DIY Door Sealing Tutorial - Costs less than £10

[ultra_joel88]

Since it was a nice day I decided to seal up my final door, this being the front passenger side.
I realise that there is already a tutorial for this for the rear doors, and although most of it applies to the front I thought I might as well take a few pics along the way in the hope of aiding clarity.

This job should take around 10 minutes per door if you've done it before, probably 1/2 an hour if it's your first time.



Tools Needed:

T15 Torx Screwdriver
Large Cross Head Screwdriver
Kitchen Knife
"No Gun Needed" Sealant (I opted for Unibond Black Roof and Gutter)
Two old rags (to wipe your hands and excess sealant)
Cup of warm water mixed with fairy liquid

Optional:

White Spirit
Bag of large pop-rivet clip things (availiable from your local dealer for a few pence each, I actually got mine from Vauxhall)
Trim/ Clip remover




Step One

First you need to remove the 3 T15 Torx Screws at the bottom of the door card. Be sure to keep these safe



Step Two

Now we need to remove the covers from the interior plastic grab handle. Take your kitchen knife and wrap it in a thin cloth to avoid scratching the trim. Slide it under the front part of the grab handle where the window switch is and lever it upwards. You might need to apply some force.
The trim should then "pop" up. There is a large clip at the back next to the door card which can be a pain, I eventually just pulled as hard as I could and it came off but I'm sure you could lever it off somehow with the knife.
Remove the electric window plug by sqeezing and pulling out.





The other part of the grab handle cover should now slide FORWARDS and lift out.




Step Three

Remove the 3 large cross-headed screws which are now visible. Be careful not to lose them.



Step Four

Now we need to pull the door card away from the door frame. You can get special tools for this, with thin wide blades.
Personally I found it easiest to just grab the edge of the storage tray at the rear of it and give it a good yank. Try to pry all the clips out to get the most leverage you can. This way you can apply the sealant without removing the whole door card, there should be enough room to pull it back and do it that way. I used a screwdriver as a "wedge" to hold it in place.
If any clips get broken, replace them and try not to lose the black seals.



Step Five

Now it's time to apply the sealant.

Remove the lid and cut a bead to size. You dont wan't it too big but not too small either, probably about 7-8mm? Enough to cover the bottom of the carrier and old seal.

First take your rag and white spirit and give the area a good clean.



Now apply the sealant from around 1/3 of the way up the side of the carrier downwards, along the bottom and up the other side. Apply it just below the carrier on top of the old crappy and small white sealant that should already be there. Make sure you have plenty of coverage - if in doubt, put some more on!

Be careful not to seal over the holes that the screws and clips go into.





When you have done this you need to smooth it in to gain an effective seal.

Get some warm water and fairly liquid in a cup



And then dip your finger in and go about smooth the edges of the sealant in - be sure to seal over the area where the door carrier meets the door frame thoroughly.

When this is done and you are happy with it, leave the door open and allow the sealant to dry. I leave mine about an hour then re-apply the door card.

Fitting is the reverse of removal.

I hope that helps.

I have used this method on all four of my doors and it has worked well.

I now open the rear doors after a heavy storm when I've been parked on a hill and the seals are dry as a bone, and there is a small puddle on the metal sill where I can see its failed to breach the sealant.

[ap0gee]

Good guide!

[Babs]

Superb

[auroan]

ultrajoel88, do you mind if at some point we transfer this to the wiki as an example guide ?

[ultra_joel88]

It's not pretty, but damn is it effective.

Hope it helps a few people anyway.

[ultra_joel88]

Originally Posted by auroan

ultrajoel88, do you mind if at some point we transfer this to the wiki as an example guide ?

No problem at all, provided it's cited properly of course

[auroan]

Off course.

[ap0gee]

Originally Posted by auroan

ultrajoel88, do you mind if at some point we transfer this to the wiki as an example guide ?

This wiki business: I have a couple of guides to contribute if someone tells me how...?

[auroan]

Excellent. As it stand at the mo the wiki needs a few config changes doing to allow images etc.

We have a dev system which we've developed the basic structure on... so as soon as Colin sorts the config ......

[skudmissile]

Exellent guide

I love guides they are so useful yet so entertaining at the same time Or is that me just being sad

I know the effort involved with guide writing and its a nice feeling to get some positive comments back for your hard work.

Keep up the good work

[Basil]

Brilliant guide - excellent pics, great tips - please do move it to the guides section and keep it safe and sound for a rainy day (pun alert!).

[mluton]

Brilliant, and I dont have a fabia, but great guide

[Dodgy]

It's a great guide, but I'll be completely honest and leave myself open to abuse. What's it for? When or why would I need to do this? (serious question, not taking the mick).

Dave.

[ultra_joel88]

Originally Posted by Dodgy

It's a great guide, but I'll be completely honest and leave myself open to abuse. What's it for? When or why would I need to do this? (serious question, not taking the mick).

Dave.

The Fabia is very prone to leaking door carriers

[Dodgy]

Well I don't know what a door carrier is, so I guess it generally just 'leaks' and this fixes it? In that case, thanks

Dave.

[Lummox]

This is the same as the last official Skoda fix I saw. Still personally dont think its as good as repairing with the sealing cord. The only problem is but not taking the carrier off and removing the old foam seal completely from the back of the carrier water always finds a way past the back of the sealer.

Also when the window regulator breaks it turns a hour job of changing it into a days worth of work getting the carrier off and cleaning it all up.

[foureyes]

Originally Posted by Lummox

...when the window regulator breaks...

I like that!

When I did my rears I loosened the carrier bolts and forced some gunk in and around the seal too... whether thats a good thing or a bad thing I don't know but hasn't leaked since! yippee!

[Tink]

just an FYI - the part number for the door card pop rivets is: N 91078801

have a rrp of £0.29 each plus VAT. works out at £3.41 for ten including VAT.

must admit, we use roof/gutter/bitumen sealer when we get fabia's with leaky door cards in too. the stuff skoda say to use is absolutely crap.
Tink

[faboka vrs]

Just to add to the guide. To get the door handle off alot easier theirs a small hole under the handle. Insert a long screw driver and you can unclip the rear clip of the part that contains the electric window switch. Once unclipped it just pops out without any possible damage of the trim.

Other than that good guide.