Side Windows

[sanzomat]

Must have been a heavy dew last night as all the glass was covered in a thick layer this morning. On all my previous cars it was simply a matter of winding the windows down and back up again and all the dew was wiped off by the seal rubbers. In my Prius Plus this had no effect and the windows came back up just as dewey so it looks like the seal rubbers don't actually touch the glass on the way down or up. Looks like I'll have to manually squeegee them on day slike this. I find myself wondering why the rubbers don't touch?

[timberwolf]

If I recall, one reason suggested was to prevent grit on the rubber seals from scratching the glass.

[Opifex]

But isn't the point of the rubbers to stop water running down the glass and into the door, so I can't see how they do this if they aren't touching the glass. Could it be that the system is very clever and retracts the rubber when the window is moving?

[FROSTYBALLS]

"But isn't the point of the rubbers to stop water running down the glass and into the door"

You will still get some water running into the doors - that's why there are waterproof liners between the door and the door card, and why there are drainage holes in the bottom of the doors.

[timberwolf]

The rubber seal does or should be in contact with the window when it is fully shut. I guess the design does make the assumption that the owner is smart enough to figure out that when it is raining that they should shut the windows to minimise the water that can enter into the door. AIUI as the window opens the path the window takes as it travels into the door lifts it away from the seal.

[kithmo]

Many cars are like this nowadays, it's to do with the curvature of the window glass. The last three cars I've had Prius Plus, Gen3 Prius and Mk4 Ford Mondeo were all the same. I think that's why Toyota have the water repellent glass option (standard on the Gen3 T-Spirit now). Rain away or Rain-X does the same job but it's not a permanent solution, you have to keep re-applying it every so often. A more permanent solution would be to grind and polish the glass to a smoother surface. This allows the condensation to bead and run off more easily when you get moving.

[theoilburner]

But isn't the point of the rubbers to stop water running down the glass and into the door, so I can't see how they do this if they aren't touching the glass.

I always thought the seals were there partly for looks (who wants great big holes on the edge of the doors?) and partly to stop larger objects from getting in and blocking up the drainage holes.

There's no way they can really keep water out.

[FROSTYBALLS]

I seem to remember reading another forum (possibly HJ) quite some time ago where the query was regarding Fiesta doors. Ford had designed the doors to be 'wet' - meaning the door design was meant to have some water draining through from the rubber seal at glass level, down inside the door and through the drainage holes in the bottom edge of the doors.