Anyone with a VW repaired Pop Top spoiler / wind deflector repair?

FredFlintstone · Sep 9, 2023

Hi,

Please can those that have had a pop Top Wind Deflector/ Spoiler repair carried out by VW attach a few pics to this thread to illustrate how & where their spoiler has been sealed to the roof / pop top structure?

1) - Keen to see how and where sealant has been applied?

2) - Is there sealant around the front of the spoiler (above the windscreen glass)?

3) - Is there sealant around the whole of the spoiler 'cap'?
4) - Are there any gaps around the periphery of the spoiler repair?
5) - Is water able to enter & drain from under the spoiler cover / cap?

Your help is much appreciated - keen to compare mine with other people's.

Best regards

FredFlintstone · Sep 10, 2023

FredFlintstone said:
Hi,

Please can those that have had a pop Top Wind Deflector/ Spoiler repair carried out by VW attach a few pics to this thread to illustrate how & where their spoiler has been sealed to the roof / pop top structure?

1) - Keen to see how and where sealant has been applied?

2) - Is there sealant around the front of the spoiler (above the windscreen glass)?

3) - Is there sealant around the whole of the spoiler 'cap'?
4) - Are there any gaps around the periphery of the spoiler repair?
5) - Is water able to enter & drain from under the spoiler cover / cap?

Your help is much appreciated - keen to compare mine with other people's.

Best regards

Interested in understanding how this is sealed & painted (has a line of sealant been applied & painted etc?

FredFlintstone · Sep 10, 2023

FredFlintstone said:
Interested in understanding how this is sealed & painted (has a line of sealant been applied & painted etc?

View attachment 114234

Interested in understanding if the whole cap is sealed (is there sealant here also)?

MeltedGoldfish · Sep 16, 2023

Mine was done under the previous owner. To answer your questions:

There is a layer of bonding/sealant between the repair cap (wind deflector/spoiler/cowling…whatever you want to call it) and main body.
Front edge (post #2): Mine has no additional sealant applied along the front, it’s just the layer of boding/sealant between the cap and body (which is visible from the outside).
Sides: Had external black sealant applied (not very tidily) between the side of the cap and the front part of the awning rail.
Back: There was a ‘blob’ of external sealant in the area of post #3, but not covering the whole of the gap (but there is still sealant between the cap and body, which I could see using a boroscope from inside the cap – you just can’t see it from the outside). There was also a run of external sealant along the top back edge (across the width of the van) where the rubber strip at the front edge of the pop top mates when closed.
None of the sealant was painted.

You can see the sides and back in this photo:

As you’ll also see from the photo, the strip along the top edge was badly dried/cracked (and the protective tape was lifting). Unsurprisingly this was leaking (but only when the roof was down), which manifested in a wet passenger footwell. But it didn’t track directly – it was pooling inside the cap when the van was parked nose-down on my drive, then pouring in and down the A-pillar when the van was levelled-off. During the invest I also discovered a small secondary leak that was getting in through the ‘corner notch’ – ie the area you’ve circled in post #3 – as there was a small gap in the bonding/sealant between cap and body (only visible using a boroscope from inside).

Have a look at these two threads which have more detail:

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/water-leak-do-i-need-to-spend-£2500-pounds-to-replace-the-infamous-roof-panel.39243/page-3

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/is-this-normal-after-roof-corrosion-repair.11181/

So, water shouldn’t be getting under the repair cap, and there is no place for it to drain to if it does….other than into the cabin. Mine happened to be tracking down the A-pillar, but I think others have suffered from wet headlining.

Since this photo was taken, I’ve re-done the sealant myself along the back edge using Sikaflex 521 (twice…it started leaking again a few months after my first attempt), but also sealed the bottom ‘corner’ and along the whole side (or up to the awning bracket on driver’s side – see post #37 of the second link above) to be sure and close off any other routes in.

Hope that helps.