Wet door card carpet...

[Andy L]

I've noticed some condensation on the inside of my windows when I leave the car after it's rained heavily or been washed. I'get searched a few forums and there were a few threads on the topic, but the general advice seemed to be that this was fairly normal. I'd checked all of the floor carpets on a number of occasions for damp and found nothing. However earlier this evening I happened to touch the bottom of the carpet on the drivers side door card and it was soaked. I'm assuming that a seal has gone. Has anyone else come across this problem, and if so what was the fix?

 

Thanks,

Andy

[987Monkey]

Have your door cards ever been removed? Might be the plastic membrane behind has been torn, often the cause of water ingress. 

 

[Bushman]

there is no plastic membrane behind the door card, there is a big steel pressed inner skin that unscrews with about 10 screws to gain access to the window cable system. there are drains in the door bottom to allow water to drain away, there will always be rain and spray getting past the windows. check the drains are not blocked. the other thing to check is the glass alignment and correct interlocking when the door shuts, it should pop up quite tightly into the plastic lip on the doorframe that then forces the glass inwards onto the B piller seal. I had the same issue after my window mech snapped its cable in icy weather and it all had to be stripped out and replaced. I was also getting some wind noise above 69.9 mph so Nick at Auto 2000 popped off the door card, removed two grommets in the inner steel skin. this gets you access to get a screwdriver in to loosen the window glass clamps. before you start though,, shut the door and when the window is fully up, lay a couple of strips of masking tape accurately on the outside of the glass just touching the door rubber seal on the door top. front and back, open the door and when the glass drops, mark along the seal line with a pen. this gives you alignment reference marks to help you move the glass a little bit.

[987Monkey]

Quite right, its foam.  Around that metal panel is a plastic/foam membrane or seal.

 

The leaks are caused by heavy rain / water which runs down the window glass and into the inner panel. This water drips off the bottom of the glass onto the inner panel, not the trim panel, it then runs down the outer side of the inner panel and to the joining of the inner panel and the outer door. This is where the door seal is located, however as there is some depth between the door seal and the top of the outer door this allows the water to gather which in itself is not a great problem.
However this is also the area where the mounting bolts (not shown) and the trim door retaining clips are located. 
This is where the problem becomes multi faceted.
1) Locating clips
a. The trim door locating clips are fitted with water seals.
b. These seals are effective while the car is standing still, but once motion is introduced the seal is less effective and leaking can occur.
c. Once leaking has occured is is easily reestablished.
2) Panel mounting bolts
a. These are not fitted with water seals and will leak if not correctly installed.
The end result is a leaking door, just enough to wet the carpet but not enough to pool any water in the car.

 

Repair Procedure (borrowed)

 

Re: Wet Door Carpet

Sorry for the longwinded explination and the lack of pictures but as I no longer have the car it I will recount this from memory and will not be able to provide pictures. 

It boils down to a very difficult clip design which can easily result in incorrect fitting. It is best if you treat the mounting clips as a once off use clip to be thrown away when removed. Correct replacement of these once off use clips should solve the problem, however I have included a few additional steps that I took just in case. Even if you only intend replacing the clips please read the warnings section, it may save some time and money.


There are three panels involved here, so just for clarity:

The inner door trim, this is the carpeted trim panel seen from the inside.

The door shell, this is the painted outer door seen from outside the car.

The metal panel located between the two panels listed above and mounted onto the door shell.

Warnings

Please consider these points before proceeding with this repair.

If you are at all not comfortable with any part of this please see a pro.

Do not at any time apply excessive pressure to the inner trim panel as the mounting clips will rip out of their mounting sockets and render the sockets unusable. Some pressure is required and all pressure is to be applied directly to the mounting clips themselves, which can be a bit stubborn.

Tools.

It is not entirely required as a long flat screwdriver will suffice but I recommend getting hold of the correct tool for removing the mounting clips as they lock into place quite securely and will most likely break when removal is attempted even with the correct tool.

Some soft nylon or rubber wedges will help in creating working room when removing the inner trim panel.

When removing the inner trim panel there are three areas of potential hazard.

