Just in case anybody wasn't sure what I'm banging on about...

I've had them in for about 6 months. Classy! But... The inside has totally dried out now.

It was terrible before I did this even in light rain. Damp smell has gone and

very little condensation in the car. A great temporary fix to get the car dried out

before doing the sealing. I'm off to pick up my tixophalte gunge tonight.

Nice dry day forecast for tomorrow. So it may be the day to get this fixed once and for all. :yes:

I will happily donate my curtains to anybody who wants them when the doors are fixed.

oh... and they add 10bhp :rofl:

Loving that one mate, cheered me up a treat!

Just has to re-do mind after it was done by a dealer a few years ago. Wasn't done correctly and the seal had just gone again. I didn't notice the leak straight away and it leaked fairly badly so I will have to pull out the carpet and sound proofing.

Just a note about the rivits mine is a 2004 model and has the carrier riverted on. Again when the dealership done the job they drilled the rivits out but chose not to retrieve them from the door which in turn partly blocked the drain hole in the door which probably didn't help matters.

I would also suggest before putting the door card back on that your check that the seal has worked.....it may be common sense but easy to forget when your rushing to get the job finished.

wonder why they took the carrier off to seal it? you don't need to touch it.

Polyurethane sealant, hope you never need the windows replacing or any work done inside the door carriers, that stuff will be a bugger to get off. Guaranteed to keep the water out though, lol.

Well I'm about to find out as 10 days after having sealed the carriers my window regulator has broken... :'(

Well I'm about to find out as 10 days after having sealed the carriers my window regulator has broken... :'(

lol, My regulator went as I....... put the window back up HAVING JUST SEALED IT!..... And then it started to rain.. I honestly kid you not!

Hopefully your seal will still be a little soft and will come away quite easily. The only plus side of it going soon after being sealed.

Well I'm about to find out as 10 days after having sealed the carriers my window regulator has broken... :'(

Crikey I feel your pain.

Crikey I feel your pain.

Thank you!

I'm hoping that as it's the second time I've had to do the regulator I'll have learnt and it'll be easier - but then again I'm also thinking this is probably the 3rd or 4th time the trim has been off somehting is bound to break...

Just in case anybody wasn't sure what I'm banging on about...

Great bit of improvisation

To be honest if my rear door seals fail, black bag and black clothes pegs, jobs a good'un

Update,

I've now done both mine and Bezzys car using the tixophalte.

So far both are holding out nicely. He text me last weekend to say

how happy he was that his hadn't leaked despite some very heavy rain.

Interestingly Bezzy had attempted this repair previously using bathroom sealant.

When we removed it it before resealing with the Tixophalte it was clear it hadn't stuck

at all well to the ancillaries carrier plate.

Since doing mine I've had little or no overnight condensation issues

and the interior hasn't misted up at all. Well worth the effort ;yes:

Update,

I've now done both mine and Bezzys car using the tixophalte.

So far both are holding out nicely. He text me last weekend to say

how happy he was that his hadn't leaked despite some very heavy rain.

Interestingly Bezzy had attempted this repair previously using bathroom sealant.

When we removed it it before resealing with the Tixophalte it was clear it hadn't stuck

at all well to the ancillaries carrier plate.

Since doing mine I've had little or no overnight condensation issues

and the interior hasn't misted up at all. Well worth the effort ;yes:

This has worked a treat! Can say that I've only had problems with condensation when several people are getting in the car wet, but then air con or normal fans clear this very quickly until everyone has dried out! I'm really happy with the repair, and don't think I'll be having to remove the door cards any time soon, but only time will tell! Had several heavy downpours, and the car has stayed dry through all...! Woop woop, finally fixed and dry!!

You need a sealant that won't set hard as you might have to take the part off again, I used a non setting caravan sealer which will wipe off with turps and then you can cut easily with a knife, if you use silicon it would be a swine to remove, anybody tried it ? cheers - Stuart

Hi all, I am a new mark 1 Fabia VRS (2005 vintage) owner. Loving the car!

However, the previous owner was not so interested in why there was a damp smell in the car :(

Anyway, I used this and other Fabia forums to pinpoint the issue to the rear door carriers. So I am about to embark on the repair many of you have already done!

I was wondering, do I need to purchase a bag of door panel clips to replace any that are likely to break? If so, can you get these anywhere other than a Skoda parts department (i.e. Halfords)? I read a post somewhere where a guy bought a bag of them for just a couple of quid. Are they that cheap from Skoda, because that seems pretty cheap to me.

Once repaired, I have to get rid of the damp smell...maybe it will go once there's no more water coming in...anyone like to comment on their experiences? I was going to stick the car in the garage and run a de-humidifier inside the car overnight to try and pull the last bits of damp out...then maybe sprinkle bicarb on the carpets, and even try the old charcoal or coffee grounds trick...gotta get rid of the smell as the family have nicknamed the car "Swamp Thing"!!!

Cheers all...

Just found this forum.

I have trouble for a long time with the rear nearside door with the bottom few inches of the inside of the door becoming wet after rain.

