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2g DSM water leak from door panel speaker cover

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Talon1110

Probationary Member
23
6
Jan 29, 2018
Weeki wachee, Florida
Hey guys I’m here in hope to finally put this mystery to bed. I’ve done my research before posting this and all the forums that were about this issue were never solved or headed in the wrong direction which wasn’t about this specific issue. I know there’s many of you out here with this same exact problem and are wanting to know what’s causing it and how to fix. Here’s the problem when it rains or if you duplicate with a hose by spraying the passenger window it will leak water through the door panel speaker cover onto floorboard... remove the panel and the water is coming from the bottom of the window pretty much all over and goes into the bottom of the door where the harness is. What would cause this leak ? The moulding between top of door and bottom of window is mint, so it’s not that. Driver side looks identical with small gap on moulding like passenger and doesn’t leak a drop. I can’t figure it out, I’ve researched for hours tried possible solutions and no success. Can’t assemble my interior until I fix this. Any solutions for this leak would be awesome. Thank you.
 
The doors on most cars are not water tight internally. They leak around the belt moulding, mirrors, and handles. Thier are drain holes at the bottom of the doors to allow water to drain out . Sealing of the out side elements is done by a plastic membrane, and in your case a water deflector that the speaker sits in. It allows the water to flow around the speaker like a umbrella and flow out the bottom of the door thru the drain holes. If you delete either one or both water will find it's way into the interior.
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The doors on most cars are not water tight internally. They leak around the belt moulding, mirrors, and handles. Thier are drain holes at the bottom of the doors to allow water to drain out . Sealing of the out side elements is done by a plastic membrane, and in your case a water deflector that the speaker sits in. It allows the water to flow around the speaker like a umbrella and flow out the bottom of the door thru the drain holes. If you delete either one or both water will find it's way into the interior.
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This is good to know and interesting, I got the car as a shell so It’s unfortunately missing both the vapor shield and the water deflector for the speaker housing. The thing that stumps me is the driver side is same way and doesn’t leak, I’m guessing just naturally seals better ? Also do you notice if yours has water seepage internally and just drains out the bottom factory holes ?
 
Yes, the doors are supposed to get water to a small extent in them and it drains out of the bottom of the door, your drain holes might be clogged in your door.
 
Yes, the doors are supposed to get water to a small extent in them and it drains out of the bottom of the door, your drain holes might be clogged in your door.
Yeah I wish it was a small extent, it’s literally like the Niagara Falls when it rains or if I duplicate with a hose It just starts dripping everywhere on the inside where the bottom of the window is
 
If the drains are clogged then open the car door. Move it back and forth and if it sounds like a aquarium then you have standing water in the door. Use a metal coat hanger and free up the debri until it drains out. You might have to do it a few times. Put a moisture barrier on, and some sort of speaker shield weather its factory or aftermarket. You can use practically any thin plastic sheet, say like a plastic trash bag. The prefferd method of attaching, is to use butal tape. Butal tape can be found at most auto parts stores. . Make a template, transfer to plastic, clean surface of the door,apply tape to perimeter of the door were the template is to be applied. Then install plastic.
 
If the drains are clogged then open the car door. Move it back and forth and if it sounds like a aquarium then you have standing water in the door. Use a metal coat hanger and free up the debri until it drains out. You might have to do it a few times. Put a moisture barrier on, and some sort of speaker shield weather its factory or aftermarket. You can use practically any thin plastic sheet, say like a plastic trash bag. The prefferd method of attaching, is to use butal tape. Butal tape can be found at most auto parts stores. . Make a template, transfer to plastic, clean surface of the door,apply tape to perimeter of the door were the template is to be applied. Then install plastic.
My drains on the door are open and clear, I appreciate all the help and advice. I’ll have to do that for sure and make one up. How come I could be getting so much water past the belt moulding then inside the door ? Is it possible I have to adjust the window to compensate for a tighter seal on the belt moulding. Because I know how you guys are saying that a little water is fine but if it rains hard and for awhile which I live in Florida so that’s often I could be seeing a ton of water. That can’t be good for the door no ?
 
The belt moulding isn't that much of a seal. It more like a wiper blade. And keeps the glass from making contact with door frame. The adjustment you are talking about for a 1g can't be done due to the fact that it's a fully framed window.
 
