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328'a are great but waterproof they aren't!

Discussion in '308/328' started by mike996, Sep 6, 2008.

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  1. mike996

    mike996 F1 Veteran

    Jun 14, 2008
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    Mike 996
    #1 mike996, Sep 6, 2008
    Lot of rain, wind and very high tides here today and I spent most of it keeping the boat safely docked with lot's of line adjusting as the tide changed. But went out to the parking lot a while ago to check on the car. There was about an inch of water in the passenger footwell. None in the driver side. A bit of a windshield leak, I assume! ;)

    Pulled up the mat and dried it out the floorpan, brought the mat back to the boat to dry it separately. Looking at the paperwork, I see the windshield was replaced in the late 90s, apparently it wasn't sealed as well as it should have been though I admit I don't yet know if that's where the water entered.

    But the engine was totally unbothered by the moisture, starting up instantly. Hopefully the rain is over - tomorrow is supposed to be a beautiful day and we (actually, not me - the car) have been invited to a classic car get-together in Annapolis. Then we have been invited to another on in Baltimore on Sep 20.
     
  2. gil308

    gil308 Formula 3

    Jun 22, 2004
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    Gil
    #2 gil308, Sep 6, 2008
    I wanted to quickly clean off my 308, so I took her into one of those brushless car washes...BIG MISTAKE!!! Every time the water jets came to the windows, water poured in from the gaps between the window and the roof...had to take my shirt of to try and hold out the water...didn't work that well. Lesson learned...laziness does not pay.
     
  3. robbie

    robbie F1 Rookie

    Aug 26, 2005
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    Robert
    #3 robbie, Sep 6, 2008
    Apparently you did not get the memo ... never wash your 3X8 or drive it in the rain. :)
     
  4. DGS

    DGS Seven Time F1 World Champ
    Rossa Subscribed

    May 27, 2003
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    #4 DGS, Sep 6, 2008
    I didn't get that memo, either. I've driven my 328 in rain that the wipers couldn't keep up with. Bone dry inside, no engine issues.
    (I still have the covers on the plug wires and distributors.)

    Based on experiences with a couple of older Alfettas, rain through the windscreen is less often the windscreen bead than rust holes in the mounting channel. (Often from water not draining from there properly.) Another place to watch is the door bottoms. Water can run down the side windows and gather in the bottom of the door, if the drain holes are blocked by debris. Granted, those are Alfas, rather than a galvanized 328.

    On a 328, water on the pass side only might also be rain getting in from the front compartment through the aircon evaporator box.
     
  5. mike996

    mike996 F1 Veteran

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    #5 mike996, Sep 7, 2008
    "On a 328, water on the pass side only might also be rain getting in from the front compartment through the aircon evaporator box."

    Hmmm...that's a good thought - I'll take a look at that today. When I was driving across country and took an exit (for gas) ramp as fast as I could, about a half cup of water dumped on my foot. Perhaps the drain for the ac is partially clogged.. I'll check out the whole air intake/water drain.
     
  6. flyingboa

    flyingboa Formula 3

    Nov 27, 2003
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    Eugenio Dalla Rosa
    #6 flyingboa, Sep 8, 2008
    I use my 328 as daily driver. I never had an issue with water inside the cockpit.
    Ciao
    Eugenio
     
  7. AJS328

    AJS328 F1 Veteran
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    Apr 23, 2003
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    Augustine Staino
    #7 AJS328, Sep 8, 2008
    Every targa top car I've ever owned (328 & 911) has leaked at the top corners of the A-frame (where it meets the top) in heavy rain. Some have been worse than others but usually it amounts to a drop of water every few minutes once it gets going. It was never bad enough for me to do anything about it.
     
  8. mike996

    mike996 F1 Veteran

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    #8 mike996, Sep 8, 2008
    I checked underneath the dash and can't see any evidence of water coming from the windshield area. It was EXTREMELY heavy rain and high wind. I saw what appeared to be a bit of water on the Driver side door handle area but it was not wet on the floor. The water inside was totally on the passenger side floor, totally soaking the carpet and having some water standing above it.

    I removed/dried everything but have yet to actually find where the water came in.
     
  9. mike996

    mike996 F1 Veteran

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    #9 mike996, Sep 10, 2008
    Well, I found the leak - it's at the right lower corner of the windshield. Water is coming in at that point and dribbling down to the right of the electrical box, behind the carpet and then onto the floor. The bundled elec wires in that area also get soaked and the water follows the wiring down to the floor. It's quite a bad leak.

    The windshield was replaced in Las Vegas some years ago and I suspect that since it hardly ever rains there, there was no opportunity to see that the windshield was poorly sealed though washing it also will also cause water intrusion. I figure I'll try one of the windshield sealers like permatex flowable silicone - I figure it can't hurt. If it doesn't work the windshield will have to be replaced anyway.

    Any thoughts/experience with this?
     
  10. mike996

    mike996 F1 Veteran

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    #10 mike996, Sep 16, 2008
    Thought I'd provide an update -

    THis was a pretty serious leak. If you ran water on the windshield with the electrical panel unscrewed and dropped away from it's normal position, I could see that water immediately started flowing in - it was NOT a drip. With the panel in place you couldn't see any water until it ran down behind the carpet and onto the floor whic, if the carpet on the floor was in place, you didn't see any water until it was deep enough to saturate the carpet.

    I isolated the leak area around the windshield using electrical tape to mask off sections as I ran water onto the windshield/roof. Found the leak was along the base joint, within 3-4 inches of the lower joint on the pass side. I cleaned out the area with denatured alcohol, blew it out with compressed air and used flowable silicone from a point about 8" from the joint toward the driver side and up the corner about 2 inches.

    A couple of hours later I hosed down the area - no leakage at all.

    So I'd recommend flowable silicone as an effective and easy fix for such leaks.
     
  11. 360gtracer

    360gtracer Formula 3

    May 18, 2004
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    #11 360gtracer, Sep 16, 2008
    Hey guys, I really don't mean to be, uh, "difficult" or anything... But I drove my friend's 85 QV to NY on the 4th of July weekend and from Northern VA all the way up through PA to the NY line, it rained, sometimes *VERY* hard - no water in the car. On the trip back, hit more *DRIVING* rain (if you'll pardon the pun) - the kind that turns the sky BLACK - and still no water in the car. Considering the age of the car, and that all the top/window seals are original, I was very impressed. I really thought I was going to have to take the car back to FoW for that periscope mod!

    Sorry your 328 experience with rain wasn't as good. But know that it is possible..... :)

    gp
     
  12. M.James

    M.James F1 Rookie

    Jun 6, 2003
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    #12 M.James, Sep 16, 2008
    If there are gaps between the door windows and the seals around the targa/roof, perhaps your powered-window cable is starting to loosen, and allowing the window glass to droop down - this leaves gaps between a window's top edge and the roof/targa seals, and allows for rainwater to enter the cabin. Since doing my window motors last spring, I had some issues tightening the cable to the window glass, and it would eventually loosen and allow the glass to drop down slightly.
     
  13. mike996

    mike996 F1 Veteran

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    Mike 996
    #13 mike996, Sep 16, 2008
    THe windshield on my 328 was replaced in the late 90's due to a rock hitting it. I suspect it didn't leak originally but, of course, I don't know that. There's no sign of any previous leakage at all. But since it was in CA for the first 2 years of it's life and Nevada the rest and always in a garage when not in use, it never got rained on until I owned it. It's been heavily rained on 5 times in the month I've owned it vs probably never in the previous 19 years.
     

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