Rav4 Leaking Front Windscreen

[Oilkid]

Hi

I'm looking for a wee bit of information regarding the trim that fits down the front windscreen of the Rav4. At present my windscreen has developed a leak,drivers side which is tracking down the A pillar, on to the fuse box, under the carpet and now out the rubber grommet which I have taken out the floor. Discovered this problem after investigating why the VSC light come on and speedo stopped working.

The water is coming in at the top of the windscreen, just where the roof rail plastic joins the windscreen(check this out with a hose). This windscreen has been replaced at some point, over 6yr ago and it looks like the plastic trim on both sides should be an all in one piece from the roof rail down to the bottom of the windscreen A pillar??. There is a 5mm gap at the top of both pillars, on both sides of the windscreen and a similar gap at the bottom. It's not something i've really noticed but after inspecting the window for the water leak it clearly not right. Can anyone clarify if this is meant to be an all in one piece of trim? Can you remove the trim without windscreen removal?(to allow me to seal underneath trim and replace where leak is) And last but not least the cost of the trim if worst case scenario the glass has to come out and I require replacements since glass fitters don't usually replace these items, well not in this case anyway.

Any help or info appreciated

Jason

[anchorman]

From memory as I have no access to my manuals at the moment, you remove the lower corner trim then pull out the stiff rubber side trim.

You could take it in and have it done at a screen specialist. It will cost you your excess.

[Big Kev]

Hi

I'm looking for a wee bit of information regarding the trim that fits down the front windscreen of the Rav4. At present my windscreen has developed a leak,drivers side which is tracking down the A pillar, on to the fuse box, under the carpet and now out the rubber grommet which I have taken out the floor. Discovered this problem after investigating why the VSC light come on and speedo stopped working.

The water is coming in at the top of the windscreen, just where the roof rail plastic joins the windscreen(check this out with a hose). This windscreen has been replaced at some point, over 6yr ago and it looks like the plastic trim on both sides should be an all in one piece from the roof rail down to the bottom of the windscreen A pillar??. There is a 5mm gap at the top of both pillars, on both sides of the windscreen and a similar gap at the bottom. It's not something i've really noticed but after inspecting the window for the water leak it clearly not right. Can anyone clarify if this is meant to be an all in one piece of trim? Can you remove the trim without windscreen removal?(to allow me to seal underneath trim and replace where leak is) And last but not least the cost of the trim if worst case scenario the glass has to come out and I require replacements since glass fitters don't usually replace these items, well not in this case anyway.

Any help or info appreciated

Jason

Wifes 4.2 Rav 2004 has these spaces I think you are referring to, Oily, and indeed the left and right screen seal trim consists of 3 parts (top / long middle seal / bottom like a shark fin piece). Make sure that bottom piece is there, as they have been reported to come adrift, as ours did and had to be glued back in.

The space between the top part of the seal and the long side seals is exactly 20mm, which caused me some original consternation, but never any leaks.

Big Kev

[Oilkid]

Thanks for the info Kev/Anchrman. What you have said is excactly how mines is sitting the now except with a 10mm gap at top and 10mm at bottom of window.

I've had a look at this and I'm going to tackle it myself since it looks straight forward(famous last words) Not got sealant yet but the upper section at the roof rail is held on with double sided tape, which you can physically push back and under the roof rail. This allows the window rubber down the A pillar, to be slid up out its channel towards the roof rail and the last piece at the wing which is bonded can be removed. Give it a good clean and liberal amounts of sealant and touch wood it should be sorted. Halfords had a wee tube for £5 but require a liitle more than 40g.

All the gaps can be closed up by adjusting the roofrail rubber onto the top windscreen rubber and sliding the A pillar trim up to the roofrail rubber. The the wee bit at the bottom, again close the gap and bond with sealant(just sits about 5mm higher than join at wing,but still under wing if that makes sense)

Probably tackle on Wed if the rain ever stops

Jason

[Oilkid]

Well thats the window sealed, early indication is it's worked. Used a power washer to clean the channel up the side of the window and to confirm where the leak was coming from. It was definitely the top corner where the roof rail rubber, meets the A pillar moulding. I've got awhing mostly dry and leaving carpet up just to make sure it's leak free. Got all dashboard lights out,VSC,Brake,Oil,Engine managment and also speedo working.

The only thing, albeit it's going out, is the Airbag light. It takes approx 7secs to go out when ignition turned on. I'm sure it used to go out in time with the rest of the dash check lights. Can anyone confirm this? Is there a PDF which shows any relay/fuse etc related to airbags in this location(drivers A pillar/ footwell)

Thanks

Jas

[anchorman]

Jas

It does a self test so takes a little longer to go out. There is a pdf but not got it with me.

[Oilkid]

Thanks Anchorman, It's not something u pay much attention to, usually keys in and start the car. Hink it's just the fact i've been upside down in the dash checking for lights going out etc that i've noticed that this is slower than the rest. The VSC,Speedo and Engine management, like you say seemed to go out/work all at the same time after 3-4stop starts putting some miles on the car? Don't know if VSC looks at speedo, if speedo no worky, VSC stays on?? Engine management has been on once before(water again, through sunroof down same pillar) and again cleared after about 30miles put on car.

