Just bought a 2002 fabia which for it's a age is in good condition and drives like new. The only thing so far that I've noticed may need attention is the rear door cards have water marks on them. I guess this is a sign of water leaking in somehow. Any suggestions on what I should check and how to sort it will be very much appreciated.

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/2158-warning-fabia-door-leaks/

Have a search mate it's a common fault for the Fabias. The rear door carriers seals. Quick fix is some plumbers gold or something like that.

Have a search mate it's a common fault for the Fabias. The rear door carriers seals. Quick fix is some plumbers gold or something like that.

I could be wrong, but I don't think this is 'the usual' Fabia problem of water leaking out of the bottom of the doors into the footwells (which, as has been pointed out, has been covered in other threads), but water stains on the cards higher up (windows leaking or just having been left open during wet weather?)

My wife's '06 Fabia had what appeared to be water marks on the rear door cards when she bought it. The salesman said they would be removed when they valeted the car and, sure enough, when she picked the car up, they couldn't be seen...until the cards dried out again! That's one Skoda dealer I will never do business with again (Simpson's @ Great Yarmouth, if you really want to know.) Even my regular valet couldn't shift the marks.

Anyway, I invested in a spray can of Autoglym Black Dye (got it from Amazon). It's a stain, not a paint. Having masked everything off, I resprayed the whole of each card (so that the sprayed area didn't show). It worked a treat and the cards came up like new.

Cars at dealerships are usually parked up with one of the rear windows slightly open, maybe some water got in through there??

I had a read about door carrier fault and tried to open link to diy fix but just kept getting web page unavailable. I think this is the problem :(

Are your rear carpets damp/wet? If not, it might just be as suggested above and the Black Dye will renew the appearance of the cards.

 

If you are convinced the door carriers need resealing, there are several videos on YouTube. Just search for 'fabia door card leak'.

Thanks for advice. I'm pretty sure there is a leak the carpets are damp but could be from valet car had. I will keep my eye on it before I start pulling doors apart.

Taking the door card off is easy on the back..takes 3 mins at the most.

Buy some door trim clips.

Gently prise off the front piece of trim handle and then slide off the handle part.

Undo the two screws.

Prise off the tweeter (small speaker) and remove torx screw.

Remove window crank by squeezing the circular clip on the inside of the crank and moving it sideways.

Pull off door card from bottom you won't break it but probably will break the clips.

Carefully pull the door card vertically till it comes out from between the glass.

See if there is leaking between the door carrier and the door!

 

 

 

Taking the door card off is easy on the back..takes 3 mins at the most.

Buy some door trim clips.

Gently prise off the front piece of trim handle and then slide off the handle part.

Undo the two screws.

Prise off the tweeter (small speaker) and remove torx screw.

Remove window crank by squeezing the circular clip on the inside of the crank and moving it sideways.

Pull off door card from bottom you won't break it but probably will break the clips.

Carefully pull the door card vertically till it comes out from between the glass.

See if there is leaking between the door carrier and the door!

 

As above;

I removed speaker from the door card to gain full access to inner zinc coloured window winder (carrier) mechanism.

The leak takes place at the bottom between this zinc coloured window winder (carrier) mechanism and the bottom of the door frame itself..

This panel can be held in place with bolts but later models pop-rivets were used.

If rivets, no need to remove rivets, just prise panel away from frame and clean out with a screwdriver all the degraded sealing crap.

If bolts, I guess you could slacken them off and then clean the sealing crap out..

Once cleaned and dried out, use a good sealer silicone/mastic to seal gap.

 

Extra tip: I drilled additional holes between original rivets, then, after applying silicone I added extra rivets to stop zinc card from warping out-of-shape..

Thanks for all your tips and advice. Ordered clips and plumbers gold and will be sorting the doors out this weekend. Looks like I'll be a regular visitor to this forum, great site with loads of interesting stuff. Might even order a sticker for back window.