Headlining wet?



  • Another year of mechanically trouble free MX3 ownership :D That'll be the 'Ying', now the 'Yang' arrived after 2 days of the car being parked 'nose down' on the drive in probably the two wettest days this year?

    My daughter reported dripping on her leg from the passenger grab handle and to my dismay she was spot on? the fabric around the handle for about 9" in length was soaked?

    Front sunroof drain pipes blocked? NO! filled the channel with water and it drained away no probs? (appeared from drain in front of sill as it should)

    Pulled back headlining expecting to see a drip or two from a split/loose hose, NOTHING?

    The sunroof panel perimeter seal is intact and the panel appears to be centralized with no apparent gaps?

    The windscreen seal at the top is also intact and after pulling back the head lining is dry on the inside too?

    Just wondered if any one else has had this unexplained damp patch in the same location? centered around passenger grab handle? ( the mounting screws go into a 'dry' double inner skin and no where near sunroof tray and they were dry when i removed them?).



  • Ahh bugger that is pants! Only other place I can think it could get in is around the aeriel, but even then how it would work its way to the passenger side is a mystery!

    Hopefully someone chimes in on this for ya.



  • Ay up Mr Fox :) hope your'e well?
    Yes it's a bum hole indeed, more so because I took a whole day last winter to remove headlining and recover it in a 'scarlet' mock suede! it looked so good for the past ten months and now it has a mucky map shaped stain ( so I surmise its water laden with muck that hasn't passed through any sort of filtering material?) Its still looking like sunroof panel seal/tray leakage to me? but nothings shouting out… "it's me" :x

    I may end up taping/siliconing up the panel just as a test to eliminate it from the equation?

    She doesn't see much bad weather as when not in use, she's garaged and for work when the weather is inclement I straddle my numerous pushbikes :P for the 1.7k commute to work :oops:

    One other thought I had while I laid squirming in bed :? was if the inner door seal 'U' shaped gripper part is weak, it could allow water to fill the 'U'channel and then migrate to the interior? trapped under this seal on the interior is the headlining which is in close proximity to the seal 'U' channel that may be allowing water to seep?

    During better weather I will investigate with a hose pipe, torch, waterproof tape and silicon gun to hand! :shock:

    Ps I hope your'e laying those exquisite 'dishes' up for the winter and saving them for best???? :rofl: don't let your local authorities salt/grit quoter spoil em! :(

    Thanx for the response :D

    kev b.



  • Ive had this in the past and its just shear volume of water and size of pipe for it to be take away also parked nose down may not have helped too much either, try some silicone grease on the seal around the roof



  • Hiya dj, Yes I'm thinking exactly the same fella, as for 3 hours today, I spent with very diluted white emulsion paint in a squirty bottle filling sunroof tray and then around seal with lid shut and then hose pipe to wash away, I could not replicate the leak???????? kin mystery I did however have four white puddles at all four corners of car on drive so 'drains' are functioning as manufactured? :shock:
    I also popped the door aperture seal off ( the one fitted to body and not door) I then nipped the U channel with rag covered pliers for a snugger fit and ran a bead of silicon into the grove and hammered it back on with the heel of my hand (now bruised!) :(

    Maybe just maybe, that was it? as its the closest thing to the headlining that could cause the creeping damp patch? a tell tale 'tide mark' was on the upper of the curve in the headlining so it looks like the water soaked 'up hill' from the lower edge by capillary action??????

    I dunno :? just have to pray for a 'Monsoon' to test my theory/repair techniques???? :(

    Thanks for the pointer tho :D

    kev b.



  • It appears my Mexy's recent 'damp patch' was a combination of an ill fitting door seal ( one attached to door) and a loose inner door perimeter seal ( one attached to body )!!!! :(

    The outer 'crescent moon' shaped seal on the door frame allowed the water to enter between the two seals and due to the angle of the car (nose down, about 1 foot difference between front and back wheels) flow forward to the ill fitting, loose inner seal at a point in the body flange where several sheet steel panels are spot welded together, so the seal gripper channel had to suddenly grip 4mm of metal instead of 2mm and the resulting gap has allowed water (lots on sunday :( ) to creep under the seal and onto my sexy 'scarlet' suede headlining causing an unsightly SEX stain :?

    I cant do much about the outer seal? (distorted by suns heat?) but the inner one, I pulled away on the whole top length, squoze the inner spring gripper with rag covered pliers and ran a bead of black silicon sealant into the gripper channel and refitted snugly.

    An hour of full bore 'hosepiping' and TWO very wet days outside and she's back to her dry self ???? the stain came out too. :P

    I went round my sunroof panel with a 0.25mm feeler and it was as 'snug as a bug' all the way round, there's an approx 1mm gap where the two ends of the SR seal meet but that got the 'hose test' big time, opened the roof and SR under tray was dry! :D

    Thnx for pointers folks, hope this helps anyone else with this prob :o

    kev b.


 

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