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Warning: Fabia Door Leaks


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Following seeing this thread I've become a little paranoid. Presently (well since I got the car a couple of months ago) the carpets haven't ever been wet, the door cards are bone dry and there's no smell or condensation in the car however I have noticed every now and then there will be a small patch of water sitting on the black rubber door seal when I open the door. No bigger than a couple of inches and all 4 doors do it but as I said not damp carpets or anything else. What do people think? Do I have a leak?

Most likely, take the door card off for the one which is leaking the most.... the leak is extremely obvious to spot. If dry you should still see a residue trail from the water.

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Most likely, take the door card off for the one which is leaking the most.... the leak is extremely obvious to spot. If dry you should still see a residue trail from the water.

Yep I'd agree, mine was obviously leaking and when I took the door card off the door carrier seal fell out so was obviously the issue.

It is a relatively easy fix. Took me no more than 1 hour for both rear doors.

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Just popped out to the car this morning put a couple of jugs of water into the gaps at the base of each window. After opening the doors all 4 are bone dry no water on the black door seals.

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Ben, I don't think that's a great test, reassuring as it probably seemed. I'm in the same position, new-to-me (well the missus really) Fabia, thought I didn't have this issue, but then...it sat out in the heavy rain for a couple of days last week and I too had the wet seals, but not carpets (rear only I think). I don't think a short sharp test will necessarily reveal the problem if the door-carrier seal is just 'oozing' a bit rather than really boogered, if you see what I mean. If a lot of water goes by quickly, it'll go straight out of the drain holes at the bottom of the door and cause not much bother. Only if there's a steady trickle of moistness coming down the inside of the carrier for a fair while will you see much getting past the seal. I think. I've resigned myself to addressing this, and have already bought some trim clips and a tube of 'gutter and drain' sealant.

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Just popped out to the car this morning put a couple of jugs of water into the gaps at the base of each window. After opening the doors all 4 are bone dry no water on the black door seals.

I agree with WIno this isn't a very good test to do. The foam seal takes time to absorb the water like a sponge then leak, I have noticed movement between the carrier and door acts as a pump to squeeze the water through the seal so this only happens when you are moving or winding the window or trying to dry it out to reseal :)

My latest attempt I have ripped all the foam I can out with a knife because it is obviously porous now (due to rivited carriers) and filled the gap with gutter tape and sealant. For good measure I have also covered over the top with duck tape with is supposed to be waterproof.

It would be a good idea for VAG to come up with a sticky plastic like used to be on the inside of old car doors to seal the inside from the elements.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Do skoda do this repair as a good will ?

I won't say "No" - but I didn't try asking and others have reported not even getting it under the Skoda Used Car Warranty. It may have been done under the original new car warranty in a few cases. My car had already been done and botched when I bought it - but the garage assured me it hadn't been done under warranty.

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I brought my vrs of a private seller sold as seen but ive had problems very minor cheap fixes. Mine is a 55 plate and i cant believe this is happening and car with this fault covered by warrenty or not should be repaired free of charge by skoda. This is there fault not ours

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OK - but you try convincing them. Even contacting Skoda UK is difficult.

Edited by DRJ
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Depends. It is not that hard to get to and do but as you will see on here; there is no guarantee it will seal. I have done my offending door twice and it looks like last owner did them all previously. There is no guarantee either that getting a dealer to do it will be any better and it will cost you of course.

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Mine sealed first time, plenty of good quality sealant will help, really squeezed into the gap. I wouldnt use gutter and drain sealant as it never gets hard/rubberey just stays gooey and gets everywhere. Follow the guide on youtube.

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Has anyone recently done the repair and can advise me weather its easier to pay at skida or attempt myself ?

Do it properly and it's easy. Don't do as someone had done on mine - add self tapping screws to better secure the carrier, then not seal the actual screws. I've done both rear doors on my 2007vRS and it's been perfect both times - the 2004vRS didn't need doing having screwed carriers. Make sure you use a decent sealant NOT silicone, and preferably one totally unaffected by water such as the Plumbers Gold I used.

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Have you watched the video? It depends what you find. In my case there was some old sealant on the offside door so I peeled off as much as I could. On the other side it was "factory fresh" so I pulled out as much of the sealant strip as I could.

Before:

screwedcarrier.jpg

During - the sealant has been applied to the edge but not yet the self-tapping screws (which you'll probably not find) or the rivets:

carrierresealed.jpg

Edited by DRJ
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"whats the wooden spoon for" - the wooden FORK is to hold the door card up, since you don't take it completely off.

"how does the old sealent just give up" - I presume you're saying "Why does the old sealant fail?" - well in my case, as I said, the sealant hadn't particularly failed, though it was very thinly applied at one point; rather the water was coming through the holes created for the retro-fitted screws. No point in sealing it up if you don't stop all the possible moisture paths.

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Good use of bbq tools :) i think im going to attempt this tommorow with a friend who is more mechanically minded :/ what sealant did you use ? And where sells it if possible please

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Technically I wouldn't recommend the use of a wooden fork on a barbecue - but I would recommend Plumbers Gold from Toolstation, specifically since it cures when water's present, something silicone does not, and is much "cleaner" than gutter sealant which many also use successfully.

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You'll also need door card clips as this topic mentions - Skoda have recently increased the charge for these from around 30p to around 60p.

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Does anyone know the part number for the clips that hold the rear door cards on as I have broken a couple whilst removing them today :( and where can I get them from maybe trade part specialist ? Cheers

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