Sliding door lower roller guide / channel holding water

[PhillH]

Hi all, looking for some advice.

I have an issue with the sliding door bottom roller guide / channel holding water when the door is closed. If I open the sliding door after any rain or wash then quiet a lot of water runs out. It is also casing the channel to rush.

I replaced the sliding door at the beginning of the year but the problem still continues. I have had a look around and do not see any drain holes.

Apologies if this has already been discussed.

 

[Foofighter25]

The rubber on the bottom of the sliding door acts as a seal to any water getting in. The water has nowhere to drain and fills up into the slider channel. I removed some of the little T clips that hold the rubber to the sliding door, cut holes in the rubber and used some push in trim clips to create space between the rubber and the door channel to create drainage. Works well. Haven't had a problem since.

There is also a tube inside the door that collects water from behind the sliding door handle. It drains into the sliding door channel via a small plastic plate with a hole in it that sits just above the rubber.
Terrible design.

 

[roadtripper]

There's also this recent thread with a different approach to changing the seal and encourage draining as well

Slider channel water collection & premature roller failure - cured.

Hi All. A few weeks back I had the roller on the sliding door fail / disintegrate through corrosion. Although this was only a 5 year old van, it seemed a common problem. Through searching the forum I also discovered another common problem - sliding track channel water collection. This was...

www.t6forum.com

Also some other maintenance advice

Sliding Door dropped?

Hi My sliding door mon my T6 has dropped I think as it won't shut properly and needs a good shove to push it shut. Is there a way of being able to fix this myself or is a dealer job? Thanks!

www.t6forum.com

 

[PhillH]

The rubber on the bottom of the sliding door acts as a seal to any water getting in. The water has nowhere to drain and fills up into the slider channel. I removed some of the little T clips that hold the rubber to the sliding door, cut holes in the rubber and used some push in trim clips to create space between the rubber and the door channel to create drainage. Works well. Haven't had a problem since. View attachment 217244

Hi @Foofighter25 thanks for this. I will be having a look at the weekend. Looks like we will have enough rain to test it.

Thanks again

 

[roadtripper]

I removed some of the little T clips that hold the rubber to the sliding door, cut holes in the rubber and used some push in trim clips

Do you happen to remember which type/size of clips worked?

My driver's side void seems to fill up in the slightest rain now I've been given reason to look at it (and worry)

 

[Foofighter25]

I used some old trim clips taken from a T4 I used to own. I tapered the ends so they pushed in easier. They were 6mm diameter. I imagine firtree clips may be suitable too.







Or you could just cut away parts of the rubber.

Car Trim Clips & Fasteners - Trade Prices - Vehicleclips.co.uk

I found this site very useful for finding clips/fasteners etc.

 

[DXX]

Rather than go down the drain through the seal route it would be far better to prevent the water intrusion in the first place.
There are two known paths;
1. Sliding window seal - this can be easily improved with application of silicone grease.
2. Door handle tundish adhesive - just re-work the adhesive bonding.

 

[roadtripper]

Being an dealer ex demo Caravelle they knew not to spec sliding side windows so that's one less route.

I don't think it's the handle but I've not had a good look.

It's always the driver's side no matter what angle it's parked and it seems to fill up quite quickly. My suspicion is a bad seal near the front that lets in water that drains in the small vertical gap between slider and front door.

I've always felt there is a lot of road noise from the bottom of the door but had just put it down to them being van doors not the massive SIPS reinforced Volvo doors I'm used to, but now I have my suspicions.

 

[DXX]

When I first got my van (2016 MY) I pulled the plastic sliding door step out and found water underneath. Their was a longitudinal channel in the body from behind the NSF wheel arch liner that was open all the way through to the sliding step. I plugged this at the wheel arch with mastic and drilled a hole in the plate at the step to allow the water to drain.

 

[roadtripper]

Every day something else to worry about

 

[roadtripper]

So I've been trying to think of a reversible/low damage way of improving this as now I'm checking I'm finding the drivers side "pocket" has a good pint of water in after any rain.

I have some dense adhesive foam so currently I'm trying putting a postage stamp sized bit on the bottom rail so it's right under the bracket when it's shut and holds the seal slightly out to drain.




Handy thing is on the grey it's almost invisible. I think even on other colours it would look fairly stock.




Luckily down south we have a lot of rain for testing right now... so far opening the side door has not resulted in a pint of water falling out so... seems to be working