P38A Soggy, Mouldy, Leaky P38

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awkwardbob

awkwardbob

Well-Known Member
Posts
578
Location
Glasgow
Arghhh…

So i know that the P38 can be notoriously Moist but mine is leaking annoyingly and I’ve mould sprouting in the cabin, headlining, steering wheel and so on.

I can deal with a lot but mould gives me the willies.

Reading around, common failures are the boot seal and the sunroof.

My boot seal is twisted and ill-fitting and the ‘Mod’ to bend the flange hasn’t been done so that’s an area of concern. Is that mod easy to do at home or should it have been done by the dealer ? -feels a bit cheeky to rock up 25 years late to the party and ask them to mod my tailgate as a goodwill gesture !

Also the sunroof seal is perished and the unit doesn’t sit properly flush so i need to do that too -although getting a replacement seal seems tricky -am now looking at second hand units with good seals.

Are there any other obvious areas I should be looking at ?
I just want to get her weather-tight then I can work away at the ever-lengthening list of other jobs.

Thanks again

Bob
 
Bending out the boot hatch flange is pretty easy, I used a large adjustable spanner to ease it out bit by bit. I can't comment on the sunroof as mine don't have one but blocked drains are often reported.
Pollen filter covers are another problem area as are leaking O rings for the heater matrix.
 
Thanks I’ll have a look once I’m back in my feet (just had ankle surgery so out of action for a bit)
I’ve done the pollen filters and they’re good now, the heater matrix is leaking and I have the replacement o-rings to fit.

will investigate the sunroof drains.

I don’t suppose there’s a pictorial
Guid to the tailgate flange mod anywhere ? Or even a picture of what I’m trying to achieve ?
 
Behind the c pillars, theres a tube coming down from the roof space and connecting with a rubber port on the top of the wheel arch...the old rubber shrinks/ pipe shortens
..so check that yours are ok...its easy to add a couple inches more pipe to be sure that they drain without leaking...and while you are there clear the pipes with air, or an old piece of 2 core cable ( ie something flexible and semi rigid)
 
On the tailgate seal..
Take a look at the top too...one of mine was letting in water at the top edge, which was running round the seal and entering lower...I rtv'd the whole top edge. Stopped the problem.
If you get condensation in the spare wheel bay you can get a silica gel bag and put it in there.
 
awkwardbob said:
Thanks I’ll have a look once I’m back in my feet (just had ankle surgery so out of action for a bit)
I’ve done the pollen filters and they’re good now, the heater matrix is leaking and I have the replacement o-rings to fit.

will investigate the sunroof drains.

I don’t suppose there’s a pictorial
Guid to the tailgate flange mod anywhere ? Or even a picture of what I’m trying to achieve ?
Click to expand...
Just pull the rubber seal off and you are left with a metal flange, you bend this out 5mm, it's normally only the top hatch area that needs to be done, it's an official Land Rover modification.
 
Datatek said:
Just pull the rubber seal off and you are left with a metal flange, you bend this out 5mm, it's normally only the top hatch area that needs to be done, it's an official Land Rover modification.
Click to expand...

Do you bend it up to create an ‘L’ like profile or bend it out to flatten it ?
Sorry if that sounds really dense, I’m assuming up to create a channel for the water to run round
 
awkwardbob said:
Do you bend it up to create an ‘L’ like profile or bend it out to flatten it ?
Sorry if that sounds really dense, I’m assuming up to create a channel for the water to run round
Click to expand...
It's so when the tailgate is closed there is 5mm more of the seal to compress, creating a watertight seal, that's the theory,
it worked on mine, iirc it's an area either side of where the upper tailgate meets the lower one, it's in RAVE.
 
awkwardbob said:
Do you bend it up to create an ‘L’ like profile or bend it out to flatten it ?
Sorry if that sounds really dense, I’m assuming up to create a channel for the water to run round
Click to expand...
The flange is a flat metal edge where body sections meet, just put a spanner on it and bend outwards slightly, no L profiles or channels nor do you flatten it, it's already flat. Then put the rubber seal back. It was the top corners where mine leaked.
 
Aside from the pollen filters that whole grill area at the bottom of the windshield can leak water. There is a YouTube video where a guy takes it all apart and seals everything. I did that and still have water leaking in on the passengers side.
 
Gord Wedman said:
Aside from the pollen filters that whole grill area at the bottom of the windshield can leak water. There is a YouTube video where a guy takes it all apart and seals everything. I did that and still have water leaking in on the passengers side.
Click to expand...
If you take the pollen filter out and poke a little mirror inside with some light you could track the leak down. If you wet the whole assembly with the bonnet down first.
I built covers to go over the pollen filter cases that go under the outer plastic panels. 0 water ingress!! Mind you the wiper motor on the drivers side was a task to make while getting it not to Interfere with the mechanism. ;)
 
Gord Wedman said:
Aside from the pollen filters that whole grill area at the bottom of the windshield can leak water. There is a YouTube video where a guy takes it all apart and seals everything. I did that and still have water leaking in on the passengers side.
Click to expand...
Did you check/re-seal the valance screw clips, I chased a leak for years and then sealed these and many years have passed since and still dry.
 
Datatek said:
The flange is a flat metal edge where body sections meet, just put a spanner on it and bend outwards slightly, no L profiles or channels nor do you flatten it, it's already flat. Then put the rubber seal back. It was the top corners where mine leaked.
Click to expand...

I must be being dense... the seal is failing / falling off at the join of the upper and lower tailgate but the metal is already flat... what should I do ?

I can't seem to insert the photos
 
awkwardbob said:
I must be being dense... the seal is failing / falling off at the join of the upper and lower tailgate but the metal is already flat... what should I do ?

I can't seem to insert the photos
Click to expand...
Of course the metal is flat, it's the flange that the seal fits to. What you have to do is bend the whole flange outwards by 5mm.
The seal should be a tight push fit onto the flange.
I'll do photo's tomorrow it it would help.
 
On my phone, take a pic, find it in your gallery, click on the 3 dot thing, click on save to clipboard, come back to here, start a post then hold yer finger on the screen until paste appears, click that and voilà!

upload_2023-3-1_16-40-37.png
 
Flossie said:
On my phone, take a pic, find it in your gallery, click on the 3 dot thing, click on save to clipboard, come back to here, start a post then hold yer finger on the screen until paste appears, click that and voilà!

View attachment 283755
Click to expand...
I think that would only work if you phone and computer are "synched". I keep all my devices separate for security reasons with blue tooth off.
 
My seal was a bit w@nk too, spare wheel well full of water when I purchased her but it had been standing for 4 or 5 yrs.
I took the whole seal off and washed it in warm soapy water, parts of the seal, mainly at the top,we're stuck flat due to tree sap and gunk dirt.
Once it was cleaned up and puffed up it seals now. I didn't need to bend the flange or maybe it had already been done. I can't remember now but on seals of old it was possible to crush the flange part of a door seal to get a tighter fit to the flange but I think the RR is plastic there? My seal also doesn't quite look right where the upper and lower hatches meet but it doesn't leak. I believe pattern ones are available but are too short so needs a piece adding in off the old seal to fill in at the bottom.
 
C-Pillar sun-roof joints had failed on mine leading to soaking carpets in the rear and a boot full of water.
All fixed now. :D
 
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