Well i FINALLY installed that door weatherstrippng i bought a long time ago. I bought it from EBAY (A1 Auto ebay store) for about 55 bucks and it was from a company called METRO...i think. Anyways well its been installed about two weeks now and while my ride on the highway is ALOT quieter...whenever i wash my car, water STILL gets in the car . ITs good quality rubber..and i installed correctly but its just not sealing well for some reason. Are any of you guys running into this problem who have recently replaced your weatherstripping on your doors?

 

i had the same problem... the window frame is bent. take a piece of paper and shut it in your door. see if you can pull it out. if you can easilx, then roll down your window, brace the joint between the window frame and the door and hit it gently, but forcibly a couple of times until it is bent back into place passing the paper test. i'm sure you could find a how-to on google or something like that.

 

Did you replace the piece that goes in the window channel?

 

no i just relpaced the actual weatherstripping that goes around the door. And when the water comes in thats where (the door channel) i see it coming in from though

 

Where in the channel do you see it coming in?

 

told you guys to grab the FC door rubber strips and just trim it to fit. I never got any leak in my FB's and RX-3's.

 

pretty much where the door meets the beginning roof line (i forget the proper name for this section). Right where the weatherstripping is located at the very top only.

 

Did you adjust your latch yet?



Worked for me. Don't get it too tight, makes the door hard to shut. It's a bit of trial and error but it's easy to do, just get a big phillips and have at it.

Ray

 

Wackyracer your tips are great! The FC weatherstripping must be thicker or something?

 

Yeah, more info on this please. I have been around this forum for a long time, but I have never heard of this trick. Is there a specific brand that you recommend? What area needs to be trimmed?

Jamie

 

adjust my latch?!?! that didn't even cross my mind....i think i will try this. So the latch gives you some leverage to be adjusted?!?!?!?!

 

Sounds like if you loosen those latches and move them towards the inside of the car then it would hold the doors shut tighter? Is that the objective here? Sounds like it might do the trick to me too...

 

that is commonly called the striker, it makes the doors open smoothly...another thing you could try is bringing the whole door in some making it sit tighter against the car. You might want a jack underneath it before you start undoing the screws though because sometimes it can be a pain to hang a door right.

 

As stated above, if a new seal doesnt hold the water out (or even most old seals)
then the frame is bent.
Especially if it runs in at the top front edge of the window frame.

Use the above method of : rolling the window down, putting yout knee on the top of the door panel and just yanking the window frame. Its an old trick my dad taught me way back when, and a couple of weeks ago they actually had it on the show trucks lol.

Anyways It did the trick for me! My old cars doors used to be so loud on the highway, and after I did that the road noise was reduced quite a bit.

 

Ya, that was going to be my next suggestion... the striker can be moved around a little be to adjust how the door closes etc. One thing to do if you plan to adjust it, is to mark the original location incase this does nothing for you.

I'd go with bending the frame of the door in a little first for sure though.

 

Warning guys, this is Rocket Science. You loosen both screws, slide the latch in a mm or two, then tighten the screws back up. Try the door, if you like it, you are done. If you don't, try again.

If you start bending up the window frame to close a gap that is caused by a loose door latch, you might be causing some real damage. Your power window like to have a nice easy ride up that way, etc.

And like I said, adjusting that latch made my A-1 doors seals tighter than a ...., well never mind.

Ray

 

Look at the door striker closely........
Does it look like it has an adjustment?????
The screws are set in a recessed area and will not let you "move it closer" to the body. Once you tighten the screws they will set themselfs back into the recessed area.
Good Luck
L8R

 

did you get the metro ones or the a-1 auto ones? bend the window frame in just anuff the frame bends out over time. it happens alot.

 

Tighter than a dolphins ***: water proof

 

Start with the paper trick and rebending the top of the window frame, I taught kgray this trick after he was having the same issue. Over time, and often because of the way people open/close thier doors, the frame tends to get bent out a tad. The striker is the last part you want to adjust because it will adjust the door, top to bottom. Adjusting the striker only pulls in the rear part of the door. If the leak is down along the A-pillar, adjusting the striker will not help much, until you have the striker in so far the door will no longer close properly.

 

Just use a ton of black silicone!

 

Hmmm, adjusting the door latch in a bit was simple and worked perfectly for me, it took just a few minutes. I just loosened up the screws, moved the latch in a bit and retightened the screws. This reset the latch in toward the body just enough to tighten up the whole door, eliminating the wind noise I was getting out on the highway and passing the paper test.

I didn't have the problem L8R is reporting, not being able to adjust the latch, just reposition it and tighten down the scews, it stays where you put it. And if you move the latch straight in, not up and down, it should still line up perfectly with the locking notch on the door.

It looks to me like the hinges, not the latch, adjust the door top to bottom, or as I would call it, make the door level with the body. In my case the hinges didn't need to be moved in along with the door latch because the front of the door was nice and tight, but I suppose if it were necessary this could be done too. Still, I wouldn't mess with the hinges if they don't need it, they are a lot more difficult to get set right than the door latch.

Bending the window frame might seem like an easy thing do do, but I'd be real careful, bending on that frame could weaken it and misalign the frame with the window runners inside the door. And it shouldn't be necessary if the correct door adjustments are made.

And XLR, that's exactly the words I was looking for to describe how nice and tight the door was after the adjustment, "tighter than a dolphin's ***", thanks!

Ray

 

I agree 110%. I bent mine *maybe* 1/8 of an inch. HUGE difference, even with the original stock OEM seals.

 

yep bending works. especially on a power window car.

one thing though, if you bend too far, the w/s will fold over, a little is good, too much is too much =)

also you can grab the fc or 86-93 higher model trucks, seaming welts, they have an additional peice of weather sealing

 

I also have replaced my seals. I noticed after I replaced the stripping was my door hinges were sagging. The top of the door frame was not running parallel with the body taper it was suposed to be fitting in. After lifting up on the rear of the door, I noticed there was a fair amount of play in the door hinges, causing the door to sag.

I was having problems with the stripping staying on the rear of the door. I used the 3m glue and it worked well. I have yet to replace the hinges.