SInce I got my car back from the body shop - cracking respray and I'm very pleased with the work undertaken - but now the targa is leaking badly on the drivers side and not so badly on the passenger side

 

The car was pretty much dismantled for respray, and they had the targas apart as they gave me just the glass panels to be tinted

 

The rubbers all look like they are there and when I fasten down the targa the two little 'notches' in front edge of the rubbers seem to locate together - but it still leaks

 

The water is dripping down from the the bottom of the three pod guages i have on the driver side windscreen/door pillar - if you see what I mean - so water seems to be running down inside the trim on the front sloping edge of the window/windscreen and coming out through the guages I have fitted there

 

It didn't do this before the respray (OK well it did occasionally drip in very wet weather) but nothing like this. I had to put a load of towels on the drivers seat last night as the car was parked outdoors and it was all pretty well soaked this morning

 

I tried reseating the targas and took it to the car wash - it leaked like a mad.

 

So hpw do I diagnose and hopefully fix it before I grow webbed feet?

 

Rich

Heres a write up from the US site, regarding the issue which Nissan try to fix http://www.hazydaydream.com/300zx/leakyttop.pdf

 

Jeffs post regarding the sealant http://www.300zx.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?147273-Repaints-and-leaky-targa-s

hi there rolandas

 

do me a favour could you download the pic - add some arrows to point where to put the silicone - then upload again?

 

Much appreciated if you could :yes:

 

rich

 

i`ll do it tomorrow but you need to do silikone like in jeffs post

Hi Smithy, that was the first thing I tried, didn't work.

 

Groover, I'll have a proper read tomorrow and give it a try, cheers.

i think my leak is different, cant explain it but ill try, ive resealed as per jeffs thread, but its still leaking in the same place ive just been out to the car, the rear seal isnt leaking but the front one is (going by jeffs thread on this)

 

but it seems to be coming in from the targa side of the trim, if that makes sense. ive checked the nissan post groover put up, but doesnt seem to give an idea of where the water comes from unless im looking at that diagram wrong.

 

i know one thing though, im glad ive used a black bin liner on the drivers seat. or im sure it would be a puddle in the rear of the car about 4inches deep.

 

Not sure how well you can see how much water is on this, but glad i checked when i did it was almost overflowing. and this was from just one night and a half day or rain.

 

i think my leak is different, cant explain it but ill try, ive resealed as per jeffs thread, but its still leaking in the same place ive just been out to the car, the rear seal isnt leaking but the front one is (going by jeffs thread on this)

 

but it seems to be coming in from the targa side of the trim, if that makes sense. ive checked the nissan post groover put up, but doesnt seem to give an idea of where the water comes from unless im looking at that diagram wrong.

 

i know one thing though, im glad ive used a black bin liner on the drivers seat. or im sure it would be a puddle in the rear of the car about 4inches deep.

 

Not sure how well you can see how much water is on this, but glad i checked when i did it was almost overflowing. and this was from just one night and a half day or rain.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]67957[/ATTACH]

 

just duck tape your targas temporary

Mine is leaking really bad at the minute on the drivers side, although i know i temporarily fixed in the targa rubber down the A post after primer, so it isnt as snug as it should be. Have heard about adjusting the window stops can make a big difference, making the glass compress the rubber at the top more efficiently.

 

Waiting for a break in the rain to sort it properly.

Mines bone dry inside :)

Mines bone dry inside :)

 

lucky you :)

lucky you :)

 

hes yet to drive it though, his argument is invalid lol

hes yet to drive it though, his argument is invalid lol

 

damn you trying to win arguments with facts...:lol:

damn you trying to win arguments with facts...:lol:

 

:lol:

OK I'm gonna try Jeffs suggestion tomorrow.... or maybe Monday as tomorrow looks like a much dryer day and I may even get chance to enjoy driving the damn thing after I did all the work - like cruise around tescos car park a couple of times posing lol :grin:

 

However I don't hold out for total success as I read your post vods with dismay - it sounds like we have much the same problem

 

Other than that it's staying garaged until sorted - got a fan heater running in there now in the foot well trying to dry the thing out

 

Problem is I have to garage the car 5 mins or so walk away as there is no space to have or even build one at the house, but then it is a proper working garage (with hydraulic ramps and stuff lol) he just lets me have a key so I can access as needs be - which has gotta be a bonus

 

PS groover - what would you know about proper wet rain.... being a southener :tt2:

 

Rich

Edited December 22, 201212 yr by dicky96

Oooh you'd be surprised lol, Wednesday got back to my car at 4am after working and it was in 4 inches of water, luckily only just covered the tyres :pinch:

Well It's done and resealed so fingers crossed for tomorrow

 

Certainly the correct seals were not there and it was worse on the side which was leaking the most - so hopefully it will be fixed

 

cheers

Well It's done and resealed so fingers crossed for tomorrow

 

Certainly the correct seals were not there and it was worse on the side which was leaking the most - so hopefully it will be fixed

 

cheers

 

good luck, ive sealed all the parts that jeff mentioned in his post, i still have a puddle on my plastic bag and its still leaking up near join between targa and A pillar, so my leak is somewhere else, as it now no longer fills my gauges up. i have a feeling mine is now leaking from the targa side of things, but i need to figure out how.

I`ve been taking some targas apart due to rust and leaks. Jeff sent me some replacement targas which, guess what..yep rusty. Thing is you can`t always see unless you know where to look. I`ve found several problems leading to water ingress. I`m afraid 20 odd years have taken their toll. All are rusting in the same places, just forward of either end cap. The metal piece at the end of the targa is attached to a rubber which attaches to the glass and the targa panel. This rubber is covered in foam, one assumes to help create a seal with the foam ends on the stainless strip which holds the rubber. The foam compresses to form the seal and has shrunk, the bond on the stainless strip can also start to perish along with the silicone sealant used by nissan. The only option is to completely strip, fix the rust if you can and rebond. Everything with with foam attached has rust to some degree. So I`d say if you`re still leaking this may well be your situation too, sorry to say.

Edited December 28, 201212 yr by santa

OK heres an update

 

I did reseal as Jeff posted and left the car in the garage best part of 24 hours

 

I now have fixed pretty much all of the water leaking in via the top guage pod

 

However i still have a severe leak on the drivers side!

 

Now I had a look at the targa rubber itself as I think it may be leaking from here

 

Mine does not look very even - I attached a couple of pics

 

Should the rubber be that shape? It looks more even on the passengers side and that side is not leaking now (or hardly at all)

 

My brother in law (who was an RAF engineer) came up with a good suggestion (sounds good to me anyway) which was to wipe the rubbers dry, rub chalk dust over them, then put the targa down and leave the car out in the rain

 

He says any water ingress will be obvious then as it leaves tracks in the dust

 

Don't have any chalk but I'm gonna try talcum powder see if that does the same job

 

Meantime - are these rubbers mis-shapen?

 

dicky

Sounds like a good idea. If the talc doesn't do it go to a builders merchant/Screwfix etc and get a chalk line refill like this

http://www.screwfix.com/p/stanley-blue-chalk/79406

We got a lull in the rain so I just went back to the Zed to remove the guage pods from the windscreen pillar (to have a look how to dim them re znut's thread)

 

What I noticed was when I took the plastic end cap off the rubber (I have to do this to get the guage pods off) it still had water in it - that's the cap shown in the first pic below

 

I'd suggest anyone who still hasa leak, remove this plastic cap and see if hte water is getting in there

 

It seems to me that water is still getting in from the part of the rubber I am showing lifted up in the other pics. It gets in just to the rear of the part I sealed down as per jeffs thread

 

So I have now tried sealing down all the part I could get my fingers under - let's see what that does

Just below your thumb is a little slit to access a screw, i found that my screw was missing, replaced the screw and it seals the rubber much better to the A pillar, my water leak has now turned to a dribble instead of a torrent.

Also put some sealant on the meal strip behind the rubber that goes along the A pillar, there should be a butyl rubber strip behind it, which after so many years perishes and rots, in conjunction with the screw should help the drips.

looking at your pics showing the rubber above window..ide say your window is not set right as its crushing the rubber on one side.

mines doing the same, and i want it sorted before it causes problems but it seems to be coming out behind the plastic on the targa, the vynal covering is lifting with the wet.

OK I have some good news

 

It looks like that last lot of sealant fixed the leak!!

 

I have no expertise on this apart from fixing my own problem but I would suggest that if you can raise the rubber away from the metalwork anywhere like I could on the above photos with my thumb, then stick a load of silicone sealant under the whole lot, push it down with your fingers and wipe off the excess (make sure it does not block the targa drain holes) then clamp down the roof and see what happens next time it rains :yes: