Ok, before anybody shoots me, I know this has been discussed a dozen times before but I'm really thick, don't understand most of what I've read in other threads, and need it explaining slowly and clearly like you would to a five-year-old...

When it rains or I wash the car the bottom of the doors (I believe it is called the door card, cos it certainly feels like cardboard) next to the back seat gets wet, as though water is collecting inside the doors. The footwells do not get wet (the carpet is dry). My understanding is that the door seals need replacing, but I don't know where the door seals are or what they look like. Are they the strips of rubber that press against the window to stop water running down the glass and into the door, or are they located inside the door somewhere?

Can they be replaced/fixed at home or will I have to have a mechanic sort it out?

Many thanks for any guidance.

Hello. I'm not a car person, but, yes, it has been discussed and there is a thread which gives instructions for how you can fix it. Not for the faint-hearted I would say (not being a car person as you could damage things in the process). It isn't the seals, it's a bit (well a lot) of gubbins after you've taken the door card off.

I might have a look later as busy now, but someone else might find it for you meanwhile

Regards

Mo

A proper fix is quite a job, as (depending on the age of your car) you may need to drill out the rivets holding the door carrier onto the door body. The other option is to just pipe some sealant along the bottom edge of the carrier, which is what I've done!

As Mo's just said, this has been discussed at some length, but I don't know if it's goat as far as a pictorial. In summary, though:

To get the door card off, and gain access to the door carrier, you first need to take the armrest apart, by using a trim remover or flat-head screwdriver to remove the front/upper part of the armrest, and then slide the rear/upper part forward and off. This gives you access to two screws that you need to remove. Next, remove the little cover in front of the door handle, by pushing a stiff bit of wire, or small allen key into the little hole half-way down the cover, hidden by the door handle when it's not pulled back. Be careful here, as depending on your car, there may be a little speaker clipped in here, and the whole thing's under tension so if you're too rough, it'll fall apart! Remove the torx screw behind this cover, and then lastly remove the window winder by pushing the collar between the handle and the door card in opposite direction from the way the winder crank goes. You can do this with you fingers, but otherwise, there's a similar hole thing going on as with the trim by the door handle, so you can push this with your bit of stiff wire, or small allen key.

Now all you need to do is pull the door card away from the door to unclip it, and then remove the top of the card from the window opening. You will probably wreck one or more of the clips when you do this, so it's worth getting some spares before you start!

If you want to fix it 'properly', there will be various bits you'll need to remove from the door carrier at this point, but having not been so conscientious, I don't know what's involved there!

Anyway, once you've done whatever you decide to do, you just put the door back together in reverse to what's described above. It's important to check that each of the clips has their neoprene washer, as this is important to stop any leaks around the hole where the clip fits.

HTH

You don't have to take the carrier off any more to fix this.....

Fabia-vrs.com - Re-sealing Fabia Rear Ancillaries Carriers

Thank you all for your replies. I'll take a look at removing the relevant trim when I'm feeling brave and purchase some of the sealant.

^ One very nice how-to there! Didn't go to quite such lengths as using automotive sealant (just some stuff I had left over after fitting our new bathroom - no-one can see, after all!) but if a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well!!!

Nice one, Stu

have a look at this post on this forum

Warning: Fabia Door Leaks (Multi-page thread 1 2 3 ... Last Page)

james

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/fabia/warning-fabia-door-leaks/2591/

noticed this issue on mine today, got it booked in with Skoda next week as well as a few other things to take a look at under warranty. Hope they can fix it.

Only had my VRS for two weeks and it has only done 2K miles and mine are shot too, going into dealer to get sorted under warranty.

This is a very common fault with the VRS one of its many little suprises.

NEED TO GET RID OF THE SMELL!!!

I have same problem with mine after driving through an Intense Rain Storm the other day. The biggest problem now is that the car stinks inside and has done for the last 2 days.

