20 replies to this topic

[Minwah]

My door seals were leaking so I replaced them....but now after heavy rainfall I noticed they leak exactly the same. The water is collecting at the bottom of the door part...I can see water in the intend between the part of the rubber which fits over the body seam and the round seal part itself. Gradually it works it's way inwards and into the footwell.

The doors were difficult to close for a while so they seem to make a good fit. Could it have something to do with the door drainage holes? Or even the small 'indent' part in the middle of the bottom of the door?

This happens when the car is just sat in the rain...not neccessarily from driving in the wet.

Also I think on my last mini the seals had small holes in them...the previous seals on this car did not.

Any tips?

[Retro_10s]

quite a common problem as minis are prone to water leaking lol. however.... firstly, check the holes at the bottom of the door aren't blocked, secondly you could try cutting a small v on one the bottom corner of the seal closest to the back door bin.

seals are often pushed inwards, this means they're a good tight fit (which makes a change!) and so i found by putting some bath room silicone inside the bit that clips to the shell and letting it set with the door open. it gives enough hold to stop the seal slipping inwards, but isn't a paint o get off again if you ever want to replace them again.

i wouldn't recomend the cutting a v shape straight away, sometimes it make it worse, but it's a good last resort... though really the last resort should be buying another new seal and trying again!

also whip the door card off and glue a plastic sheeting onto the door, if you glue round the edges it stops water leaking through the door, under the card and onto the little groove bit that you seem to be collecting water in. this could be why your leaking, the drainage might be fine but the water isn't going there as it's coming through behind the door card.

P.S. I LOVE BROWN MINIS!

[Minwah]

Thanks for the tips

And I think you are in the minority liking brown mini's! Although I was pleasantly surprised at the attention it got at the Riviera Run - quite a few people had nice stories etc. about brown mini's Obviously I like 'em

[Tom Sanderson]

i like brown minis, i think they look good with a gold roof and wheels

[minimadjonesy]

had this problem in my old mini! do you have the rubber seals on the a-post that the check-strap goes through? if not then get some!

[1984mini25]

Looks like I’m not the only one with a leaky mini, just replaced both the front and rear windscreen rubbers and locking strip,
And they now leak in edacity the same places.

Or even the small 'indent' part in the middle of the bottom of the door?

There should be a gap in the rubber at this point with a small peace of rubber hose filling the gap,
This is supposed to allow water to run out and not into the car.


PS
I love brown minis with a few bits of chrome for that classic look,
And how many cars out there that actually look good in brown? Not many.

[Minwah]

had this problem in my old mini! do you have the rubber seals on the a-post that the check-strap goes through? if not then get some!

Yes it has them...overlapped on the inside half by the door seal itself.

There should be a gap in the rubber at this point with a small peace of rubber hose filling the gap,
This is supposed to allow water to run out and not into the car.

I wondered about this...I've cut the seals with little or no gap. What size gap roughly should there be...I'm thinking 1/4"?

PS I love brown minis with a few bits of chrome for that classic look,
And how many cars out there that actually look good in brown? Not many.

Very true. I'm keeping mine very standard looking (as it is now) but I am in the process of refinishing some Old English White 4.5J reverse rims - I reckon brown and creamy-white will look good together

[Sprocket]

Replace the outer bottom weather strips on the windows. Job done.

[Dan]

...I've cut the seals with little or no gap

So you brought door seal off the roll then instead of genuine parts? And you've just cut it as a single piece and left the whole thing in the standard profile of the rubber?

There should be a cut in the seal section of the rubber beneath each of the three door drains, one in the centre and one about 6 inches from each end. Should be sort of half an oval cut into the rubber bubble, about 3/8" wide at the oustide edge curving in towards the body flange section, which should remain intact. There shouldn't be a piece of hose used as a join to block any of this up at the notches, but there should be a piece used to join the ends of the rubber seal as the two ends should not be under the door drain (it will leak through the gap in the body flange section if the join is here). I can go and check where the joint appears in the factory seal if you like but I think it's halfway between the centre and rear door drains. The two ends should ideally be welded together as in the standard item but superglue will do a good job.

[Minwah]

So you brought door seal off the roll then instead of genuine parts? And you've just cut it as a single piece and left the whole thing in the standard profile of the rubber?

Basically yes...I asked a friend to get me some seals from a show and this is what I got...

There should be a cut in the seal section of the rubber beneath each of the three door drains, one in the centre and one about 6 inches from each end. Should be sort of half an oval cut into the rubber bubble, about 3/8" wide at the oustide edge curving in towards the body flange section, which should remain intact. There shouldn't be a piece of hose used as a join to block any of this up at the notches, but there should be a piece used to join the ends of the rubber seal as the two ends should not be under the door drain (it will leak through the gap in the body flange section if the join is here). I can go and check where the joint appears in the factory seal if you like but I think it's halfway between the centre and rear door drains. The two ends should ideally be welded together as in the standard item but superglue will do a good job.

I recall my later mini ('96) having these cuts as you describe...but I thought for some reason the earlier ones didn't have this. I also thought the join or start/end point should be roughly in the middle of the door, where the indent in the bottom of the door is (no drain holes is at this point).

Well at least I have plenty of things to try. I will try putting some plastic sheet between the door and door card, and failing that try replacing the outer window seal (this does look very old/rigid). Finally I'll try cutting notches in the seal...I am a bit reluctant to do this unless neccessary in case I make it worse!!

Thanks for all the help

[miniboo]

i got non original seals and found that where there were no cuts thein line with the drain holes water was building up and leaking into the car.

i cut notches in the rubber and WALLAH!! no more leaks.

i would say defo cut the notches in as it leaves a gap for the water to run away.

[Minwah]

i got non original seals and found that where there were no cuts thein line with the drain holes water was building up and leaking into the car.

i cut notches in the rubber and WALLAH!! no more leaks.

i would say defo cut the notches in as it leaves a gap for the water to run away.

OK thanks! Perhaps I will do that first then...

[miniboo]

what is a bit weird tho is that i have only done it one side so far. It might be just how tight the dioor shuts that is causing it on the one side.

i have noticed the odd dribble on the side i haven't cut yet, but as it hasn't rained heavily for a while i haven't really noticed anything too bad.

[Minwah]

what is a bit weird tho is that i have only done it one side so far. It might be just how tight the dioor shuts that is causing it on the one side.

i have noticed the odd dribble on the side i haven't cut yet, but as it hasn't rained heavily for a while i haven't really noticed anything too bad.

Yes mine leaks worse on one side...with the old seals it was drivers side but with the new ones the passenger side!

And actually it wasn't leaking at all until the Sunday night & Monday when we had a real hammering down...

[minimanclive]

Could somebody post up a picture of where these cut outs are supposed to be? The door seals on my Minis are the off the roll type and don't have any cut outs. Anything that helps to keep the floors dry has got to be a good thing.