Chasing a water leak in door

[1997silverado1500]

Hi everyone. I have a 1997 Silverado and recently discovered a soaked passenger floor board. I've located the source of the water which seems to be coming from the passengers side door.

 

After removing the door panel I found a drip that was coming from the door panel mounting hole directly below the door speaker. It was coming out at a rate of 1+ oz or so every couple mins. After removing the speaker I could see a steady drip on top of where the speaker would normal sit (factory speakers) The speaker was surrounded by a foam cover to protect against rain I suppose. Water is hitting this protective cover and the making its way to the hole below the door and ultimately into the cab area.

 

I cleaned and inspected the window scraper and it seemed to be in fairly good shape considering it's age. I removed the mirror and found the 5"-6" vertical seal to be damp. I also noticed that the mirror seal was also damp at the bottom.

 

From here I carefully ran water down the channel in the window scraper seal with the mirror off so that I could see how the water was channeling. I ran a slow steady stream down the middle of the window and the channel carried the water to the end of the scraper seal where the mirror mounts. Even with this slow steady stream I could still see a drip coming down steadily where the speaker normally sits. It seems as if water was wrapping around the end of the window scraper seal and making its way into the door.

 

I took the scraper seal off, cleaned and inspected it before re installing. I didn't notice any extreme wear or cracking. My thoughts were to seal just under where channel ends with silicone to prevent water from rolling back in. This is actually what I did and will test it tomorrow.

 

Now, I understand that the inside of these doors are not designed to be bone dry. Some water is going to find it's way in. Because of this they included drain holes at the bottom the of the door which are by the way not clogged and drain with no issue. However, a steady trickle on top of the speaker and ultimately into the cabin area doesn't seem acceptable.

 

I know putting a dab of silicon at the end of the seal is likely not the best solution and I'm actually not completely sure that it will fix the issue. There has to be a "right way" to fix this. Anyone else experience this issue and know how to solve it correctly?

 

Here is a Youtube video that I made which shows what I have discovered so far. Any thoughts?

 

Thanks!

[Doug_Scott]

Doors were never designed to seal water out. Same for dust. Chances are the original speakers either did not sit far enough into the door to catch the water, or, the OEM speaker had a deflector around the top of the speaker. If it were me, I would try to find some curved plastic to mount above the speaker. Keep in mind that if you have a high dollar speaker in there now, any fix you make to the door must be in an area where it will not interfere with other components, and must be tight enough to not buzz at higher volumes.

 

All you really need to is make up some type of deflector. Your video may have shown more details inside the door(couldn't watch much more than 2 minutes of rain). Depending on how big the stream is at the top of the door, you may be able to just stick something in the path of the water to deflect just a bit. By the time it gets to the bottom, that little deflection in the beginning maybe 2 inches at the bottom of door.

 

If you go with a plastic deflector over the speaker, make sure the mounting hardware is far enough above where the water hits to prevent the water from creeping up the deflector.

[1997silverado1500]

Doors were never designed to seal water out. Same for dust. Chances are the original speakers either did not sit far enough into the door to catch the water, or, the OEM speaker had a deflector around the top of the speaker. If it were me, I would try to find some curved plastic to mount above the speaker. Keep in mind that if you have a high dollar speaker in there now, any fix you make to the door must be in an area where it will not interfere with other components, and must be tight enough to not buzz at higher volumes.

 

All you really need to is make up some type of deflector. Your video may have shown more details inside the door(couldn't watch much more than 2 minutes of rain). Depending on how big the stream is at the top of the door, you may be able to just stick something in the path of the water to deflect just a bit. By the time it gets to the bottom, that little deflection in the beginning maybe 2 inches at the bottom of door.

 

If you go with a plastic deflector over the speaker, make sure the mounting hardware is far enough above where the water hits to prevent the water from creeping up the deflector.

Thanks Doug. The speakers were the original and did in fact have a foam deflector around them. I wish I could shoot more video of the inside of the door but I was using a tablet that would not come close to fitting into the door panel.

 

As far as I know, this problem has only recently developed. This means for over 16 years any water getting inside the door was guided elsewhere and never made it to the bottom of the door and inside the cab. I see what you are saying - build a deflector and this will likely prevent water from reaching the speaker and hole beneath it but I must ask why? Why should I have to fabricate something to make it function properly? The factory system has been keeping rain out of the cab for all these years. Something, somewhere has to be worn out to cause a change in the direction in which the rain water flows.

 

I put a dab of silicone at the end of the window scraper where I suspect the water is entering just to see if this corrects the problem. However, once again even if the dab of silicone does work I'm not satisfied with a "patch" and will still be interested to know what has cause the change in the flow of water. Thanks once again for responding.

[1997silverado1500]

Hey everyone.

 

My truck has been apart for over a month now and I still haven't solved this issue even after searching the internet for countless hours for answers.

 

So far I have replaced the outside window scraper seal, mirror seal that rests between the window and the mirror, and the inner door panel seal with no luck fixing the issue.