It took me a day to figure out what the problem was, and then I removed the back 2 floor mats and the floor carpet was wet and that is where the smell was coming from...

It really stinks. I want to know a good way to get rid of the smell. My girlfriend desciribed it as smelling like 'Cat We.e' which I think is quite true. I've been driving along to work with all 4 windows open, but that aint fixed it yet. I've also tried using the 'foot' blowers on the Hottest setting at full power (4) to see if that helped. Not so far... Any advise on how to get rid of this smell greatly appreciated...

The smell is coming from the soundproofing felt under the carpets. If this has got wet, you'll have to take out the rear seat squabs, peel back the carpet as far as you can and dry it out with a hairdryer or fan heater or some such.

As far as the carrier repair is concerned, so long as it is done thoroughly, the silicone sealant approach seems to be completely effective, or at least it has been on my car. The design of the carriers is so unbelievably poor, with a huge gap between the rivets at the lowest point on the door, that I don't see how you could ever achieve sufficient pressure between the carrier and the door to form a decent seal with the feeble bit of foam rubber Skoda use, short of adding some extra screws or rivets which is not really an option due to the risk of rusting.

I found putting a few sheets of newspaper in the footwells under the mats did a pretty good job of soaking up the leaks before I sorted my rear doors. Change the paper once a day, and you should be dry in a few days (assuming you've fixed the leaks). Urine-type smells can also be down to bacteria on the air con condenser - have a search back on here if your car still smells once it's dry...

I've never found anything better than a weak solution ammonia to get rid of any smells (whatever they are). Bucket of water, a couple of tablespoons and a wipe over is all. Open windows and leave beforehand and leave to dry naturally. Purchase from chemist or hardware store - and don't use neat or breathe the fumes as poisonous.

That's providing you are dealing with a resulting smell. Won't help of course if the source has not been corrected.

Regards

Mo

ok, thanks for all the replies and I will try some of them to see how it goes.. but i still need to get the initial fault fixed, so it does not happen again. I shall have to contact my local Skoda workshop as I am not as skilled to fix this myself.

In my line of work, we have very stringent checklist for QA (quality assurance) before we enter any of our products on to the market, you would have though Skoda has 'Is Car Waterproof?' on their QA tests checklists....

ah well...

In my line of work, we have very stringent checklist for QA (quality assurance) before we enter any of our products on to the market, you would have though Skoda has 'Is Car Waterproof?' on their QA tests checklists....

They probably do, provided the parts meet their specs, and also the assembly. Trouble is with hundreds of thousands of units being produced every year, they can't all be 100%. This is part of the reason (another part being labour cost) why premium car brands are supposedly more reliable - they have a higher threshold for rejecting parts and/or workmanship, which will cost more in terms of rejected parts and reworked assembly...

My erstwhile Polo leaked - literally flooded so much so that we had to bale out Got fed up of garages telling me it that it would, since Polos (mints) have a hole in the middle.

Luckily on here, you can learn what the problem might be

Best

Mo

Discovered now that my recently fixed doors are not actually fixd and they leak as much if not more as before.... so it will have to go back although the warranty has just expired. I would hope it is an outstanding issue though.

The best way to avoid really wet carpets is to open the doors as frequently as you can which lets out the water. I find it only leaks into the footwells when there is enough to build up over the door seal.

If it's the leak I've read about on here (and I know nothing so feel free to ignore) water drains down from the door panel. You could try trapping a J-cloth on the sill when you close the door with the longer side outside so that water drains to the outside (osmosis thingy) until you get the doors fixed properly.

I'm better with knitting than cars though

Regards

Mo

Once the car is dry I have heard bicarb/soda very good for removing smells sprinkle on carpet nad leave for rew minutes then hoover out, however if you have a dyson it can cause havoc with the filters. i guess one of those carpet freshener powders may work too.

ive decided now reading these examples here that when i get my fabia when test finally passed one of the first things ill do is a pre-emptive strike on these doors.