Hey all,

Dealing with a water intrusion issue. In fact, one I dealt with a few years ago. I have done all the typical water intrusion fixes and those seem to be holding up. But one that has returned is a leak around the windshield, specifically the passenger side, where the heating tape meets the windshield edge. Anyone else experience this? It appears that someone in the past either did the windshield themselves, or added extra adhesive around the top channel because it looks semi-unprofessional as far as installs go.

Just curious if this is a known issue spot, or I've just hit the unlucky dice with this one.

Cheers!

 

Yes, it's a known point of water ingress. Water gets past the cowl and goes through the pollen filter box. The best thing to do is remove the cowl, put a shield around the pollen filter box, and then put the cowl back on (or put a new one on, even better) with a bead of RVT between the cowl and the glass. For the shield, I used one of those flimsy plastic license plate inserts you'd see at a dealership before a car gets a real plate and just epoxied it to the cabin filter box. My cowl is no longer perfect, so water can get past it for sure....but no ingress. So the shield is really doing the work at this point; that cowl is mostly aesthetic.

 

Confused. We are talking about the side of the windshield? Inside or outside? Sounds like you mean the outside edge. Pics may help. There should be a gap between the glass edge and bodywork. Just a few millimeters. If that was filled with something in an attempt to seal, I wonder if somehow its acting more like a dam and redirecting water into the leak they tried to resolve. I would say to remove that excess and reexamine. Leaks are a fickle thing. Post pics though just to be sure I am on the same page.

 

I guess I didn't read very carefully. 😐

 

Sorry, here is where it's leaking from. It's the side of the windshield, right where the power strip for the defrost connects. My plan is to get some 3m windshield flowable silicon to blow into the gap.

I had used regular sealer 2 years ago, which did the job, but I think with the freezing temps one day, and warm days the next it kind of came apart and started leaking there again.

 

Oh yeah, if this is a repair you had before then I would remove it and try again. Maybe the windshield was replaced at some point, if so it may be missing the oval LR logo and have a Pilkington logo instead, see that before. In any case I think all you can do is attempt a reseal. I doubt the connector itself is the issue, probably just convince and maybe directing the water a bit.

 

It is the Pilkington logo now that you mention it. Yeah, I was thinking about having it all pulled and resealed, but if regular silicone worked for 2 years I think this flowable stuff might do the trick. I'm going to use a little compressed air to ensure it gets blown into the leak too.

 

I dont get why replacement windshields, on any car, leak so much when replaced. Guess it was the one thing factories did get right.