Weather Seals for 94 Bonneville?

[DaBlackPearl]

Hi guys,
my 94 Bonneville is leaking pretty bad through the right rear door.
At first I thought that I just needed to pull the weatherstrip off the body and then push it back on again tightly.
I did this and ran a water hose over the door and it still leaked. The water runs under the seat back, fills the well under the seat bottom and then overflows into the floor boards.

I currently pulled the rear seat and padding/sound deadner to dry them out and contacted GM about a replacement strip that is the right color. The cost is $165 USD. I am wondering if there is another source that will have the same seal for less money?

LMK, if I am stuck buying the $165 seal or not.
Thanks
'Rich

[harofreak00]

Is the seal shrunk? Thats the common problem. The easy fix is to splice in a section of seal in the gap, usually 1-3 inches.

I think I have 1 or 2 door seals from the 94 SSEi I parted out a while back, let me know if you are interested.

[DaBlackPearl]

The seals have shrunk, and there is a gap but it is at the bottom and has no affect on the leak.
The leaks seems to be because the seals are not fat enough or puffy enough to make a good seal against the rubber on the door. The water at the top of the door seeps in and runs down the rear sail panel just behind the seat back and collects at the bottom.

I just hope that if I replace the seal it will stop the leak.

[harofreak00]

Well I'd love to sell you what I have as a replacement, but I have no way to confirm they will be "super puffy". I could measure with a calipers if you want.

[J Wikoff]

Try spreading grease on the door seal in a thin even layer, then shut the door. Open the door and look for grease transfer on the door frame. Gaps would show up where it's not making contact. If the grease made contact everywhere, I might suggest some weather strip adhesive to simply glue the seal in place and keep water from seaping between it and its mounting lip.

[DaBlackPearl]

Got a used seal from Andrew today. Unfortunately it leaked more than the original. A lot more. LOL
It looks like I am going to have to buy the new one.
I will let you know how the new seal does.

The good news is I got the back seat area dry finally. I used a wet vac a sucked up about 3gallons of water.
I was amazed at how much water the joot under the carpet held!

[sandrock]

You could try these few steps to seal it good:

1) Advance sells a rubber seal dressing in the adhesives section. It's grey in color. Take the seal off the body, and put a decent amount around the perimeter of the door frame. Then put the seal back on.

2) While the seal is off the cars, soak the whole thing in WD-40. Let that set overnight. It will soak in, and cause the bulb portion to expand some. Once that's done, you need to clean the vinyl portion of the seal pretty good.

3) Adjust the door striker to go slightly more inboard. Door might be a bit harder to shut, but it will seal tighter than what it is now.

[harofreak00]

Got a used seal from Andrew today. Unfortunately it leaked more than the original. A lot more. LOL

This concerns me, and makes me think its not the actual door seal that is the problem. The door seal I sent you wasn't brand new, but it wasn't in poor condition. Like sandrock says, try using the weatherstripping adhesive and adjusting the striker plate before spending $165 on the door seal.

[DaBlackPearl]

Andrew, the seal you sent was OK, it wasn't really the puffy part that was the problem.
The new seal (OUCH!) was a little more puffy, but what was dramatically different was the diameter of the pinch seal that connects to the metal. In both my original seal and the seal you sent, the narrow strip of rubber that pinches the body of the car had shrunk by more than 1/8" and that is where the water was getting in at. I had thought it was leaking through the puffy part of the seal and the door, but it was really channeling in under the rain gutter on top and the pinch weld of the seal to the body of the car. The new seal fixed it. It's like a new car now, you have to close the door a little harder or it doesn't shut 100%. LOL Too bad I don't have endless amounts of money, I would change them all. LOL

[harofreak00]

Did you know you can simply squeeze that pinch seal with your fingers to make it tighter? Also, using weatherstripping adhesive would have fixed your problem also.

[DaBlackPearl]

I know now. LOL
I really thought it was the diameter of the puffy part until I got the other seals. Then it was obvious what the leak was. My bad!