The belt moulding isn't that much of a seal. It more like a wiper blade. And keeps the glass from making contact with door frame. The adjustment you are talking about for a 1g can't be done due to the fact that it's a fully framed window.
Yeah I understand what you mean by the belt acting as a wiper blade. I’ll take a video of the water intrusion when I get home from work today so you can see the extent of it and say if it’s a normal amount. I can see some water getting in but I feel that I’m getting way to much inside. Gets the door harness all wet etc.
 
I have the same issue on my driver side door. After a bit of rain, it starts to leak from the center bottom part of the speaker mesh on the door itself. My drains are clear and my inner plastic membrane is also intact and sealed. I am 99.9% sure this is related to loose window rails. As the others have said, the door moulding acts more like a wiper than a perfect seal. If your window rails are loose, even when the window is fully raised, the window vibrates with every road bump, allowing water to quickly go between the window and moulding, leaking down and around the speaker. My windows are very loose and rattle the most when they are halfway down. I've been planning on fixing it and once I do, I will report back whether my water leak has stopped.
 
I have the same issue on my driver side door. After a bit of rain, it starts to leak from the center bottom part of the speaker mesh on the door itself. My drains are clear and my inner plastic membrane is also intact and sealed. I am 99.9% sure this is related to loose window rails. As the others have said, the door moulding acts more like a wiper than a perfect seal. If your window rails are loose, even when the window is fully raised, the window vibrates with every road bump, allowing water to quickly go between the window and moulding, leaking down and around the speaker. My windows are very loose and rattle the most when they are halfway down. I've been planning on fixing it and once I do, I will report back whether my water leak has stopped.
This is awesome to know I’m not the only one dealing with this pain of an issue. My windows do have a decent amount of slop in them driver side being the worse but doesn’t leak LOL. And same with the water coming out from the middle of the speaker cover. My water is dripping off of the window railing and pretty much a good portion of the bottom of the window. I just got off work and am going to play with it to see if I can try to solve this and pinpoint exactly where this water is coming from with taping some areas off. And thank you most definitely keep me updated on your progress !
 
My passenger side does exactly this when it rains REALLY heavy. I've taken the door apart multiple times and found my drain was clogged by... Broken window chunks! I assume the car was broken into before I owned it because that passenger side window seals a little weird and I can see water trickling in when I wash it from the top corner. It also has the plastic cut out from the interior from when I assume the window was replaced. I usually have to open the door and roll the window up the last little bit to get a better seal but still isn't what it should be.

But the amount of glass I dug out was pretty ridiculous I mean the pile is bigger then my hand and I've cleaned it out 2 or 3 times always finding more after I thought I got it all.
 
My passenger side does exactly this when it rains REALLY heavy. I've taken the door apart multiple times and found my drain was clogged by... Broken window chunks! I assume the car was broken into before I owned it because that passenger side window seals a little weird and I can see water trickling in when I wash it from the top corner. It also has the plastic cut out from the interior from when I assume the window was replaced. I usually have to open the door and roll the window up the last little bit to get a better seal but still isn't what it should be.

But the amount of glass I dug out was pretty ridiculous I mean the pile is bigger then my hand and I've cleaned it out 2 or 3 times always finding more after I thought I got it all.
I remember reading your exact forum about this issue, does your car still leak from the speaker cover on heavy rain or when washing, and does your car have a vapor/dust barrier because mine does not. I’ll have to make some of them up from a spare door I have and hopefully that will just contain it inside the door itself instead of my cabin, and I’ll have to get some of those speaker water deflectors to make sure the water doesn’t come out my speaker cover and onto the floor board
 
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What do you guys think about this much leakage ? Is this an absurd amount or normal, To me it seems a bit much to be honest. Let me know your thoughts, Thank you
 
I would look to replace the outside wiper on that thing, its just not making enough contact or the wiper is weathered and stiff as a board and not conforming to the glass like it should. That should get it down to a slower leak at least.
 
Man....its window seals. Everyone on here has pointed it out. It may be a bicth to do but thats what they're for. And drain holes for anything that gets past them. Just like most and @Kryndon and @motomattx pointed out. These are OLD cars and its really just normal maintenance. I would go the extra measure to protect the speakers with anything to keep the moisture off of course.
 
I usually have to open the door and roll the window up the last little bit to get a better seal
I have to do the same thing before washing her LOL. But my issue is the upper seal... you know the one tha hugs the glass when you close the door since its a hardtop.