 

I understand that some water will enter the doors and exit through the holes at the bottom but it's raining inside my door(see above video), not a slow drip or some moisture. The water comes down and splashes all over the factory speaker foam shield (along with other electrical components inside door panel), circles around the shield and collects in the channel where the inner door panel meets the door panel. The water backs up and eventually finds it's way though and into the cabin.

 

I even removed the other door panel and there is a drip in the exact same spot. The drip has eaten away at the factory speaker on the drivers side throughout the years. I'm assuming that water is also entering the cabin on the drivers side, however I couldn't find any evidence of moisture although rust was present.

 

Can anyone help? It just doesn't seem right that this much water is entering the door. Was it simply designed that poorly?

 

Thanks to anyone who is able to help.

[gmtech4]

body shop ,,,,simple ,,,,,its just not working your way ,,,thats why i say that Mike

[Doug_Scott]

I can understand the frustration, but, after 17 years of use, many of the movable parts in the door area will be looser than a new door.

 

You already likely know this, but, some won't. Any time you have water running or dripping off of an natural end inside the door, simply touching this point with an object, the water will flow along that item.

 

If you can see the highest point of this leak, can you get to it, and take popsicle stick, attach the stick to the point the water first drips from, angle the popsicle downwards, and towards the back of the door skin. Maybe use silicone to attach the stick? You can use anything, maybe a strip of rubber attached this way.

 

I think you will find that very few, if any, have this issue. The reason you are not getting lots of ideas, it simply due to lack of exposure for most members.

 

Not sure if I mentioned this earlier (I would go back and read my posts, but I am posting this from my cellphone), but the window wipes or seals at top of door rubbing against the door glass, are in no way a water seal in that sense of the word. You saw the new ones, they were more a brush than a seal. They use that as a brush to wipe off the dust and dirt, too prevent scratching the glass. Oddly enough, that has backfired, near as I can tell. I have heard lots of people complain about the scratches in the door glass.

 

You may end up fabricating some form or a roof over the speaker. It would be significantly faster than spending many days trying figure out the design flaw, only to find out it has been 17 years, truck does not owe you anything, build the deflector to protect the speaker from water damage. You could take a look at crutchfield to see if they sell deflector cones or something like it.

[Duelin]

I don't know if this will help you or not. But this is what I did on one of mine that I had a problem with a leak. Just remember all doors get water in them. That is the reason they have drain holes in the bottom. So that excess water can drain out. Now getting back to what I did. I removed the speakers and placed them inside a Zip Loc bag. Then I re-installed them and trapping the Zip Loc bag under the speaker. In other words the plastic is trapped between the speaker and the door panel. Any water that fell onto the bag would drain off and out the drain holes. After you install the speakers trim the Zip Log bags. Leave about an inch all the way around. Then take duct tape and tape that extra inch of bag flat to the door panel.

[1997silverado1500]

I can understand the frustration, but, after 17 years of use, many of the movable parts in the door area will be looser than a new door.

 

You already likely know this, but, some won't. Any time you have water running or dripping off of an natural end inside the door, simply touching this point with an object, the water will flow along that item.

 

If you can see the highest point of this leak, can you get to it, and take popsicle stick, attach the stick to the point the water first drips from, angle the popsicle downwards, and towards the back of the door skin. Maybe use silicone to attach the stick? You can use anything, maybe a strip of rubber attached this way.

 

I think you will find that very few, if any, have this issue. The reason you are not getting lots of ideas, it simply due to lack of exposure for most members.

 

Not sure if I mentioned this earlier (I would go back and read my posts, but I am posting this from my cellphone), but the window wipes or seals at top of door rubbing against the door glass, are in no way a water seal in that sense of the word. You saw the new ones, they were more a brush than a seal. They use that as a brush to wipe off the dust and dirt, too prevent scratching the glass. Oddly enough, that has backfired, near as I can tell. I have heard lots of people complain about the scratches in the door glass.

 

You may end up fabricating some form or a roof over the speaker. It would be significantly faster than spending many days trying figure out the design flaw, only to find out it has been 17 years, truck does not owe you anything, build the deflector to protect the speaker from water damage. You could take a look at crutchfield to see if they sell deflector cones or something like it.

Thanks once again Doug.

 

With the inner door panel removed and window propped up with a stick, I'm able to get a better look at the highest point of the leak and it's coming in around where the window track, window scrapper and mirror seal all meet.

 

I'm going to try your idea and redirect the water from this point to run down the inside of the outer most part of the door panel. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[Doug_Scott]

Sounds like you may be able to get to the actual source. If so, pack it with either silicone, or grease. I say grease because it will also help repel water. You could also pack the top of the door at that spot with wheel bearing grease. May sound funny, but, grease comes in real handy sometimes. Problem with silicone is it needs to be 100% dry in order to actually stick to the door, grease on the other hand, will displace water, and if you have ever got grease on your wife's favorite bra, you know neither will ever come off again.