Water ingress

[andrew.graham97934]

Good afternoon all.
We attended the Cholmondeley Castle car show on Sunday. Wonderful venue and show normally, but on Sunday the rain was horrendous.
On returning to the car I found water dripping down the near side, down between the door and the end of the dash (see yellow trace on the picture) and into the footwell.
This has only happened once before when the car had to be left outside for 2 weeks.
When I use a low pressure hose to wash the car it is no problem.
I have attached a picture of the problem area.
Also the area highlighted in red looks to be different from the off side, in that it flares out differently.
I am pretty sure that this trim has been off before my ownership.
As these door and window closures are rare and very expensive I don't want to just throw parts and money at the problem without doing some research first. Does anyone have any experience of this problem area?
Many thanks.
Andrew

[mike020150]

These seals are quite complicated and I seem to recall that there is a drain hole in the seal itself which is designed to relieve excess amounts of water by directing it away from a vulnerable area of the door aperture. Over time, it's possible the hole may have become blocked or the seal has deteriorated such that the hole no longer acts as intended. By comparing both door seals, you may be able to check if the leaking side is different and therefore requires attention. Mike.

[andrew.graham97934]

Hi Mike,
Thanks for your reply.
You are quite right about the holes.
I have highlighted one of them. I already tried poking a thin cable tie down this hole on both sides,
Probably as expected the side that doesn't leak allowed the cable tie to slide in a long way without problem.
On the near (leaking) side, I had to manipulate the seal a bit to allow the cable tie to go down the hole beyond a few mm's.
So this may be a good clue. I will do some more work on it and let you know.
Many thanks.