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View Full Version : Resealing a Drip Rail and Getting a Dry Seat

wolfman
05-29-2004, 03:49 AM
All gen 1 (91’-95’) “S” series Saturns have a drip rail located above where the top of the doorframe meets the roof of the car. Overtime, the sealer/adhesive that secures it to the roof of the car can dry out and allow a leak to develop. This is often the source of the wet headliner/seat that some owners may get when the car sits out in a rainstorm, is driven in the rain or is run through a mechanical car wash. This leak can be fixed quite easily. To do so you will need:

1 tube of PermaTex BLACK RTV Silicon Adhesive and Sealer
1 Roll of 3M or Scotch BLUE masking tape (1 inch wide or wider recommended)
(BOTH of these items are available at Walmart)

Proceed as follows:

The drip rail is the long black plastic rail that runs along the top of the car where the upper door opening meets the roof. The drip rail is attached to the ROOF of the car NOT the door.

Tape off the drip rail along the rail itself to protect the finish, and along the painted roofline. It is the small “V” channel where the rail meets the roof on the roof side (NOT the door side) of the rail that you will be sealing. Use the tape to isolate this “V” and prevent the sealer you will be applying from smearing onto the painted roof surface or rail too far and looking ugly. You can do this only on the side that is actually leaking if you like, but might as well do both the passenger and driver’s side rails while you’re at it.

Apply the sealer in a continuous THIN bead into the “V” channel where the drip rail meets the roof. If your tape is properly placed, this “V” will now be between two lines of tape with about ¼ inch or so in width exposed. Ensure that there are NO breaks (voids) in this bead. Make sure to do the ENTIRE LENGTH of the drip rail from front to back. Smooth the bead down into the channel with your finger and wipe off any excess BEFORE IT DRIES with a paper towel. There may be a visible vertical split where the rail starts to curve down at the windshield, seal this split as well.

Allow the sealer to DRY for AT LEAST 2 hours. Then remove the tape by peeling it off from front to back. You will be left with a neat straight line of sealer in the “V” channel and a hopefully leak free seal again.


TIPS: Use the BLUE masking tape even though it is more expensive. It is WAY easier to work with, applies and releases easily, and leaves no residue or paint damage behind.

Make sure to allow the sealer to DRY before removing the tape, or you may open up a gap in your sealant.
wolfman
05-29-2004, 05:26 AM
With luck, there is now a photo in my gallery of where exactly the drip rail is if my description still has you guessing.
freakerz
05-29-2004, 11:23 AM
wonder if it's better than my cheap solution.. can you put that black sealant over the old one, so it is black like it once was, or it would look bad?
wolfman
05-29-2004, 11:05 PM
You actually apply the sealant to the "seam" (if you will) where teh drip rail meets the roof. The drip rail itself is hard plastic and does not require any attention, it is the adheasive that attaches it to the car that is failing due to age and resulting in the leak(s). Applying the sealer to the "V" channel on the roof side of the rail prevents water from finding it's way under the drip rail and into the car. Done correctly, and with the BLACK silicon sealant I described, the repair is virtually invisable unless you know what to look for.
geartooth94
06-05-2004, 04:16 PM
right where the roof meets the windshield and the "A" pillar, if I look down where that corner is, I can see the inside of the car. Not good. The gap is about 3/8 of an inch at its widest point. Granted, the windshield was replaced a while back, so I don't know if this is common for Saturns.

Any advice on fixing this with the RTV? I imagine 3/8 inch is too wide a gap to get a good seal with RTV. Maybe a couple more applications of the stuff?

