jwood_06TSX

Hey guys, i got a quick question for you. I had my windows tinted about a month in a half ago and had the moleskin put on the rubber to help with scratching. Well, after rain, or sometimes just in the morning if the temperature dropped a lot, i put the window down and then up and the inside of the window is wet. I put the window all the way down and the moleskin is sopping wet..

I had the moleskin replaced once already and took it back this time and he said he won't fix it again, cause i need to find the cause of the leak first. He thought i had to of left my window down, but trust me, i have NEVER done that. How the heck could water be getting on the inside of the window?????

It also doesn't/hasn't happened to any of the other windows at all...

Sunroof drain?....weather stripping??.....what?

jwood_06TSX

No has anything at all??

jwood_06TSX

I guess this is the last time i'll ask anything regarding my leak since no one seems to have this problem...lol. But where does the sunroof drain to? I can see the holes in the front, could that be where the water would leak down from, or is there a seperate enclosure for that?

Audioserf

Hey man.. I'm sorry about your leak problem and am not sure I can help much... but you asked where the sunroof drains to. I remember seeing a clear plastic pipe in one of the "OEM Cargo Net Install DIY" threads, where the guy had stripped the interior of the trunk. Take a look at that thread and maybe it can help you?

jwood_06TSX

I did actually see that thread which means there is a drain in the rear as well as the front! I just don't know where the one in the front leads to. I have been searching about water being in peoples door, but haven't seen anything with having wet moleskin and leaving residue on the windows. I can't believe no one has had this problem or knows where it could be coming from

tinter

Can you take off your door panels and inspect it? There are actually 2 rubber blades on the interior side of the window. It's one piece but there is an upper and a lower rubber blade, if the installer did it correctly, he should've installed the moleskin on the lower blade as that is the one that presses against the window the hardest. Make sure they didn't try to cheat you and cut the blade off. And because of the one piece designe there is actually a large space between the lower and upper blades that maybe holding water and keeping the moleskin wet.

jwood_06TSX

Actually, when i went back to the installer, he told me about the the upper and lower rubber seals and said that the 3M moleskin he uses is wide enough that he attaches it to both the upper and lower rubber sections. It doesn't stick to that upper rubber very well as it is already coming loose from the other side that isn't wet. But, it does stick to the lower rubber blade pretty well. I'm pretty sure he didn't cut any rubber out because of what he told me about sticking the rubber to both rubber blades.

I will try and get a picture either tonight or tomorrow if i can the panel off.

Its just odd that the passenger side or the rears don't show ANY sign of being wet and the drivers side is EXTREMELY wet. I have smears all over the window from the wet adhesive sticking to the window!!

Audioserf

I have a theory here.

I've noticed (since getting my tinting done 3 weeks ago, but maybe that just triggered me to pay attention because I'm paranoid) that if I close my driver's door with the window cracked open a bit (as I tend to do often since I run the Mugen Ventilated Visor), the glass rattles a bit in the door. Definitely not as firm as I remember it. Does anybody else have this happen? I've taken to closing my door as gingerly as I can manage to avoid it, but it's annoying and I don't want it to get worse.

My theory is that since the driver's door gets, by far, the most use - constant opening/closing - any problem with the seal on your driver's window since the tint job has only been made worse. That's why it only appears on that door/window.

jwood_06TSX

Ya know, i was thinking something like that. The checked the weatherstripping around the edge of the door, and the little plastic clip that is used on the top corner of the door won't stay in. I don't know if that is from getting the tint done or if it was like that from before. However, that outter weaterhstrip doesn't seem to in anyway related to the interior of the window. If water were abel to get under it, it would be inside the door but there is still a smaller rubber strip keeping it out so i am still confused! I have thought about that though, and i am taking it to the dealership next week to get the headlights replace and i will have them inspect that door inside and out.

With the ventilated covers i could def see that affecting something a little, but still you would think they may help during the rain....lol

Rocket_man

I'm the one who posted the pics of the trunk cargo net install. There are two moonroof drains coming from each rear corner of the moonroof and draining back to each rear tire area. I also looked in the Helms manual (one of the better service manual's I've seen) and there are two more drains in the front of the car. One from each front corner of the moonroof and running down the inside of the A pillar and looks like they drain out somewhere inside or to the rear of the front wheels.

Try opening your moonroof and take a cup of water and pour it in each corner of the drain 'track' and see where the water comes out. If none comes out of the front right, something may have come loose.

But the tint installer may have screwed up something when they took your door panels off.

But... there are also drains in the bottom of the doors so no water should build up there.

jwood_06TSX

Hey rocket_man, thanks for that info. I am going to be ordering one of the helms soon, maybe Christmas! Anyway, i will def try and pour the water there and see where that comes out, hopefully that will show me something. I thought the installer did something wrong and that is why i took it back to him, but no other window is affected, just the driver side which is the odd part. I know about the drains in the bottom of the doors which means to me that the water HAS to be coming in from above the window sill area. This is mind boggling to me...lol. The dealership gets it on tuesday next week so maybe they can see something i can't see!

thanks again for your test, i'll do and let you know what happens!