I have always thought the rain is getting in between the rubber window seal and the glass on the outside and have tried sealing along there with a bathroom sealant. Still seem to get water in on occasions so am I sealing in the right place or would I be more successful with the Tixophalte mentioned above?

Keith

Door carrier repair guide

You need a sealant that won't set hard as you might have to take the part off again, I used a non setting caravan sealer which will wipe off with turps and then you can cut easily with a knife, if you use silicon it would be a swine to remove, anybody tried it ? cheers - Stuart

Yes, mine had silicone on before we used the tixophlate stuff. It was a complete swine to get off and wasted a lot of time, more time than the rest of the work involved actually - best to avoid silicone based stuff, it doesn't stick so well, and unless you live in the desert you'll never get the carrier dry enough for it to stick anyway!

Hi all, I am a new mark 1 Fabia VRS (2005 vintage) owner. Loving the car!

However, the previous owner was not so interested in why there was a damp smell in the car :(

Anyway, I used this and other Fabia forums to pinpoint the issue to the rear door carriers. So I am about to embark on the repair many of you have already done!

I was wondering, do I need to purchase a bag of door panel clips to replace any that are likely to break? If so, can you get these anywhere other than a Skoda parts department (i.e. Halfords)? I read a post somewhere where a guy bought a bag of them for just a couple of quid. Are they that cheap from Skoda, because that seems pretty cheap to me.

Once repaired, I have to get rid of the damp smell...maybe it will go once there's no more water coming in...anyone like to comment on their experiences? I was going to stick the car in the garage and run a de-humidifier inside the car overnight to try and pull the last bits of damp out...then maybe sprinkle bicarb on the carpets, and even try the old charcoal or coffee grounds trick...gotta get rid of the smell as the family have nicknamed the car "Swamp Thing"!!!

Cheers all...

I hope you're enjoying your new car mate! The damp smell can be easily solved by following the door carrier repair guide. There's one knocking about somewhere, I'll try and find a link for it, just to make life easier for you! The damp smell should disappear once you stop the water coming in, maybe some febreeze will do the trick, there was a thread on here about how to remove it, just have a search through the website search function.

I got my bag of clips fairly cheap. I think I had about 25 for £7.50, still have some left over, I could potentially pass some on if you liked - I don't think I'll be needing them again! That was from a Skoda dealer by the way. Not all clips break, but the old ones become very brittle, so it may be worth replacing the whole lot.

Just found this forum.

I have trouble for a long time with the rear nearside door with the bottom few inches of the inside of the door becoming wet after rain.

I have always thought the rain is getting in between the rubber window seal and the glass on the outside and have tried sealing along there with a bathroom sealant. Still seem to get water in on occasions so am I sealing in the right place or would I be more successful with the Tixophalte mentioned above?

Keith

You'd be much better doing the repair properly with the tixophlate stuff as mentioned above, it's quite an inexpensive repair to do. I would avoid using silicone, as I tried this previously, and it didn't work to be honest, as mentioned above, you can't get the door carriers dry enough for it to stick to the carrier.

Hi all, I am a new mark 1 Fabia VRS (2005 vintage) owner. Loving the car!

However, the previous owner was not so interested in why there was a damp smell in the car :(

Anyway, I used this and other Fabia forums to pinpoint the issue to the rear door carriers. So I am about to embark on the repair many of you have already done!

I was wondering, do I need to purchase a bag of door panel clips to replace any that are likely to break? If so, can you get these anywhere other than a Skoda parts department (i.e. Halfords)? I read a post somewhere where a guy bought a bag of them for just a couple of quid. Are they that cheap from Skoda, because that seems pretty cheap to me.

Once repaired, I have to get rid of the damp smell...maybe it will go once there's no more water coming in...anyone like to comment on their experiences? I was going to stick the car in the garage and run a de-humidifier inside the car overnight to try and pull the last bits of damp out...then maybe sprinkle bicarb on the carpets, and even try the old charcoal or coffee grounds trick...gotta get rid of the smell as the family have nicknamed the car "Swamp Thing"!!!

Cheers all...

Get the ones from Skoda. They're only a couple of quid for 10 and they do the job properly.

I still have 6-7 left around for emergencies.... Like when I decide to reseal my rear passenger door. :(

The "cutains" mod above looks a good way of starting the process of drying the car out. Unfortunately though, in the current weather, the carrier seals will be wet, wetting the metalwork around the joint. Ideally, they would be dry when resealing.

Question: Anyone used flashing tape to achieve this?

You need a sealant that won't set hard as you might have to take the part off again, I used a non setting caravan sealer which will wipe off with turps and then you can cut easily with a knife...

The tixophalte is like this. It develops a skin but stays squidgy inside. It also completely cleans up with white spirit.

It isn't widely available, being a trade product for roofers and the like. I'd try to find some at a specialist roofing

builders merchant like Asphaltic or Wedge roofing for instance. You won't find it at B&Q that's for sure..

http://www.shell.com/home/content/bitumen/products/shell_tixophalte/

...do I need to purchase a bag of door panel clips to replace any that are likely to break?

Once repaired, I have to get rid of the damp smell...maybe it will go once there's no more water coming in...

Yes, it is advisable to get some new clips before doing this job. For your reference the part number is 5J0 867 276

The clips you will get are different to the ones in the car. Read more HERE about the clips.

There are 7 on each rear door and 6 on each front. I replaced the lot as the revised ones are slightly stronger and have

an integrated rubber seal unlike the older type, which have a separate rubber washer.

In my opinion they are better. They are about 20p each from the main dealer,

I have always thought the rain is getting in between the rubber window seal and the glass on the outside and have

tried sealing along there with a bathroom sealant...

...or would I be more successful with the Tixophalte mentioned above?

Can you still open your window mate? The water is meant to go inside the door.

where it is held until it drains out of the holes in the bottom of the door, and then on to the metal

sill away from the car.

Watch this for a much clearer idea of whats needed.

It was a complete swine to get off and wasted a lot of time...

It sure was a swine. And took longer than I'd imagined it would to remove.

Sadly the only thing it stuck to properly was the paint. It didn't stick to the carrier at all well.

It sure was a swine. And took longer than I'd imagined it would to remove.

Sadly the only thing it stuck to properly was the paint. It didn't stick to the carrier at all well.

Swine indeed, even with the use of your fridge/freezer plastic scraper thingy!! Haha!! Nevermind, we're all dry inside now! Ooo err!!

Thanks for the answers and suggestions guys!

I just rang a local Skoda dealers' parts department, the wife is driving past tomorrow so wanted to check if they had the clips in stock. Seems like the part number is 5J0867276. They said they had 7 in stock!! Just 7...LOL...anyway, they're 25p + VAT each.

So, the plan is to do the job at the weekend I think. Going to get Sikaflex from Screwfix for £6.99. Then all the 7 clips that Skoda seem to have in stock (should be £2.10 I guess)...hopefully nothing else will go wrong.

Going to do what I suggested and stick the dehumidifier in the car over night (maybe longer) to draw all the moisture out, yesterdays rain meant the carpets are all wet again...

Thanks again, I'll post on here with word of my success - or failure!

Thanks for the answers and suggestions guys!

I just rang a local Skoda dealers' parts department, the wife is driving past tomorrow so wanted to check if they had the clips in stock. Seems like the part number is 5J0867276. They said they had 7 in stock!! Just 7...LOL...anyway, they're 25p + VAT each.

So, the plan is to do the job at the weekend I think. Going to get Sikaflex from Screwfix for £6.99. Then all the 7 clips that Skoda seem to have in stock (should be £2.10 I guess)...hopefully nothing else will go wrong.

Going to do what I suggested and stick the dehumidifier in the car over night (maybe longer) to draw all the moisture out, yesterdays rain meant the carpets are all wet again...

Thanks again, I'll post on here with word of my success - or failure!

Even if the dehumidifier doesn't completely dry the car out, it will help to remove the damp smell, so would be a good idea to do this in my opinion. Good luck with the work, hopefully you'll have a dry car for the winter...!

If you pull up the carpet and put some newspaper underneath that should absorb some water and just keep changing the paper untill it drys out, I think I have done all 4 doors on our Fabia even after the dealers 'fixed' them. cheers - Stuart

After I did mine I used one of those Air Conditioning cleaning bombs in the car - that seemed to help by killing off all the smelly bacteria that developed from the damp. I had to put up with a residual lemon smell for a week or so but it's fine now.

Just wanted to post with an update. I got all necessary replacement clips from the local Skoda dealer (14 in all), which was as good thing as I needed ALL of them!!

I also bought some of that "No Nonsense Roof and Gutter Sealant" for around £2 from Screwfix. The job took just shy of 2 hours because I was being very careful ;-)

I still managed to snap a tag on the tweeter cover on the first door I did, but it still clips back, once I saw how they are clipped, the second one came out fine - my advice here is to lever with a small screwdriver from the side nearest the chrome door handle, as that is where the main clip is for the tweeter cover, if you lever at the top or bottom, you'll break a tag on it instead, like me!

I wodged plenty of the black sealant all round the door carrier and smoothed it into place with a soapy finger.

After leaving the car outside in all the rain we had this week, there's NO water whatsoever on the door seals at the moment. So I class this as a successful fix!

Thanks again to all who posted to this thread, there is a wealth of useful comments here!

Cheers guys!

This thread still leaves me with some uncertainty as to the best sealant to use.

Silicone = definite no no

Polyurethane (sikaflex, tiger seal etc) = yes it will keep out the water guaranteed, but heaven forbid if you ever need to remove the carrier

Shell Tixophalte = probably the best all rounder but impossible to buy for standard user

Roof and gutter sealant = same as Shell Tixophalte but easier to buy?

Regards drying out the car I guess you could direct the fans to the floor and select max heat and speed and drive with the window open a little and put up with warm feet.

Edited 6 November, 201015 yr by anewman

black roof and gutter sealant is the one you want!!!

trust me

really easy to work with

Edited 6 November, 201015 yr by BigJase88

black roof and gutter sealant is the one you want!!!

trust me

really easy to work with

OP here.....i agree mate.

Got me a sleeve of Everflex roof and gutter sealant for £1.79 from local DIY shop....great stuff.

First time the car has been dry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :p