwed up the synchronization? Is the stop supposed to be at fully-shut or fully-open? Or does one rotation of the plastic sync gear put a stop at both ends? How does your sunroof work?

I have a low-roof, with the sun roof over the middle seat.

BTW I bought Concrobium Mold-Control, which was easy enough to use, but I found a sailor online who reversed engineered it, so you can make your own for about $2. I'll post his recipe if anyone is interested.

[nxski]

For the mold, hydrogen peroxide and water in a spray bottle, then brush and vacuum.

[Morganizer]

First of all, the water was getting into my Delica though 2 routes: 1) the side windows (the ones that open outwards) and, 2) the seams in the body above the headlights.

The windows are easy. Just buy a bottle of Silicon Emulsion. See my post on removing the interior (which you don't have to do, just to seal your side windows) for instructions on removing the side windows.

If you're getting water inside the cab, and your carpet's wet under your feet or your passenger's feet…you've got a case of (2) Wet Foot syndrome. Don't worry, it's common among Delica owners, and there's a cure for it. Read on.

Here's the problem: after 17 years of your Delica trundling through the wilderness, the butyl tape that once sealed the seam where the metal panels meet, cracks and crumbles and starts letting water through. This is all happening under the corner body panel above the headlight, where you normally can't see it. So you're going to have to remove those two corner panels, clean up the seam, and re-seal it.

The sealer I chose is DAP Butyl-Flex Gutter and Flashing. Yes, it's used primarily for eaves troughs, but if you read the fine print on the back it's okay for Delicas too. Here's the important part: "Remains flexible and durable in temperature extremes (-40°C to 82°C) - won't crack or crumble. Forms a watertight seal against air and moisture." Okay, here we go.

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Remove the headlights. Remove the turn signal indicator pod. Instructions elsewhere on this site. Go look at them if you need to. http://www.delica.ca/forum/water-in-the ... html#p2303

Remove the corner panels above the headlights. The two screws at the bottom are easy (maybe apply a little WD-40 because they haven't moved in a long while) but the one at the top is troublesome (insert Ray Lamontagne here). It's hidden under the rubber gasket that goes around the windshield, and it's easy enough to lift up the rubber and see the screw, but very difficult to get in there with a Phillips screwdriver and get enough "purchase" (as one astute Delica owner put it) to turn that gnarly, corroded screw. What's worse, the gnarly, corroded, hard-to-get-enough-purchase screw is threaded into a little piece of stamped metal that will bend and twist, and not be where it was before when you go to put the body panel back. I know of which I speak.

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About a half inch over from the screw head, there's a hole in the rubber gasket, to let water drain through. Now it would be nice if this hole were right over the pesky screw, so you could pass the screwdriver through it. But it isn't. So I cut a second hole, like the drain hole, right above the screw. That's how I got "purchase". Dig? So now I've got 2 drain holes in the rubber gasket, and one is right above the screw. Which will probably make it more gnarly and corroded over time, so I've resolved to be a good boy and treat it to a squirt of WD40 a couple times a year. So there.

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Now, my greatest fear in all this was chipping the edge of the windshild with my screwdriver. It really takes some muscle to force it through the hole in the rubber and get that precious "purchase" on the gnarly, rusted screw. Use some Liquid Wrench, if you have it. But really, be careful working at the edge of the windshield. I mean it.

Okay, next you've got to scrape out what was sealing the seam before. If you're lucky, it's just the factory butyl tape, which is so dry and crusty you can practically scrub it out with a toothbrush. Okay, try a little harder, maybe a wire brush, an Olfa knife, some 80-grit sandpaper, and any scrapy thing that seems to clean the seam. Wire brush really did the trick for me.

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If you're not so lucky, some previous owner has gone at it with a gallon of Shoe Goo or the like.

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I've reached the attachment limit...so more in the next post.

[Morganizer]

Not sure why there's another picture of the screwdriver at the end. I didn't ask it to do that. Maybe it's to stress the importance of not cracking your windshield jamming a screwdriver by the edge of it.

No wonder his fix didn't work. Water was pooling up behind the rubbery goo intended to keep the water out. Poor bastard. (probably institutionalized shortly after he sold me the van)

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As I scraped out the Shoe Goo, I discovered a previous fix: looks like putty, the kind you put on storm windows for your house. For real?!! Clearly he didn't consult delica.ca, so I can make fun of him here. Oh well, putty scrapes out pretty easily.

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Here it is, all cleaned up. Properly, you should use some rust neutralizer, which I had on hand, but it needs to be washed off with water, and working on the street, I didn't have the means to dry the seam thoroughly afterwards. I had a hair dryer but lacked the 60 feet of extension cord to reach the curb, so forget it. I deemed it more important for the surface to be completely dry and free of loose material, than to be chemically free of rust. Its bound to come back anyway, no matter what you do, so just do your best. Oh well, maybe it will leak again in a few years and I'll go all red in the face. Or not.

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Next (once it's all clean and dry) apply a bead of DAP Butyl-Flex Gutter and Flashing Sealant to all the seams. Here's where you use that imagination Disney taught you and think like a water droplet. Anywhere gravity's going to make that droplet run down, there had better be sealant. That doesn't mean smear it all over the whole surface and hope for the best (like the Shoe Goo guy) just seal all the seams.

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Notice how high up the bead of caulk goes. I made it reach up under the rubber gasket around the windshield, so it's like it's shingled. Water doesn't normally run up away from gravity, and I'm counting on that being the case. As long as the laws of physics hold strong, I've put a bead of caulk in the way of the water. And I didn't smooth it with the Caulk-Rite tool, because it's going to be hidden where nobody can see it. Really, it's okay.

Next, replace the butyl tape around the edge of the corner panels. This is not for water sealing, more of a vibration thing. Just glom it on. Butyl tape is available at Ackland's Grainger, though you have to order it a day before and they bring it in from their warehouse in Calgary. They will ask you for a business name for the invoice -- make something up. Be creative. Bonus points if you make them stammer or blush.

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Put the corner panels back on. This is where you will notice that one of the stamped metal tabs (the one you had the most trouble getting the screw out) is not where it should be. Spend the next hour wiggling it around with vice grips and taping it with a wooden block, trying to get it back to where it started, so your body panel doesn't look weird.

Put your headlights and turn signal pod back in and your done. No more soggy carpets. Worked for me!

Total elapsed time: a day I'll never get back. Start in the morning, you'll be fine, even if you run into trouble. Or Ray Lamontagne.

[TardisDeli]

There is also a known leaky spot at front of roof, where gutter ends near front window. clear silcone blob there. if you examine it you might see a hairline stress fracture. cheers christinen.

[Morganizer]

So, in the end most (but not all) of my humidity problem was caused by water leaking past the seals on the pop-out windows. I've added to the thread about that here:

http://www.delica.ca/forum/water-gettin ... ml#p118570

Try this first, before you go ripping down your headliner to fix the sunroof, or assuming it must be Wet Foot Syndrome. It's way easier.

[TieMyShoe]

soooo... you wanna fix my leaky crystalite next?

[Morganizer]

Hey, I've got a low-roof, so you're on your own with that one!

[alpo51]

u need to exfoliate with a lufa sponge