Octy II - door frame seal replacement?

[jeallen01]

Evening all!

 

The seal that runs around the inner edge of the driver's door frame (i.e. on the chassis, not on the door itself) has got badly torn (I have no idea how that happened) and so I need to replace it.

 

I've got what I hope is a half-decent s/h seal off ebay, and now need to fit that.

 

Thus my question is: do I just pull the old one off, and then push the replacement one into place around the inner edge of the frame, or are there "trim clips" which might fail and need to be replaced? - and, if the latter, then does anyone have any recommendations for what I need to buy, and from where to get them?

 

Thanks in advance for any info.

[chrisund123]

I've not taken one all the way off on an Octavia yet, but I've pulled plenty off the car quite a way for trim removal etc and not encountered any clips or fastenings yet.

[jeallen01]

Chris

 

Many thanks - that's great, and so it looks like I should be able to replace the seal (hopefully tomorrow) without too much time and trouble

[MikeTheThinker]

2 hours ago, jeallen01 said:

Chris

 

Many thanks - that's great, and so it looks like I should be able to replace the seal (hopefully tomorrow) without too much time and trouble

 

I'd recommend starting in the middle and only partially pushing the seal home until you have all of it part attached; then seat it properly.  This might be an abundance of caution but pliable seals do creep and you don't want to end up with either a gap or a bit left wagging in the breeze ...

 

[jeallen01]

55 minutes ago, StickyMicky said:

 

I'd recommend starting in the middle and only partially pushing the seal home until you have all of it part attached; then seat it properly.  This might be an abundance of caution but pliable seals do creep and you don't want to end up with either a gap or a bit left wagging in the breeze ...

 

Also Many thanks as it's been a long time since I have had to do anything like this, and taking into account that this a s/h seal and it might have stretched a bit!

[jeallen01]

Well, I did the job this afternoon, but it did "fight me a bit", and thus some tips for anyone who has to something like that:

The tools you'll proef

bably need:

- at least 1set, definitely preferably 2 sets, of trim tools like these - you need the larger ones to get enough leverage on the door trims to get them away from the seal

- a soft-headed hammer like this one to hammer the seal firmly back in place (would have been very difficult without it) and you'll need to use it quite a lot

- a large flat-bladed screwdriver, and the right size of Torx bit, to remove the front lower door trim

 

The "process" I used:

- Starting at the old seal on the B post (the most accessible), lever as long a length of the trims as possibe back to so you can get a grip on the seal and put a trim tool behind it to pull/lever it off as far as you can (and then stick some trim tools behind it to stop it snapping back in place - that's another reason for having 2 sets of trim tools as you may need quite a few).

- then work around the top, and then the bottom, of the door opening, gradually easing back the trim panels and pulling/levering the seal out

- remove the cover over the fuse box unit, and then the trim on the upper A post to allow you to pull the upper part of the seal off down about as far as the fuse box

- Pull the bonnet release lever off its "spindle", and then release the two fixings (1 large-headed plastic "screw" and 1 torx screw) that hold the front sill trim in place

- Lever that trim up so you can pull the rest of the seal out - my trim piece was a pig to lever up so I jammed large trim tools and the big screwdriver in below it and gradually moved them forward as I pulled out the seal as far as the A post - at which point you should be able to pull the whole seal out from the door opening

 

Now comes the even more difficult part  - fitting the replacement seal:

- Again starting at the B post, lever/hold the trims back and gradully feed the seal over the chassis flange  and then hammer it in place with that soft headed hammer - if you don't do that, then it'll probably not fully seat right down over the flange

- Again, gradually do the same thing along the top and bottom of the door opening, and work you way forward until you to the front top and bottom edges of the opening.

- work your way down the A post from the top - the section next to the fuse box is a pig because there is very little space between the flange and that fuse box

- do the same up from the bottom corner until your have nearly completed the fitting of the seal - and then be prepared for a "fight" to get that small stretchy bulge that occurred in my case to fit down snugly over the flange - again a  lot of hammering!

- make sure the seal is firmly seated all around door frame and then refit the loose or removed trim panels - take your time with the trim panels (especially the A post one or you may break something). NB: I didn't find any loose/removable trim clips, but I did find several metal "brackets" welded to the chassis, and I assume they are there to hold some of the trim in place against the seal - so make sure you get the trim firmly reseated over those.

- make sure the seal overlaps the trim all the way around the door frame (check the opposite doorframe seal as that should be correctly fitted if it's never be removed/replaced)

 

At this point it should be, or at least it was in my case, "job done" as the door should then close easily and firmly over the replacement trim

 

Total time taken (including several trips to the garage at the other end of the garden for various tools :( ) was about 90 mins, but you could probably do it quicker as I'm "not young" and I have a somewhat debillitating sinus infection ATM.

 

FWIW:  the replacement seal must have been from a later vehicle because it had a "Yr 2012" label but it fitted my 2007 car - and the P/N was 0000366601 (this is the driver's door seal).

 

 

 

Edited 20 October, 2020 by jeallen01

[MikeTheThinker]

1 hour ago, jeallen01 said:

Well, I did the job this afternoon, but it did "fight me a bit", and thus some tips for anyone who has to something like that:

 

Thanks for taking the time to write this up; one day someone will be very happy you did so

 

[john999boy]

@StickyMicky was so impressed that he asked if this post could be pinned. I'm happy to do that. 

[jeallen01]

Thanks to both of you, and I hope it will help someone somewhere to sort out similar issues

PS: This was another occasion when I was very glad that that I bought those 2 sets of trim tools over a decade ago

Edited 20 October, 2020 by jeallen01

[SkodaMaxMk2]

Thanks very much for this, I know this is an old post now but this is a job Ive been dreading! 

I have a small dropping of water on the bottom drivers door sill. There seems to be a 'crease' in the trim that could be the culprit.

Trim tools it is!  

[RJVB]

FWIW, I had the seals on the (front?) doors done just after I got my Octy, which was just over 4y old at the time. I remember that the seals were really expensive, the mechanic complained how annoying the procedure had been, and the car didn't get any more watertight.