Water getting in front of roof

[Steeble]

Got water coming in and looked like it's through the front of the roof seal.
Have checked drains at front Nd back and they're clear. Looks like the seal is lifted slightly at the edges. Is there away to adjust the roof so it pulls a bit closer?
Put pieces of paper in when closing the roof and they're held pretty well at middle, a bit worse at drivers side and poly on passenger side.

 

[ArunAlec]

Got water coming in and looked like it's through the front of the roof seal.
Have checked drains at front Nd back and they're clear. Looks like the seal is lifted slightly at the edges. Is there away to adjust the roof so it pulls a bit closer?
Put pieces of paper in when closing the roof and they're held pretty well at middle, a bit worse at drivers side and poly on passenger side.View attachment 72385

Have you had the roof corrosion repair/inspected? Looks like the rubber seal on the lifting section is out of alignment.... pulled forward toward the cap, which might cause the upper section to gape.
As @Hotel California says .. even if water is getting under the roof seal it should drain away via the front drains. Are you getting water inside the van?

 

[Steeble]

If water is getting under the seal it should drain thesame way as it does with your roof up , so i would look further than just the seal....

Where else would it come in? Only front of canvas which seems to be wet so assume it's water coming when driving? Other potential ways in?

 

[Steeble]

Have you had the roof corrosion repair/inspected? Looks like the rubber seal on the lifting section is out of alignment.... pulled forward toward the cap, which might cause the upper section to gape.
As @Hotel California says .. even if water is getting under the roof seal it should drain away via the front drains. Are you getting water inside the van?

Just coming in at the front. Came in the van once when it had collected in the bellows and ran into the cab through the hatch when I braked

Have you had the roof corrosion repair/inspected? Looks like the rubber seal on the lifting section is out of alignment.... pulled forward toward the cap, which might cause the upper section to gape.
As @Hotel California says .. even if water is getting under the roof seal it should drain away via the front drains. Are you getting water inside the van?

Not sure if corrosion repair was done, got the van last year. It's 2013

 

[Steeble]

If it only happens after driving in the rain as you say , check the seal , pull it away clean things and put it back .
Try a waterhose test .
When parked up water comming in should drain . Now in winter with snow building up on roofs there‘s more chance of water finding it’s way in .

Is yours parked outside and on a slope ?

Parked outside, fairly level. I can push the roof down a bit which seems to close the gap. Isn't there any way to adjust the scissors on the roof?

 

[Perfectos]

You can adjust the front roof sealing on a beach.
the latching buckles, both sides, can be adjusted to pull the roof down harder onto the seal.
there are two fixing, for each buckle, which are apparent when the buckles are fully open.
simply undo the screws that attach the buckle to the bodywork, slide the buckle down a few millimetres and re tighten until you achieve the desired compression of the roof seal ( do not over do it )

 

[Perfectos]

Check your front roof cap is fully sealed ( visual) and try the hose test (watering can) suggested above, look carefully where the water goes

The roof seal is one continuous peice of rubber, it can be re seated by removing it from the roof in section, clean the seating and refit ( in section ) ensuring the seal makes contact with the opposing face as it should do.
your seal does not look to be sealing correctly but as HC says water should escape (via the front / rear drains.
I would start by removing the front section, clean and reseat the seal ensuring the corner of the rubber sits correctly against the roof. this may involve removing one side at a time and adjusting the seal along the long side(s) of the roof, to ensure the corners sits more square to the front cap.

In your photo the corner of the rubber seal, looks to be angles up and toward the front cap, you can adjust (squeeze or open up) the seal to reshape the metal gripper within the rubber to ensure it sits better on the roof panel reveal.

 

[andyinluton]

your seal does not look to be sealing correctly but as HC says water should escape (via the front / rear drains.

The water won't get as far as the channels to get to the drains, if it comes in the middle it will pond in the folded roof & soak through the zips for the front window.

I would only open the roof hatch very carefully, there's likely to be a big puddle sitting on the top of the folded roof material.

 

[Steeble]

You can adjust the front roof sealing on a beach.
the latching buckles, both sides, can be adjusted to pull the roof down harder onto the seal.
there are two fixing, for each buckle, which are apparent when the buckles are fully open.
simply undo the screws that attach the buckle to the bodywork, slide the buckle down a few millimetres and re tighten until you achieve the desired compression of the roof seal ( do not over do it )

I'm hoping this has worked. Opened roof up, dried everything off. Left the heater on for a couple of hours and left a basin of cat litter in the van for a couple of days to dry out.
Adjusted the buckles to pull the roof down a bit and bent the rubber seal down a bit and looks like no gap anymore.
Also managed to open the drain on passenger side sliding window using a machined hack saw blade. Looked the slot was totally sealed.
Hopefully all sorted now but next drive in heavy rain will tell but looks to be sealed while parked

 

[Perfectos]

I'm hoping this has worked. Opened roof up, dried everything off. Left the heater on for a couple of hours and left a basin of cat litter in the van for a couple of days to dry out.
Adjusted the buckles to pull the roof down a bit and bent the rubber seal down a bit and looks like no gap anymore.
Also managed to open the drain on passenger side sliding window using a machined hack saw blade. Looked the slot was totally sealed.
Hopefully all sorted now but next drive in heavy rain will tell but looks to be sealed while parked

Good news I hope,

can you post some pics of the adjusted roof and a simple description of how you did it for others reading this thread in future ?

