kusee pee

Hi guys, I (well, the car) seems to have developed a leak in the rain. I found the driver's footwell soaked the other morning and had to dry the mat out. After a bit of feeling around I think that water is dripping down from the under edge of the dash in the right hand corner just above the air vent. The dash seems a little loose there and if I pull I can feel wet. The question is I'm not sure where it's getting there from. My guess is through the door but it's difficult to see exactly. Has such a thing happened to anyone else and any ideas on a fix? I've left a towel on the floor and my fingers crossed tonight but I fear the worst

Also, this may be unrelated, the immobilisor/alarm has gone on the blink at the same time. It's a CAT1 on the blipper - it will immobilise and lock but not unlock and whilst the indicators still flash there is no sound anymore.

Wattya all reckon?

Peter Zimmermann

If I had to make a guess, I'd say that the leak is coming from the lower corner of your windshield. The wet areas inside your car are pretty much where the water goes when the front glass seal leaks. How is the condition of the seal? Is the windshield glass delaminating (turning white-ish in its lower corners)? I'm assuming your car is a coupe...

kusee pee

Cheers Pete, I'll check this. I couldn't feel any wet around the lower edge of the windscreen so I guess the water ingress would go straight under the dash and not be felt where the dash joins the window?

porsche930dude

My car does the same thing but on the passenger side. You better fix it soon or your windhield will turn wite around the edge like mine is. I found some windsheild sealer in my basement i think i may try to squirt some in the seal where its hazy to keep it at bay. Im sure most would recommend to try and rework the seal to stretch it where it belongs but i find that to be a non perminent slution if a solution at all because the seal will spring back to where its been for the past who knows how many years

psychoideas

You know the vent at the top of the bonnet? That feeds cool air into the car?
I had my car leak once because the drain from the ventilation box was blocked (dirt, dust, small leaves and insects) The drain can be seen coming out of the box if you look under the bonnet. It then goes through into the passenger footwell (UK) and then out through the floor. If it gets blocked, water comes through all the passages that lead to the vents in the dash................and also out through the vents if you first discover it during an automated car wash
Ask me how I know....

Peter Zimmermann

Correct! The first time that we had to find that leak it drove us nuts because we couldn't feel it at the entry point. A couple hundred gallons of water later we figured it out...

And yes, Frank is right also , but I've found that problem in only a couple of cars over my entire career - just plain lousy luck, huh, Frank?!?

Mike Murphy

Water leak? You might want to check the radiator...

psychoideas

Yes Pete, I'm plagued by it first Porsche - no good! first wife - no good!

BlackPearl

+1 on the windshield seal.

After 2 non-Porsche/non-German seals were put in my wife's '69 912, we finally stopped the leaks with a true OEM Porsche seal. A bit expensive, but seals better. Now, if we could only seal the small triangular windows in the doors, we'd be set!

Peter Zimmermann

My first Porsche was really cool , but man, we definitely shared the same "other" experience!

justinsrx7

My windshield also leaks at the bottom corner of the passenger side. No idea if my seal is OEM or not. I bought the car with the leak.

So Pete, is the recommended remmedy is to get a new OEM seal and re and re the window? Sounds expensive. Maybe a good opportunity to re and re the dash pad as well though.

Peter Zimmermann

There are probably more than a few non-o.e. seals out there; I've had trouble with them, too, and as a result have always made sure that my clients knew to order a seal from a P-car dealer (my shop used a neighborhood glass service). If the lower corner(s) of your windshield are turning white it's de-laminating and you should probably budget for new glass also.

Yes, if you're going to do the dash anyway, you'll want to replace it when the windshield is out. It does get expensive to do it all at once, but is well worth it when finished.

Edgy01

Concur with Pete here for sure. This is extremely common with that era 911. To check it out you can put silver duct tape on the all of the windshield seal (glass to paint) and place some brown paper bags on the floor over the mats and then hose off the car. If you don't get water eventually on the paper bags then you know you effectively blocked its ingress. Take the tape off and do it again! then look what happens!

kusee pee

Cheers for all the replies guys. I'm 99% sure the leak is as most of you describe. My plan is to live with it for a little while then get the seal sorted when the car goes in for other work. There's no sign of the screen turning white so hopefully it's early days.

theiceman

the other thing to be aware of is make sure you have the beading in place that goes in the seal that spreads it out and seals it . i t was about a year before i relaized i didn't even have this in my car ... oh yeah right ..... john where are ay ;-)