For the record, with my experience with this car in the rain, it only leaks right up there in the front where the corner is. The dealer fixed my other leaking problem last year (I think they did the door frame bend thing on both sides).
David 93 SL2m
06-05-2004, 04:30 PM
Originally posted by 94SL2withphone
Any advice on fixing this with the RTV? I imagine 3/8 inch is too wide a gap to get a good seal with RTV. Maybe a couple more applications of the stuff?My hunch is that the RTV sealant will be fine even with a 3/8 inch gap but you might need first a generous bead followed by a second bead 24 hours after the first.
Originally posted by 94SL2withphone
right where the roof meets the windshield and the "A" pillar, if I look down where that corner is, I can see the inside of the car. Not good. The gap is about 3/8 of an inch at its widest point. Granted, the windshield was replaced a while back, so I don't know if this is common for Saturns.I've got the same gap but mine is about 1/8 of an inch at the widest point. My windshield was replaced once back in 1996 due to a rock chip in the driver's line-of-sight.
Originally posted by 94SL2withphone
For the record, with my experience with this car in the rain, it only leaks right up there in the front where the corner is.Same here. It drips on my left leg or on the seat in that same spot but only when the door has been opened in the rain; after closing the door it only drips another 3 to 5 drops of water and then stops.
LinuxPunk
08-24-2004, 01:02 AM
In my 94 Sl where the corner of the door meets the corner of the car? Make sense if not ill be posting pics later on cuz i hate having a wet seat!!! GRRR but when the seat it wet its only `on the left side right where the bottom piece meets to go up to the back rest? Anyways i tried sticking along rolled up thin tape in between the weather striping and the door on the door portion? Make any sense? so it gets a better seal when it makes contact when the frame of the car. I saw it on trucks TV if anyone watchs that. Its a good show makes you wanna buy a truck anyways i wanna try what wolfman suggested but im not exactly sure where the water is coming in from i noticed on the frame of my car theres kind of a little line its actually not little but its in the black stuff right above the grey stuff and theres a line coming from the top of it down and stop before the grey stuff if making any sense is that standard on saturns i've also noticed it on my passenger side. Pic will be posted soon as possible its raining out right now so im kinda worried what my seat is going to look like. Or rather feel like on my butt!! hehe


What does Saturn have getting away with making crapy conection with the door shame shame anyways they say the best cars dont anys have good weather striping hehe:)

Linuxpunk
savage
08-24-2004, 11:04 PM
hey wolfman,
i had asked my snap-on man about this prob(he youst to b a saturn tech) and i did the rtv around the seam right where your talkin about, but like almost a year later its startted to start dripping again. any more source of leaks that u know about?
sierrap615
08-26-2004, 01:40 AM
Originally posted by savage
any more source of leaks that u know about?

there is another common leak between the door and roof where the weather seal is, there is a TSB on this one, but i don't know the number. if you can slide a dollar bill between the door and roof, it need to be fixed. how to fix it? bend the door...

no really, roll down the window, open the door, place yourself between the door and car, and careful pull on the top of the door in. hopefully, you will bend the door frame the fraction of an inch needed to seal the gap.
savage
09-06-2004, 12:48 AM
Originally posted by sierrap615
there is another common leak between the door and roof where the weather seal is, there is a TSB on this one, but i don't know the number. if you can slide a dollar bill between the door and roof, it need to be fixed. how to fix it? bend the door...

no really, roll down the window, open the door, place yourself between the door and car, and careful pull on the top of the door in. hopefully, you will bend the door frame the fraction of an inch needed to seal the gap.

...done that
Lafarga
01-14-2005, 03:55 PM
...done that
Well, just out of curiousity, did it work?
DarrylLeeOHS30
10-13-2005, 09:32 PM
does this procedure apply to the newer s series? Mine gets HORRIBLY wet, and i have water stains in the headliner, floor and seat. And it sucks. lol just wanted to make sure before I go into a big project and it not work..;)
ssicarman
10-13-2005, 10:10 PM
does this procedure apply to the newer s series? Mine gets HORRIBLY wet, and i have water stains in the headliner, floor and seat. And it sucks. lol just wanted to make sure before I go into a big project and it not work..;)

No. As Wolfman said 91-95. If newer then you have another problem. I Would think that you have a sunroof. If so then you have problems with the drain hoses on it.