Sliding door leak inside door panel

[TallPaul_S]

I've got water coming in from somewhere in my driver's side sliding door, which is running down and ending up sitting on the seal around the door step, like this:


Which looked like this when I removed the door card, side step and seal:



Now, I do have sliding windows, and the little catch tray on mine in the DS has gone and if water gets into the channel that the window slides in, it wasn't draining in that hole and was overflowing over the door card. However, that channel has been dry for a good few months after I treated the window seals to some silicone grease and cleaned the other drain holes.

So I'm fairly certain that isn't the source of the water.

Inside the door, there's a very obvious leak from the tundish around the door lock. The hose is clear and water comes out the hose. And the seal appears to be OK. But it's still leaking a little.

So that's the source, right? Well - with the door closed, these 2 holes are where the water would need to come from in order to leak onto the seal:


That would mean the door would be filling up with water inside of it to a good couple of inches of depth, before it reaches these holes!! Now I am parked on a slope facing downwards normally so that would mean the water would just be collecting in the very front of the door.

Now, looking inside the door, I can see some moisture and a general bit of dirt, which would indicate that it's the case...

Any other ideas?

Just to add, this isn't water sitting inside the door slider channel, I'm not worried about that. That's trapped between the main seal next to the step and the lower seal. This is water inside of the main seal which is then sitting inside the door step.

I might have to wait for it to rain properly again so I can look inside the door without it open to see if the door is indeed filling up!

 

[TallPaul_S]

Lots of rain last night, and in the van this morning was what could only be described as a small swimming pool in the sliding door!




Looking inside the door and there's barely anything in the bottom so it's not the door handle tundish that's leaking.

The sliding window groove looks pretty dry but it's 100% coming from the detached drain catch so I can only think that at some point it's gone from being blocked and water running over the door card, to being unblocked and it running inside.




So I'll need to fix the water drain thing, and I'll clear the drain holes in the window again.


In short, it's the sliding window. It's always the sliding window, isn't it!

 

[Higgidav]

Also check behind the seal on the sliding window for rust. That’s where mine failed and resulted in lots of water just like you have.

 

[Lukefx]

I've just fixed my issue but it wasn't from a sliding window, a sliding door.
I posted the issue and my fix here:

Fixed - leaky sliders and condensation problem

There's lots of posts about various leaks and water ingress and condensation, but I wanted to post this as I have fixed my issue after months of checking and trying to identify the problem, so thought it might help someone. I have a Shuttle, so twin slider, and have a kitchen pod behind the...

www.t6forum.com

 

[TallPaul_S]

Also check behind the seal on the sliding window for rust. That’s where mine failed and resulted in lots of water just like you have.

Do you mean on the seal around the sliding part? Just removed the window and checked and there is some rust on the top of the seal channel. I'm not sure how it's been rusting there though!




I have the VW all in plan with warranty so I reckon I'll give my dealer a call.

 

[Higgidav]

Mine failed in the top channel of the sliding window. The photo is of the channel with the window and seal removed. I also have the All In but they rejected any claim as glass and seals and excluded. I argued it should be covered under the body warranty but VW rejected. The said I could pay for a replacement at circa £1100. I ended up changing the whole window for an OEM non slider with a trusted conversion company for approx £400.