Hopefully thats it fixed Enough rain kicking about to check it out(hailstones on Wed while sealing it). Doesnt speed up the carpet drying though.

Jas

[Parts-King]

Those trims around the screen are just finishing trims, they don't stop any water coming in. I hope your sealer works but I suspect the screen bonding has shrunk back a bit. Ive seen this a few times where the screen was put in very slightly off centre, and only just sealed on one edge ever so slightly, over time, the sealant shrinks back a little bit and you get a leak. You may have to have the screen replaced as they wont take out a glass and reseal it, its took much trouble

Kingo

[Oilkid]

Hi Kingo

I spoke to a few autoglass places, and they all wanted to take the glass out. When i had a wee sqinty at the trim it looked easy to take out. The top window rubber comes out just as easy but I only checked the first 6-8 inch of this and there was plenty of sealant bonding the glass. It's hard explain, but it looks like there are two channels? one so that when the window goes in and is bonded the sealant doesn't then overflow in to the channel for the window trim(this was part full/part empty). Hink this is where the water was getting in but u can't confirm since it's under the glass The sealant went in to this channel when i was sealing it and i used the bottom trim(wee shark tail one back to front) to slide down the channel and clean it back out..

I took a wee bit of time doing it(mostly because my hands were stuck to the sealant tube) but touchwood it's ok

Jas

[Parts-King]

They usually want to fit a new glass as cleaning up the old one and getting it out without breaking it is a bit tricky

The channel you refer to does sit into the sealer to hold it in place, but it is only there for asthetic purposes, it doesnt actually make a seal. The seal is made by the bonding agent applied to the body apperture

Good luck, hope you managed to get some sealer in to stop the leak

Kingo

[The Glassman]

It will cost you your excess.

??

Insurance does not cover leaking windscreens.

OP: you windscreen is directly glazed ie, bonded to the chassis. Don't waste time and money messing around with trims. The windscreen has to be removed and refitted.

A good glazier will remove the screen intact. There is a small risk involved, but if someone tells you it will break getting it out, avoid them - they're just not good enough. Chance of breakage is less than 2% (in the right hands).

[anchorman]

........and re-use the same screen? Can you get the sealant off OK?

[Parts-King]

A good glazier will remove the screen intact. There is a small risk involved, but if someone tells you it will break getting it out, avoid them - they're just not good enough. Chance of breakage is less than 2% (in the right hands).

That's all well and good but any glass people I have dealt with don't want to clean all the old sealer off the glass, far easier to fit a new screen

Best method as far as I'm concerned is to have a broken screen ;) nudge nudge ;) and have a new one fitted, it will cost you your excess which I think is what was said above

Kingo

[The Glassman]

........and re-use the same screen? Can you get the sealant off OK?

Yes. Usually is not a problem.

[The Glassman]

........and re-use the same screen? Can you get the sealant off OK?

Yes. Usually is not a problem.

A good glazier will remove the screen intact. There is a small risk involved, but if someone tells you it will break getting it out, avoid them - they're just not good enough. Chance of breakage is less than 2% (in the right hands).

That's all well and good but any glass people I have dealt with don't want to clean all the old sealer off the glass, far easier to fit a new screen

With respect, that's total rubbish and I suspect you've been dealing with the wrong type of people.

Best method as far as I'm concerned is to have a broken screen ;) nudge nudge ;) and have a new one fitted, it will cost you your excess which I think is what was said above

Kingo

Your suggestion of conning the insurance company to cough up for a new windscreen is most likely going to put the OP back into the hands of the type of 'couldn't care less' fitters working for the insurance 'nominated' suppliers.

This is not to say that all nationally operated companies employ shonky fitters (there are some fairly shocking independent ones too) but by far the majority of bad examples I've seen have been originally done by one of the big names.

[The Glassman]

The technical bit:

Most windscreens will have a ceramic coating on the inside of the glass. This provides a good substrate for the polyurethane to adhere to and also provides some protection from UV light (which will break down the bond if exposed).

As with most jobs, the key is in the preparation; there is a de-contaminating procedure which will rid the glass of any traces of silicon which are present from the manufacturing processes of glass. There is an alarming amount of technicians out there who do not follow this procedure. The net result is, sooner or later (and dependent on the level of contamination) the bond will come away from the glass. In many cases, if it hasn't come away, it's being kept compressed by mouldings, or clips around the glass.

The car will also need to be prepared and there are processes to treat exposed metal and re-activate remnants of old (cut) polyurethane thus providing a suitable substrate for the adhesive to bond to.

It's not rocket science, but crucial in fitting a bonded piece of glass correctly and one that will last.

In the OP's case, it may even be a case of the adhesive not being in the right place, or that the polyurethane bead was not applied uniform and at the correct height.

Whatever it is, the chances are, poor preparation will be a factor.

It's all very easy to dupe the insurance company to spit the spons for a new windscreen. It is also worth considering that they are in the business of saving money and will have nominated a supplier on some kind of average invoice deal or a retrospective rebate scheme. For them it's all about the money. For the car owner, it should be a case of quality and protecting an investment/pride and joy. Why risk another poor installation at the hands of someone who will be clock-watching because there's "no money" in what they're doing?

[anchorman]

Very interesting and I agree with your philosophy.