To the O.P, I used a 5/16 drill bit to drill 2 drain holes on the bottom of my door. Then I sprayed the holes with primer and bedliner to keep them from rusting my door through. Doing this along with replacing you seals should leave you good to go for many years to come. :)
 
Wow thats alot of water! Yup seems like the main upper window seal to me, you can repleace it with a good used one since the new ones are no longer made anymore. Or i bekieve you can push some small flexi tube or silicone hose in side and prop it back out again and help seal, its an old trick to keep it more plump but it lasts so only so long.

I used to get some splashes of water when i washed my car in the side vertical part of the window and then i had to replace them seals and now it stopped it. So 100% look at replacing the seals
 
I would look to replace the outside wiper on that thing, its just not making enough contact or the wiper is weathered and stiff as a board and not conforming to the glass like it should. That should get it down to a slower leak at least.
Yeah that’s what I’m thinking it is, I taped it off and hoses the car down and no leak so it’s most definitely coming from the belt moulding on the car no doubt, the inner window seals are good. luckily extremepsi still offers the passenger side and that’s the one I need. Mine isn’t really too stiff but is a little bit from the Florida sun. I’ll order one up today and put it on in the coming future. I was messing with a spare door I have last night and the belt moulding does NOT come off very easy haha should be interesting. Thank all of you for your help.
 
I remember reading your exact forum about this issue, does your car still leak from the speaker cover on heavy rain or when washing, and does your car have a vapor/dust barrier because mine does not. I’ll have to make some of them up from a spare door I have and hopefully that will just contain it inside the door itself instead of my cabin, and I’ll have to get some of those speaker water deflectors to make sure the water doesn’t come out my speaker cover and onto the floor board
So oddly enough my street slopes a hair and if I parked the passenger side on the "down" side of the slope it wouldn't, but if I parked it on the "up" side I'd end up with a puddle that's covers the entire foot area underneath the mat. The vapor/dust barrier has since been cut out from the previous owner and never replaced. Speaker never had an issue though so I assume it was still routing water around it but yeah it probably still leaks on a heavy rain. Right now it's sitting in the driveway while I source parts or a parts car during the cold weather. Reshaping the front end isn't as fun in 30-40 degree weather..
 
I have to do the same thing before washing her LOL. But my issue is the upper seal... you know the one tha hugs the glass when you close the door since its a hardtop.

To the O.P, I used a 5/16 drill bit to drill 2 drain holes on the bottom of my door. Then I sprayed the holes with primer and bedliner to keep them from rusting my door through. Doing this along with replacing you seals should leave you good to go for many years to come. :)
Well that's where mine has a small gap but the seal is in surprisingly good shape for the age, like hardly even cracking. My thinking is when the window was smashed (I still heavily suspect) that the tract got bent a hair or the new window wasn't put in as well as it could have been. If I had them rolled down the passenger side would rattle a lot more then the driver side. So much so I would either leave it all the way up or all the way down for fear of it finally just dropping into the door from hitting a good bump. Maybe a bit paranoid but the noise was pretty annoying so it at least helped with that.
 
Just to update my own situation regarding the leak. I adjusted my driver side window to eliminate the rattle, and I took both the outer and inner window seal to clean them and inspect them. I didn't find any faults with them, and like I said, most of my membrane inside the door was intact and stuck to the door, but there were a few small areas where I couldn't make it stick. After reassembling everything and washing my car, I noticed I still had a leak, but this time it wasn't seeping from the actual speaker mesh (because I glued it from inside with a soldering iron), but rather directly under it. That might be where the actual drain is located so it may be working as intended, but I thought I could hear some water when I pushed the speaker mesh slightly inward.

At this point I am not sure anymore whether this is normal or not, but considering we can't buy the weather strips brand new anymore, it's a matter of "deal with it" :|
 
Alright guys I have solved this issue for good. I’ve tested this on 3 good quality 2g chassis and all of them leak internally inside the door from the belt moulding under the window. As was said before it acts like a blade to repel water which does not create a tight seal to prevent water getting in. All of the 2g’s tested when watering with a hose at high pressure leaked inside the door and drains out the bottom of the door from 3 drains. I created vapor/water barriers out of my step fathers contractor grade plastic vinyl he uses on job sites. Purchased speaker baffles 6-1/2 dimension installed them along with my new vapor barriers with new 4m butyl tape and tested the water test and NO LEAKS into the cabin. It is all contained inside the door and drains out the bottom like designed. It comes to find out that these cars are not water tight from factory and weren’t designed to be. BUT without the vapor barrier and speaker baffles the car will allow water into the cabin and there for create an annoyance. I’m going to enjoy the car being leak free now and I hope you guys do as well ! Thanks for the help everyone and knowledge.
 

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