I’m sure you’ve already done this too but have you taken it to a DIY Coin Op car wash and had someone blast the window while you’re inside looking for the leak.

It appears as though you have some of the trim out so it should be easy to spot.

Simple and inexpensive

 

We did it with a hose. Leaks are just hard to spot cause you never know if it runs down the rubber seal and come out at a different area.
I am starting to think maybe the window is not "adjusted" right. I hear window noise and the leak seems to come from the little triangle created by the front window and the the rubber seal where the side window begins.

The rubber seal looks fine in general so I don't think it's the seal being brittle/broken. Maybe the window doesn't shut all the way or doesn't press against the rubber seal hard enough, allowing for water to come into the car.

 

So still trying to eliminate causes for the leak. Is it plausible that this is caused by a misaligned window?

Second guess was the roof trim strip. What's actually below there? I understand the aluminum strip snaps into the rubber seal that is attached to the car. Mine looks a little odd, sticking up on one side. Had these painted a while back and they removed and reattached them so not sure if that could have any significance?

That would be my two guesses. It's super frustrating. I basically have all the trim panels and carpet out of the car and still can't narrow this done 100% even though I see where water drips but it's hard to say if it's maybe getting in somewhere else, then running down the rubber and dripping down at a certain spot.

 

It could be any of those things but I don't know what is under that strip you had painted. It definitely should not stick out like that. Compare the driver and passenger glass when opening and closing looking at the alignment of the glass from the top sides etc. Can't you see from under the headliner where the water is dripping? Or maybe consider removing the headliner since next on the list will probably be new fabric for it anyway.

 

Well, I was 95% sure it was that upper rear trunk gasket but that means I was 95% wrong as he cleaned that and greased it with the green grease. So, on to eliminating possibilities the next one would be that roof trim strip that another mentioned and maybe there is corrosion under it an in that channel? To test this I'd just take black electrician tape and lay a section over each of those long gaps on each side of that trim piece from front to back to seal those little gaps and then spray away with this hose. If it doesn't leak with the tape on there must be a leak inside that channel that is covered by that trim piece and that would cause me to take the risk and pull the trim piece and see what is going on underneath it for rust or holes in the channel somewhere. This is a gradual process of elimination.

Keep your head up Nick! You will fix this even if it means pulling the headliner out of the car and looking for the source with someone blasting it with a pressure washer. Do not take it to a mechanic who is going to charge a fortune per hour to diagnose this for hours and hours who is going to the same things you can do for free. The trunk gasket has been eliminated as the problem so on to testing and eliminating other potential sources of the leak.

There's a reason these cars are rare these days and owners take such pride in them.. They are a labor of love.

 

[/QUOTE]

This is what that area looks like on my car.
The roof strips have a rubber seal attached underneath them and snaps into the roof joint.
I would take the roof liner out to get a good look at possible leak areas, you might as well reline the roof while it is out as the lining is probably about to drop anyway.

 

Those roof seam strips pull out easily. You can look under them, but I have doubts that there is a leak under them. Would be a good opportunity to clean the rubber strips and that channel area out, though.

 

Agreed, especially if there is a rust through or hole under there...


.

 

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I really love this car and don't want to have to sell it. I have to be able to diagnose this somehow.

Surprisingly, the headliner actually looks fine. It's not sagging or anything and really just a little bit dirty but kind of cleaned a small section the other day and it came right out. It's probably just dirty water that leaked in from the outside so if I don't have to, I'd rather no re-line the whole headliner.

When I compare both windows - driver and passenger side - I feel like the driver side doesn't align as closely as the passenger side.
I also hear wind noise while driving so that might point towards the window not sealing all the way and actually when I shut the driver door it sounds much less "saturated" than the passenger door. Passenger door sounds awesome, driver door sounds like a cheap door for some reason.

I am going to put some electrical tape over the strips to see if it still leaks. I used some painters tape a while back but got scared cause removing it also removed some of the pain on those strips and don't want to have to have them painted again.

My car is in great shape and I look after it a lot but this leak thingy has me worried.
Sure hope I can figure it out!

Thanks for everyone's advise and words of encouragement. Love this forum and the people in it.

 

If I recall it should be right here... Same on the other side.