[Daneel]

Hello all,

I've looked around on the forums for any threads relating to a gap between the front window and the rear window.

My front window appears to "bow" out, just enough to cause a gap between the front window and the seal on the rear window.

The gap is about a millimeter or so - just enough for road noise from the outside to annoy me.

It seems to be a bigger problem on the driver side - though I never really sit in the passenger side when the car is moving so it may be a problem there too.

If I reach back and push out on the middle of the rear window, the window will flex just enough to close the gap and close the seal.

I had the dealer attempt to fix it. He says "it was a common problem on convertibles" and that he adjusted the window. I don't think that was an acceptable answer and there was no improvement from his "adjustment" (if he even did anything).

I poked around at the seal little bit and noticed it is hollow. I was thinking of pushing some batting or rope up the inside of the seal to get it to expand out and close the gap.

Anyone have this problem? Anyone find a good solution?

Thanks all!

E

 

[silvershadow]

Hello all,

I've looked around on the forums for any threads relating to a gap between the front window and the rear window.

My front window appears to "bow" out, just enough to cause a gap between the front window and the seal on the rear window.

The gap is about a millimeter or so - just enough for road noise from the outside to annoy me.

It seems to be a bigger problem on the driver side - though I never really sit in the passenger side when the car is moving so it may be a problem there too.

If I reach back and push out on the middle of the rear window, the window will flex just enough to close the gap and close the seal.

I had the dealer attempt to fix it. He says "it was a common problem on convertibles" and that he adjusted the window. I don't think that was an acceptable answer and there was no improvement from his "adjustment" (if he even did anything).

I poked around at the seal little bit and noticed it is hollow. I was thinking of pushing some batting or rope up the inside of the seal to get it to expand out and close the gap.

Anyone have this problem? Anyone find a good solution?

Thanks all!

E

I presume your car is still under warranty - if not, by-pass the dealer and go straight to a panel shop that specialises in VW vehicles and get them to re-align the windows for you. The cost should be very reasonable as they will have the equipment and experience needed for this type of work.

This problem usually requires adjustment of the window guide channels in either of or both the door and rear rear bodywork to properly align the respective glasses. This usually is a time-consuming and fiddley job as the trim has to be removed and replaced - if the service dealer has an in-house panel shop, this is not usually a problem as the workers do this kind of adjustment on a regular basis after accident damage. If the job is given to an ordinary mechanic, the excuses will flow as they do not want this kind of work.

I would not recommend "packing out" or other temporary fix as this can cause more problems over time.

 

[Rathbod]

Thank you both, this is the exact condition I have been trying to refer to my dealer, more noticable when wet

Derek

 

[Daneel]

I presume your car is still under warranty - if not, by-pass the dealer and go straight to a panel shop that specialises in VW vehicles and get them to re-align the windows for you. The cost should be very reasonable as they will have the equipment and experience needed for this type of work.

This problem usually requires adjustment of the window guide channels in either of or both the door and rear rear bodywork to properly align the respective glasses. This usually is a time-consuming and fiddley job as the trim has to be removed and replaced - if the service dealer has an in-house panel shop, this is not usually a problem as the workers do this kind of adjustment on a regular basis after accident damage. If the job is given to an ordinary mechanic, the excuses will flow as they do not want this kind of work.

I would not recommend "packing out" or other temporary fix as this can cause more problems over time.

Thanks silvershadow.

The car is still under warranty but I've tried to ask the dealer to do similar stuff and they claim it is an "adjustment" and thereby not covered under the warranty.
I'm going to try another dealer and see what they say.

Yeah - louder for me when wet too. Other cars make more road noise with wet pavement.

E

 

[silvershadow]

Thanks silvershadow.

The car is still under warranty but I've tried to ask the dealer to do similar stuff and they claim it is an "adjustment" and thereby not covered under the warranty.

E

Technically this is correct however the age of the car is very relevant - if the car is less than a year old, the cause could well be related to the assembly of the car and the dealer should accept the warranty claim.

Once the car is older than this, the probability of the problem being associated with its use rather than assembly increases.

HOWEVER, if the subsequent rectification reveals a loose or misaligned fastener has caused the guide to move - this would be valid grounds for rectification under warranty IMHO.

Unfortunately, I do not know how VW cover warranty repair costs by dealers. If VW pay a lump sum allowance for each car sold, the dealer has an incentive to refuse warranty as this means more profit for them. If the dealer is reimbursed at a flat rate for the actual hours taken on the job then their approach to warranty repairs will be more flexible. If the labour is reimbursed at a set number of hours or flat rate for the work, the fiddley time-consuming jobs will be avoided by all means available because the dealer loses money as these jobs invariably take longer than the time allowed.

 

[SiJ2000]

I had similar... I cured mine with Krytox! The seal between the windows was hard and had flattened... When it is lubricated it puffs back to life and closes the gap... Unless it is miles out, I would try that first as it means the dealer won't have to touch (break) it...

 

[Daneel]

I had similar... I cured mine with Krytox! The seal between the windows was hard and had flattened... When it is lubricated it puffs back to life and closes the gap... Unless it is miles out, I would try that first as it means the dealer won't have to touch (break) it...

Thanks SiJ,

Yeah - that was the first thing I did. Krytox is great stuff. I over applied though and got it all over the windows. It took about 2 months to finally clear up.

Car sounds much more solid now though - Krytox silenced creaks and noises around seals after recent roof movement.

 

[eos specialist]

wind noise

the front windows are designed to bow
as for the wind noise most complain from windows and being a convertible these will have a sign of wind noise due to design and as you will notice there is no b pillar which has a major factor, adjustment will not therefore cure this

 

[Pauly08]

I'm having the same issue on driver's side - would like to try the Krytox fix but there seems to be several Krytox products out there. Which one should I be using??
Thanks

 

[silvershadow]

Krytox GPL105 liquid - search the forum using Krytox as the keyword and you will find links to an article which details the procedure for applying Krytox to the seals.

 

[FSJ Guy]

If there's enough of a gap to allow water intrusion, have a go at the warranty from that angle.

 

[voxmagna]

I know how much work is involved in setting up the front and rear glass alignment and the VW special tools required - so do they!

If my warranty included this I would definitely get somebody else to fix it because the labor cost of having it done could be quite high. Throw a bucket of water over the roof and see if you get water leaking inside. You should have no problem with a VW factory warranty, but many 3rd party after sale warranties exclude leaks and seals. Those 3rd party 'insurance' warranties are offered by VW dealers selling older cars outside factory warranty.