I am finally about to seal behind the door cards on the rear doors in my Fabia today and noticed the tiny drainage holes for the first time

They are not blocked but they just seem very small, especially for the amount of water that they will come down the drains during heavy rain or when washing the car

I am now thinking about drilling an extra 2 slightly larger holes next to the existing holes, would this be ok to do??

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The drain holes are not the problem.

It is how the water runs off the window and onto the carrier that causes it to come through.

Drilling extra holes will probably just lead the door to rust from the bottom up.

The drain holes are not the problem.

It is how the water runs off the window and onto the carrier that causes it to come through.

Drilling extra holes will probably just lead the door to rust from the bottom up.

But if the drain gets blocked or the water isn't getting out quick enough, would it not just fill up until the water over flows out of the top of the carrier??

I still plan to seal around the bottom and side of the metal plate but just want to know whether drilling will help it further

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Drilling is a bad idea, the burr will most likely block the flow anyway

and you'll expose bare metal to A LOT of water.

The drain holes are sufficient if the seals are ok.

The door is actually designed to hold water and let it out gradually

anyway.

...The door is actually designed to hold water and let it out gradually

anyway.

What? Why? Doesn't sound like a good design to me, if true?

The doors do not fill up with water.

You'd hear it sloshing around for a start.

The water runs off the window, onto the carrier then onto the seal. It's this that causes it to eventually come through the seal and onto the inside. It doesn't even get near the drain holes.

Irrespective of whether its a bad design or not, it works effectively enough. Fabias aren't famous for their door rusting through, but they are famous for the drain design being poor. There's hopefully sufficient experience on the forum to confirm that the best fit for the leak issue is the tried-and-tested one. No-one has needed to drill more holes and no-one's doors appear to be full of water. Therefore, I'd put my money on the fact that the drilling is not advisable and the current drain methodology that gr666 has alluded to is perfectly acceptable.

Edited 15 April, 201313 yr by travs

The doors do not fill up with water.

You'd hear it sloshing around for a start.

The water runs off the window, onto the carrier then onto the seal. It's this that causes it to eventually come through the seal and onto the inside. It doesn't even get near the drain holes.

I didn't say fill up Sam, but if the flow in (very heavy rain) is greater than the flow out

through the drain holes, the door does briefly hold the water until it can flow away.

This can be seen when washing the car, after a good hosing down the water continues to come out

of the drainholes even after the hose is stopped. Thus the door must be storing a certain amount of

water albeit in the short term.

Just clear the drain holes from time to time. I found that a cable tie end works a treat.