Leaky Side Window - Advice Please

Custardtart · Sep 27, 2013

My cali has two sliding windows which both leak a bit.

I see that the window has a drain hole towards the front but none at the back.

The problem I was having was I park facing slightly up hill so any ingress was running away from the drain hole and eventually overflowing the channel and down the trim etc.

For now I've started parking it facing down hill.

It's going to the dealer for another job next week - my question is, should I have them look at the windows too or am I wasting my time?

I don't want to have the the van mucked about (which often does more harm than good) and still be left with leaky windows.

What's your thoughts - are these windows destined to leak forever (hence the drain hole) and best left alone?

Californiaman · Sep 27, 2013

I had an incident with my window where it leaked. In my case, it was simply because I hadn't closed it properly. It needed a bit of a thump when new - it has now broken in and closes properly!

SimplyDubs · Sep 27, 2013

Unfortunately not an unusual issue on T5's, fairly common.

Best advice is to make sure the window channels and edges are clean and free from dust and give them a sharp slap when they are closed to make sure they are seated properly.

Some also use a smear... and I mean small smear of silicone grease.

Rgds
M

Barryjm · Sep 27, 2013

Try some silicone spray on the rubber seals, this cured my problem and had been good for the last few years, though I reapply a few times each year.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 4

Andy · Sep 27, 2013

My N/S window leaked at COTF earlier this year. Cupboards below it were all wet. Asked my local van centre to do it under warranty. When I collected the cali they said as they had not been able to replicate the leak, with a hose, they could not do anything about it.
So I'd say it is a waste of time trying to get it done by a dealer.

Custardtart · Sep 27, 2013

I'll get some silicone grease.

Any tips how to get it onto the seal - it looks quite hard to reach parts of it.

Jules · Sep 27, 2013

I had exactly this problem with my first 2009 Cali. Silicone Grease did the trick. It came as a spray which I sprayed into a small container and applied to the window seals with a cotton bud. Took a little while but only needed doing about once a year.

Martin · Sep 27, 2013

I had same problem, SMG replaced the window and its been fine since.

Hubert · Sep 29, 2013

Silicone grease (not spray) applied with a cotton bud around the lower seal and up the sides a couple of inches did the trick for me on both my vans.
I too was concerned about the dealers removing windows etc.

Hubert

Jules · Sep 29, 2013

Silicone Grease comes as a spray or in a tube. Both are available from amazon and it appears both do the trick. It must be silicone GREASE. Not to be confused with the more usual Silicone Spray. My leak was really quite bad resulting in water pooling on the ledge in the cupboard below the window. Certainly worth a try before more radical action.

Custardtart · Sep 29, 2013

Silicon grease on order from EBay....

Custardtart · Sep 30, 2013

Just had the van back from the dealer for some other work and they say they've greased the seals on the windows.

Assuming it works, I think that'll be something I do every so often to keep it dry inside.

choplee · Oct 1, 2013

Cleaned and slightly lubricated

If they leak bad and cant be stopped then they have to rip out the whole window and bond a new one into the bus.... Lovely jubbly ...not :-( ....

spanner · Oct 4, 2013

We had same problem on both sides and tried all the lube stuff, we ended up having both windows replaced under warranty. Was done whilst we waited in about 15 mins and windows have never leaked since. Possibly a fault VW know about as there was no quibble

Andy · Oct 4, 2013

spanner said:
We had same problem on both sides and tried all the lube stuff, we ended up having both windows replaced under warranty. Was done whilst we waited in about 15 mins and windows have never leaked since. Possibly a fault VW know about as there was no quibble

That's interesting as this was one of my warranty jobs that my local van centre was supposed to do. They said they could not get it to leak when they had a hose on it so could not verify any fault & would not do anything about it !!
Maybe I need to take it to a different van centre.

KEV356 · Oct 7, 2013

My 2004 Comfortline started to leak after about 4 years as the seal becomes flattened..keep seal free of dust and grit and silicon grease on the lower part of the seal worked for me...no further problems.

Apply using little finger...a tube from Maplins about 4 pounds..also useful to keep moisture from lights and electrics

Regards

KEVFITZ