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Leaking rear side window.

  • Thread starter Samanthaboyd001
  • Start date
Samanthaboyd001

Samanthaboyd001

Messages
12
Location
London
Vehicle
T6 Ocean 150
Hi

The widow that is behind the sink seems to be leaking when it rains. I found water inside the cupboard. It’s not the part of the sliding window but seems to be a part of the main window.

Has anyone had this before and do I need to have the window removed and re stuck in?

Thanks in advance.
 
Best to do a search for “window leak”.
You are one of many!
Bottom line is window seals are not 100% waterproof and in many cases the integral drains (part of plastic window frame) are a poor design and leak into cupboard.
 
Hi

The widow that is behind the sink seems to be leaking when it rains. I found water inside the cupboard. It’s not the part of the sliding window but seems to be a part of the main window.

Has anyone had this before and do I need to have the window removed and re stuck in?

Thanks in advance.
Hi i have had this and cured it by cleaning all the seal’s and then coating the seals in some silicone grease.
 
I had the same issue on my brand new Cali. I cleaned the rubber seal and window surround and so far its been leak free.
If it’s new I would get it looked at by the dealer. Although you may have stopped water getting past the window rubber you will still have a problem with the ineffective drains.
 
If it’s new I would get it looked at by the dealer. Although you may have stopped water getting past the window rubber you will still have a problem with the ineffective drains.
Just like almost 100% of T5 & T6 owners with rear sliding windows since 2003!
 
Have a read of this tale of woe

 
Have a read of this tale of woe


I wonder if part of the problem is that the majority of owners and worryingly dealers are focused on the poor window seal not appreciating that water drains are the real issue.
 
Hi,
We have the t6.1 and had that problem. Took nearly 2 years to convince vw that it was a manufacturer problem. In the end they replaced it and its fine now. Noticed the water on the top of the water tank, and in the cupboard and below the cupboard too.
 
This thread and similar ‘leaking window‘ threads have me wondering about prevention. My mind started to race down a few rabbit holes, but here it goes.

First, a few questions to ponder, directed to those with the actual experience of the issues.

1. Is the root cause of the issue the drain design; the poor manufacture of the drain system; the seal design; or the poor manufacture of the seal?
2. Does the root cause fix (such that the problem will never ever occurs) involve VW altering its design of one or more of the parts?
3. Have modified or corrected parts been fitted by VW (And was this a success)?
4. Is there any experience of VW undertaking any scheduled inspection or maintenance?

IF the conclusion is that it’s down to a poor design, which isn’t being corrected by VW, AND that VW aren’t doing any scheduled maintenance or inspection, then perhaps as owners it’s down to us to devise some preventive maintenance/ inspection tasks.

For instance, consider how long it takes for the drain to become blocked (mean time between failures), and then think of a simple test to see if it is actually blocked, at about half the expected MTBF. (period could be fine tuned depending on local conditions).

If the test shows the drain to be blocked, what remediation task is needed to clear it (without causing damage or other failures)?

Realistic approach?
 
As is so often the case, I’m of the opinion that there is no one root cause unless you’re willing to settle on precipitation!

Root cause goes back further than drainage & you have to ask why some fail from day1, others last 5years before catastrophic failure and other vans go on for 20yrs without any sign of failure despite their lack of design revisions to remedy the problem.
 
If it’s new I would get it looked at by the dealer. Although you may have stopped water getting past the window rubber you will still have a problem with the ineffective drains.
As a follow up, the window has continued to leak. The water seems to be overwhelming the drain channel, I don’t really see how it can clear any volume of water as the drain holes are pretty small at the best of times.

I’ve taped up the window until I can get it to the dealer again (I took it previously with a number of other niggles but they didn’t get round to looking at the leak). Will be interesting to see if taping up the window stops water ingress.
 
Sikaflex or CT1 is the sealant of choice and about the only way to stop the damned things from leaking. Makes the window rather harder to open, though...
 
Sikaflex or CT1 is the sealant of choice and about the only way to stop the damned things from leaking. Makes the window rather harder to open, though...!
As a Land Rover Defender owner I am very familiar with the qualities of Sikaflex…! Didn’t expect to be using it on a 2 month old £70k camper though…
 
You obviously didn't do your research properly then :)
Very true, I’d seen the issues with pop tops, DSG boxes, engines, sliding doors and some of the water leak issues but I lived in hope that ours would be the exception.

Anyway, I’m sure it’ll be alright in the end….;-)
 
You will eventually get used to parking it with the drivers door facing to the prevailing wind\rain and ideally on an uphill slope. That way you get the double bonus of only leaking into the step footwell side, and not soaking the canvas or headliner when the front drains are blocked.

That is of course if the connected the front drains properly in the factory
 
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