Mike J

The rear seal (the one between the back window and the rear of the sliding panel) is designed to take any water that gets past the seal, run it in a channel in the rubber gasket, and drip off the end into the side channels. Like Perry said, its by design.

The same is for the front seal between the top of the windshield and the wind deflector. That also has a channel to run the water that makes it past the seal, and to drip off off the ends into the side channels.

The side channels have two drains each, one at each end. This is in case the car is on an incline. The front drain goes through the windshield frame and into the door seal. The door seal is hollow, and the water runs down inside the door seal until it exits at the bottom. The rear drain goes to plastic tubes that run behind the interior side panels, and drain above the rear wheels.

Its hard to tell from your pictures how well the roof is adjusted, but they do have to be tuned over time since cables stretch and seals wear. However, its possible to have a watertight, airtight roof, but it does take a bit of fiddling.

I would sit inside your car while its dry, and have someone spray the car with water (simulating a rain shower) and you observe the water leaks, if you can see them. Remember, its normal for the seals to drip off the ends into the large drain channels, however if they are slightly out I found the drip can miss the channel, or cling to the inside of the frame, miss the channel and drip to the floor.

Lets talk about your three leaks. You said " On both sides where the sliding roof meets the fixed glass panel, right behind the front seats" - that is normal as long as the water drips into the channel, you will get dripping but it should be not very much, if so its possible the seal between the fixed rear window and the large slide window is worn.

and

"and on the front passenger side where the the pop up deflector meets the roof." This one is harder, it sounds like the seal between the deflector and the windshield frame. Remember, all the seals are designed to leak a bit, its the built in rain-channels that take the water away. Even the sliding roof on the coupe leaks (its only felt seals) but the design has drain channels.

You have to observe closely to see where you think the water is coming in, and is it draining correctly.

You can also check the front seal rain diverters. On each side of the front seal, at the corner of the deflector, is a little rubber diverter that channels the water from the seal, any that drips from the seam between the deflector and the seal, into the large drain channels on the side of the roof.

My hands are tired now from typing, time to stop. Clear as mud? :-)

Cheers,

Mike

Monique

A German friend says Targas are nothing else but Porsche Design bathtubs... he drives a coupe though...

GL with the fix, they are too nice to leak.

Bola964

Hi Mike,
It's clear, crystal.
The side drains are working properly, and the water is going through the channels into the drain, but it is doing so in big quantities, specially on the passenger side..... so it is not right. I agree that some water might drip in, but it has to be less.
As you say: "However, its possible to have a watertight, airtight roof, but it does take a bit of fiddling." That's my goal!
The front dripping is a little more concerning, as it is dripping inside the car. On the side, but leaking a bit into the inside.
So the question is how I make it better watertight as a whole. Which parts will have to be changed, and most importantly WHO could do it for me here in the Miami area, as I think it may be a much bigger job that I could handle myself.
I got great tips and links from you guys, and they have helped me get my bearings, now the challenge will be to find a "specialist" to do it.
This has been an exciting thread so far!
Thanks.
Rodrigo.

Amfab

To find someone to do it is the problem. Most of the problems I had with my top was from the previous owner having someone work on it who didn't know what they were doing, or who didnt want to take the time to learn how it worked.

When I was taking it apart and had a parts issue (Webasto updated the gate guide design in later models) and no one, my mechanic, Sunset Porsche, and four large Los Angeles Porsche dealers, could help me with parts information TSBs, or anything on this or other issues.

I understand that the cars are rare, with only a few thousand in the U.S. but being Los Angeles I figured I could find someone who knew something about the top, but I couldn't. I later found that there is someone in Orange county who is fairly knowledgeable.

Its not impossible stuff, its just that most mechanics are gonna have to charge a lot to make it worth while to slowly pull apart the mechanism and learn as they go. To replace the drive cables in my top took me about 15-16 hours over 3 days if I remember correctly

It is possible to get it to stop leaking. As I said before, mine leaks a little in heavy rain and its not really a big deal to me. The tops need a few things to be be checked for tightness and to be periodically adjusted. Not a lot of attention is needed, just every 15k miles or so I check things.

Mine is a daily driver and I put about 15k miles on it a year. And the top gets opened and closed four to six times a day or more, so it gets a little more use than most. A little extra wind noise and a few drops now and then dont bother me. As a matter of fact, the other day it was raining and I just left the roof open for most of my drive. At speed very little rain gets in, most of it ends up on the vinyl back deck and rear seat backs.

I do remember living in Clearwater Fla years ago with my 1968 Targa and the water issues that top caused, so I can understand your desire to get it tight.

craig001

Ok, you guys are starting to get me concerned here. I am looking at a 1997 Tip so hopefully it has some of the upgraded pieces parts. It goes to German Specialties next week for a PPI. Leo hurt his hand and another of their techs is on vacation so he is backed up this week.

I was/am really hoping that the leak issues were a thing of the past with these cars. My old 964 leaked at both front corners. Adding the body braces and tightening them up helped some but did completely cure it.

Mike J

I had some leaks for quite a while primary because I just did not have the time to get to fix them. I finally had enough, so did the "sit in the car with the wife hosing it down" trick, and found two seperate leaks.

The first was a defect on the new roof, the seal between the side and front stamped members was faulty, fixed that with urethane. Believe it or not, that was a defect from the factory, given my roof is only a few years old (and manufactured in 2000).

The other was more interesting, I had a leak between the door seal and Targa window frame at the rear of the door, just between the body and the Targa top. This was my fault then I put the seals in. Fixed with a bit of seal adhesive.

Now it appears to be leak free, even if I am driving in a heavy rain (knock on wood).

As Andrew pointed out though, 99% of the mechanics do not know how this roof works, there was factory training on it, but they stopped doing that years ago. So, its likely you will have to pay someone for their training as well.

You will get some biased views here as well, since lots of targa owners will post with their problems, but there are many others who have very good roofs, no leaks, no issues, and no need to post.

I like it because it very neat, gives the cockpit a very light feeling even in the rain, and it's unique and a low volume car. Given I am moderately skilled with a wrench, I can do all my own adjustments (but have not had to dig into it like Andrew, I am impressed, nice work !).

Cheers,

Mike

Amfab

pha! moderately skilled, thats like saying Andreas' car is pretty clean