NB. The small triangular inner trim located on the inside of the wing mirror area where the side window, door and ‘A’ pillar meet. The top point of this inner trim is held in place by a mounting pin which if forced even a little bit will break and is not replaceable without replacing the whole rubber door seal all round as it is moulded into the rubber seal. Remove this by immobilising the top corner of this trim (i.e. hold it in place) and then free the bottom of the trim do not pull it too far away from the frame as this will also cause damage. When the bottom of the trim has been released gently slide the trim upwards and the same angle as the side window. If the mounting pin is damaged the trim will not sit correctly when replaced and may fall away from the door frame. 

When sliding the tool/screwdriver up under the trim panel it is very easy to catch the metal panel located between the outer body shell and the inner panel. This sits proud of the body shell and has a type of gasket which can be damaged by the tool/screwdriver.

Before proceeding make sure that all the mounting bolts have been removed. Start in the bottom front corner of the door, near the speaker, work along the bottom and then up the sides of the door. Remember the inner trim panel sort of “hinges” at the top where it hooks over the top of the door.

NB. Purchase a full set (22 off) of replacements, for the mounting clips at less than £1 each it is better to be supplied rather than end up on a Sunday without the parts to complete the job. Also it is highly likely that all the old clips will not be reusable, but consider having to redo this process I would rather spend the extra few quid.

Step 1
Remove the inner trim panel. There are some rather detailed articles for this on this website.
Just take care not to dammage the gasket seal on the metal panel.
Remove and replace all the mounting clips.

Step 2
Carefully release the metal panel from the body shell. Take care to protect the paintwork around the door and sill as well as your hands as the edge of this metal panel is very sharp and cuts quite easily.

Step 3
This step is not required but I did it to help drain the water away from the mounting clips.
On the actual door shell at the bottom of the opening exposed by the removal of the metal panel is a small lip about 5mm deep tapering down toward the back of the door, which acts as a water trap and one of the retaining clips is located in this reservoir. Drill a small 2 mm hole in the door shell at the lowest point of the lip before it meets the metal panel that has been removed. NB. Treat the hole with a suitable oxide and sealant otherwise rust will occur.

Step 3a
If you carried out step 3 then before replacing the metal panel check to see if the cable forming part of the window winding system is still in its retaining clip if not this will cause a rattle in the door.

Step 4
Using a thin rubber washer (on each bolt) sized to ensure a snug fit around the mounting bolts, replace the mounting bolts, do not place the washer on the door side of the metal panel between the panel and the door shell but rather between the bolt head and the metal panel as this will not compromise the seal around the metal panel. It may also be an idea to use a drop of locktite/threadlock on these bolts to ensure that they do not come loose. 

Step 5 
With the metal panel back in place carefully replace the inner door trim remember that the mounting clips must all line up before pushing them into place. Start at the top and work down each side taking care to get each clip lined up and partly into the hole before moving on to the next.
Remember this is a one shot clip which when completely in will lock into place and be very difficult to remove without damage.
Once all clips are in place go round the panel giving each a good thump to ensure correct seating and check that the locking mechanism is correctly engaged.

Complete the reassembly.

[Andy L]

Thanks gents. I've spoken to the dealer I had the car from today and they've told me to take it into a local specialist to diagnose the problem. Hopefully it'll be covered under warranty as I've only had the car for 4 weeks..

[FLAT STICK]

Did you get it sorted Andy?

 

Dean

[Andy L]

Hi Dean,

 

Not yet, it's been a couple of busy weeks at home and at work so I've not had chance to book it in. I did some more ringing around though as I'm trying to get a Carnewal exhaust fitted at the same time I get the door sorted. I spoke to Porscheshop near Birmingham, they think that it could be fixed with a £16 seal. If that's the case I'd be looking at around £250 in total for the exhaust to be fitted and get the door sorted. That's by far the cheapest quote I've come across so far. Ideally looking to get both jobs done within the next couple of weeks.

[FLAT STICK]

Hi Andy,

There is a place up near me called Jasmine Porschalink uk at Nelson that I am thinking for any work and servicing, they might be worth contacting for a quote.

Dean

[FLAT STICK]

Hi Andy,

Did you sort your wet door cards? Mine started doing it so have just had it in at Jasmine Porsche at Nelson to have it sorted and a few over jobs, it has poured it down and they are dry again.

 

Dean

[Andy L]

Hi Dean,

 

Yes I did get it sorted, but I've now sold the car.

 

Thanks,

Andy

[FLAT STICK]

On ‎02‎/‎07‎/‎2017 at 21:09, FLAT STICK said:

 

 

Edited July 4, 2017 by FLAT STICK