Rocket_man

Also when I took delivery of my car I noticed the weather stripping along the top of the doors was not seated properly. I had to run my fingers along the weather stripping pulling towards the outside of the car and it seated properly. A long shot but you may want to check this too. But I think if you remove the door panel whatever the issue is will be appearent. You may ask a friend to use a hose on the car while you sit inside and look for leaks.

ASpecTSX

Probably not going to be of much help, but I'm also experiencing the exact same problem that you're describing. Just like you, it didn't start until I had my tinting done. It seems to me that the moleskin is getting wet at some point and since it's so porous it will absorb quite a bit of water and streak the windows. Again, like you, I have no idea where this leak is coming from. No water enters the car through the inside of the windows so something must be channeling the water to the moleskin and trapping it there. I did the moleskin on the weather stripping myself and used separate pieces for upper and lower pieces of rubber. I may try removing the top strip when I get home to see if that remedies the problem and I'll post my results later.

jwood_06TSX

So you are having this issue too huh?? I went to the dealer to have my lights check and this checked, and they said they had my car in the carwash for like 20 mins and found nothing! When i go the car back i put the window down and only saw a small amount of water on the front portion of the window, so i still have yet to figure out where this is coming from! Let me know if you find anything when you redo your moleskin and maybe we can figure this thing out! I plan on testing a few things this weekend, i'll let you know how it goes!

ASpecTSX

Got a bit busy last night and didn't get a chance to work on anything, but I'm free all weekend so I should have plenty of time to tackle this problem.

jwood_06TSX

I know the feeling, but def let me know what you find out!!

jwood_06TSX

OK, well i had the same guy tint my new 06 TSX and i had it done last friday. I waited until last night to roll down the windows (had i pulled over and i'll rant about that later) and when i put it back up, WATER AGAIN just like the 04 TSX. Do you guys have ANY idea where this water would come from? Bascially, it only happens on the driver side door after it rains, the felt/moleskin somehow get SOAKING wet and when i put the window back up, it leaves water streaks all over the window!! It happened with my 04 and not again, with only this window and all the others are ok. The tint is complete out of ideas and he said if i can figure it out he'll fix it but he has no idea.

Please, some body try and help me out here. I even had the dealership look at it and they didn't know what it was....not sure how hard they looked but still.....

curls

I'd say try to check all of the weatherstripping around the door and window area, everything north of the hood handle height. Check for any signs of a hole, wrinkling, or slightly out-of-place or out-of-alignment weatherstripping. It could be that a small section of stripping has worked itself a bit loose from where it should be seated, allowing a trickle of water to get in and once it builds up, you have soaked moleskin (which as you said, that stuff soaks up and holds water like crazy).

Also, you can try conditioning the seals with some silicone grease (avail. at Acura/Honda parts counters, or use "Jig-A-Loo" spray in a can from any hardware store... as long as it's 100% silicone it'll work great!). Spray or wipe onto a thin lint-free cloth, and work it into the rubber seals. You can use a credit card to get into the cracks or gaps where the window goes. I'd recommend keeping the areas that touchthe window (the moleskin and the other blade/wiper opposite the moleskin), free of the silicone as it might streak.

Good luck!
Eric

jwood_06TSX

Hey Eric,

I plan on doing all of that as soon as this stupid NE'ster is over. It SNOWED here this morning and the weather is just crappy. This weekend is suppose to be 60's so i will take the door panel off and inspect it the best i can. I did put 303 on the seals and such i just have no idea where the water could even get in from.....

jwood_06TSX

So after this huge NE'ster we all just had up here my g/f put the passenger window down a little to throw out some hair (girls...sheesh) and low and behold, that window had water on it when it went back up. So i checked the rear ones and YEP, it is every window that has the felt/moleskin getting wet. HOW on earth can water be getting in there!?!?!?!

Anyone have any advice or opinions.....i am all out of ideas

curls

Sounds to me like that f'd up the installation of the moleskin?? Ask around -- maybe others with moleskin can check their seals to see if the moleskin is getting damp (but maybe not to the point of being soaked and dripping like yours)?

Have you contacted the dealer to get all of the weatherstripping looked at? Water likely has to travel with gravity, so the higher seals (top of door, upper window seals) are the likely culprits.

jwood_06TSX

Well i have been in contact with the tint guy and knows whats going on. He didn't do anything differently with my car than he did with the 2 other TSX's and 8 TL's he did in the past 1.5 months. I'm the only person to ever say anything to him about it. He doesn't have any idea where the water would come from either.

I had the dealer look at it the last time this happened and they said they had it in the car wash trying to find a leak or such and never found anything. I plan on having them look at it when i take it in for the first service in about a month or so.

The only way i can see this getting wet is water getting underneath the weatherstripping (somehow) and taveling down the to the front of the window and then the moleskin just grabs the water and absorbs it. The moleskin on my door is more wet closer to the front of the car. However, the other 3 windows were pretty wet along the whole bottom. Although, we got a TON of rain so i guess that could explain that much.


ANYONE with moleskin/felts ever experience anything like this whether it be soaked, damp, or anything of the like?!?