Water retention in the doors...

Water retention in the doors...

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Discussion

shoggoth1

Original Poster:

815 posts

272 months

Thursday 30th May 2002
quotequote all
...and how to avoid.

You may notice that on the underside of each door there are 3 holes.

These may be finished off with nice plastc plugs - remove them.

The holes are there for 2 reasons, they allow access to the bolts that hold the interior trim panel on and they allow water to exit. The window, where it meets the door, is not a perfect seal (it's not meant to be) and don't worry about the electrics they are protected within the door by a rubber curtain.

Apparently, someone in the finishing department at the factory started fitting these plugs (to finish the door off I assume?). Hence , you leave the car in the driveway (like me) and it rains overnight. The next morning you are fitting your overmats (like me) and think to yourself 'the doors don't usually slosh'. You get on your hands and knees, find said plugs (like me) and pull one out. Now (like me) you're kneeling in a puddle of water with a 'slosh' free door.

The danger is that if the car is left out (with plugs left in) and it rains heavily then the water in the door could reach a level where it will interfere with the electrics, and we don't want that.

The above advice is from the dealer/factory, passed on for your motoring edification and delight.

Cheers.

lrussell5

567 posts

270 months

Thursday 30th May 2002
quotequote all
blimey good tip. I'm off to check mine now

richb

52,749 posts

291 months

Thursday 30th May 2002
quotequote all
My Mum has tablets for this. R...

JonRB

76,105 posts

279 months

Thursday 30th May 2002
quotequote all
On the Chimaera these holes aren't low enough and I've had to have extra ones drilled to allow the water to escape. Sounds like the Tamora also has them.

Its a bit worrying that someone at the factory obviously saw fit to block up these essential holes with plugs!

dicky

928 posts

291 months

Thursday 30th May 2002
quotequote all
shite........will look when drier tomorrow ta for the nod

shoggoth1

Original Poster:

815 posts

272 months

Thursday 30th May 2002
quotequote all
They're low enough on the Tamora, right along the very bottom of the door. Each about an inch in diameter.

Cheers.

MikeyT

16,926 posts

278 months

Thursday 30th May 2002
quotequote all
quote:

The window, where it meets the door, is not a perfect seal (it's not meant to be)



Why isn't it meant to be? Surely it would be better (and a problem solver) if it was ...

gb61390

1,879 posts

289 months

Thursday 30th May 2002
quotequote all
Shoggoth1, just checked and there's no plugs in my holes. The holes are pretty big aren't they!
Cheers.... Andrew

shoggoth1

Original Poster:

815 posts

272 months

Thursday 30th May 2002
quotequote all
Early cars won't have them (my dealers first demonstrator never did apparently - there new one does, or did rather). You would assume that the practice will stop now, so it's newish cars that are affected.

Why the window seal's not water tight in the first place - I don't know, because it's hard to do? I've seen cars before that have drain holes (or slits) in the doors. The point is that this is a design 'feature' and you should not be concerned about the window motor, locking mechanism, etc. because they are protected internally.

Cheers.

dicky

928 posts

291 months

Friday 31st May 2002
quotequote all
yep spot on, mine has got the plugs in the doors,well it won't have for much longer,does annoy you how someone does this.Aren't they meant to be trained?????

JonRB

76,105 posts

279 months

Friday 31st May 2002
quotequote all
quote:
Each about an inch in diameter.
Ah, I see that the design has evolved in that case. The Chimaera's are only about 1/2" and sometimes get blocked. 1" sounds a lot better.

>> Edited by JonRB on Friday 31st May 09:32

lrussell5

567 posts

270 months

Friday 31st May 2002
quotequote all
its virtually impossible to make a reliable total water seal around openiong windows - what happens if it's fully down (below the door top)and starts to rain for instance? Much safer / cheaper engineering solution to make the internals waterproof and drain off. Vitually all car have sloping front window edges which dip below the seal as soon as you open them partially