Yah it could be t the bottom centre of the seal on the glass. It may
be the same as you describe.

Lucky me, I have this parts van. I immediately pulled the seal on the
van that door closes onto. It looks to be in better condition than the
one on the Westy. Good to have a spare I guess. I will double check
the one that is on the Westy.

I didn't know about the vicegrip tradition for use on a broken shock.
Helpful tip that. I was using a rope on the hatch latch tied off to a
joist on the carport. That and an ouija board to contact the Vanagon
Spirits so I could ask them to help keep the hatch from falling on me!

Thanks for the pointers,

Neil.

On 1/21/08, Jim Felder <jim.felder@gmail.com> wrote:
> In my experience, there are two places you should look.
> Open your hatch (or prop it open in your case... don't forget the
> time-honored method of clamping a small pair of vice-grips on the rod where
> you want the piston to stop, but just be sure your pistons are already shot
> if you use this approach) and get a scrubber and clean the surface of the
> rubber seal where it goes across the top of the hatch opening inside. Now,
> clean the painted surface of the top where the seal mates to it when the
> hatch is closed. It takes surprisingly little dirt in this area to cause a
> leak. Clean out the "tray" up in the body recess above the seal while you're
> at it, all those leaves and sticks you never see don't help.
>
> Second, check to see if your rear window seal has a joint at the bottom
> center like my 83 does. If there's a gap there, you will definitely wet your
> mattress... I've watched it happen. Go get some black silicone sealer and
> masking tape. Mask the top and bottom edges of the seal and squirt in the
> sealant. Come back in about an hour when the sealant isn't gooey anymore and
> remove the tape. You may have to cut with a razor blade against the glass to
> get a nice edge to the sealant.
>
> Jim
>
> On Jan 21, 2008 2:50 PM, Kim Brennan <kimbrennan@mac.com> wrote:
>
> > The rear hatch window seal, like your front window seal can start to
> > leak. It's one possibility.
> >
> > On Jan 21, 2008, at 3:26 PM, neil N wrote:
> >
> > > Hi all.
> > >
> > > Last week I opened the rear hatch and found it would close part way on
> > > its' own. ?? I put in new supports just over a year ago. Shouldn't
> > > happen I thought.....
> > >
> > > My theory is that water gathered and froze, adding extra weight. Today
> > > in warm sun, water ran out of bottom of hatch and it functions as it
> > > used to. Mystery solved. But rear matresses are kind of wet. Water is
> > > getting into van.
> > >
> > > My Westy is parked on an incline with rear end pointed downhill.
> > > Recently weather has been cold.
> > >
> > > Where are the typical water leaks points on the rear hatch?
> > >
> > > Water normally gathers in rear hatch bottom and drains out when opened
> > > when parked on incline. Is this normal?
> > >
> > > IF it isn't a water leak, could it be that with a frozen chunk o ice
> > > at the bottom of the hatch, any "new" water coming in would overflow
> > > into/onto the rear?
> > >
> > > TIA, and hope my questions make sense!
> > >
> > > Neil.
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Neil Nicholson. 1981 Air Cooled Westfalia - "Jaco"
> > > http://web.mac.com/tubaneil
> > >
> > > Engine swap beginings: http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/
> >
>

--
Neil Nicholson. 1981 Air Cooled Westfalia - "Jaco"
http://web.mac.com/tubaneil

Engine swap beginings: http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/