 

[Steeble]

Good news I hope,

can you post some pics of the adjusted roof and a simple description of how you did it for others reading this thread in future ?

I followed the instructions above. Put roof up and use torx bit to loosen the 2 bolts on each roof catch. Pulled each of these down by a few mm and tightened. I also pulled the rubber seal off at each front corner on the roof and bent it down so the bits what were lifting now didn't leave a gap. Can take pics tomorrow as pretty wet and cold just now

 

[Perfectos]

Hi Steeble, I’m not be pedantic, I know you followed the instructions I posted, it’s to help others comprehend.

 

[Steeble]

Annoyingly I've still got water coming in. Looks like the rails for the roof bars are lifted. Should they be sitting closer to the van? Could I fill with silicon or something similar? Is there a better fix

 

[dfps]

Can anyone please tell me how deep the front roof drain holes are. ( The drain holes that are under the black removable plastic trim.)
I have used some stiff nylon strimmer cable to push into the holes but it only seems to go in
about 70mm before there is a resistance which could be a blockage of a shrap change of direction that the strimmer cable is too stiff to follow.I have tried more flexible cables but to be honest it feels the same.

1. Do the drainage channels change direction sharply 70mm in ?

2. What do people think about using compressed air to clear the drainage pipes ?

3. Where does the water that should go down the pipes eventually come out ?

Thanks

 

[dfps]

Hi Hotel California,
Thanks very much for the advice. I wish I had read up about it more before going ahead.
If I think I may have already damaged or dislodged one of the pipes as one side is draining very easily and one side is not draining.
Will I be able to see the pipe by removing the "A" pillar internal plastic trim on that side ?

 

[Jabberwocky]

Annoyingly I've still got water coming in. Looks like the rails for the roof bars are lifted. Should they be sitting closer to the van? Could I fill with silicon or something similar? Is there a better fix View attachment 72698View attachment 72699

Could those roof rail parts have been dislodged by a car wash rotor? They certainly should be a closer fit than the photos show.

 

[Steeble]

That does not not look like normal .
You say you don’t know if the roof repair has been done , but that would be my first thing to sort out with the one you got the Cali from or get in toutch with VW to ask if they registred the work being done .
Gently pull away 30cm lenght of the rubber seal arround the roof edges and look for clear tape applied on the roof edge , if tape is there the job has been done and your issues are most likely caused by bad workmanship.
Seems to many things not ok there...

Yes, tape round the edges of the roof. Poured water off and looks like it all running off where it should. Still had some water coming under the trim onto the floor in the passenger side living area. I would've thought this would be window drains but they're clear

 

[Steeble]

Could those roof rail parts have been dislodged by a car wash rotor? They certainly should be a closer fit than the photos show.

Not sure. Survived quite a downpours in the summer and certainly not been in a car wash since I've owned it ( only got it at end of summer) might just silicon everything

 

[Perfectos]

Hi Steeble
sorry to hear your woes continue
If you’re going to silicone the plastic rail ends make sure you tape them down securely (duck tape etc ) whilst the silicone goes off overnight.
look at previous threads for general ideas and work through the issue methodically and logically.
the water coming in by the window could be from the rails issue, is the head lining (pop up in living area) damp ?

 

[Steeble]

Hi Steeble
sorry to hear your woes continue
If you’re going to silicone the plastic rail ends make sure you tape them down securely (duck tape etc ) whilst the silicone goes off overnight.
look at previous threads for general ideas and work through the issue methodically and logically.
the water coming in by the window could be from the rails issue, is the head lining (pop up in living area) damp ?

In going to check all the rivets in the rail. Headlining seems fine but I have been checking the roof more often now. Seems to collect in bellows but inside them. Only know that because when I push the roof up I get a waterfall on my face. My concern about putting silicon round the rail area is blocking up the drain from the channel

 

[Steeble]

Checked the rivets in roof channels Nd they all look fine. Popped up the little plastic tabs. Potentially one of the mastic filled holes was a little damp and maybe had a hole. Knocked them all out and filled with silicon, hopefully sorted now. Will find out next time it rains

 

[Steeble]

Looks like silicon did the trick. Raining all day and inside looks to be dry

 

[Feggers]

Checked the rivets in roof channels Nd they all look fine. Popped up the little plastic tabs. Potentially one of the mastic filled holes was a little damp and maybe had a hole. Knocked them all out and filled with silicon, hopefully sorted now. Will find out next time it rainsView attachment 72754

Hi I'm having a similar problem...could you send photo with a larger view (I mean more of the van in the photo) so I know where you put the silicon...that would help me...thanks

 

[Steeble]

Hi I'm having a similar problem...could you send photo with a larger view (I mean more of the van in the photo) so I know where you put the silicon...that would help me...thanks

Ill get one when I get home. It's in the rails at front and back. Should be a plastic tab at each end in the bottom of the rail

 

[Feggers]

Hi Just thought I'd let you know that I did the same thing putting silicone in the roof rails and that seems to have fixed the leak problem...I've hade several heavy storms and no leaks...so a big thanks Steeble...