Symbol van - 1999

Water stains have appeared on the fabric of the offside upper long shelf. Also there was a very damp patch at the aft' end of the shelf.  Any ideas and also the best stain remover. The van has been thoroughly dried out with a dehumidifier.

Have you fixed the leak? No point in trying to remove the stains if not!

If you have, I've had good results with one of the car fabric cleaners - for example Halfords used to sell one that was relatively cheap. You will probably find that some of the stain remains, because the fabric that A/S is not water-fast. I found that the pink/purple part of the dye transferred to other parts and could not be removed completely, but the result was (to me) acceptable.

Many thanks for getting back to me. Unfortunately after copious amounts of hose water on the roof and sides it has been impossible to trace where the leak is. Obviously a seal but which one heaven knows! The small narrow window above the shelf seems ok so perhaps it is the joint between the fibreglass roof and the metal sides.

I can ~almost~ guarantee that the leak will be around one of the windows - I had a similar A/S roof on a similar van (actually a Flair on a '99 Transit) and both sides leaked at different times. The reason it's hard to see where is because of the trim and interior panels, which can easily hide the original entry point and allow it to track some distance before emerging onto the front.

DIY fixing is not hard - I did both sides myself - but a bit tedious, as you have to take the roof panels out to get to the window clamps, remove the windows, replace the sealant and put them back. The butyl rubber sealant strip that A/S now recommend is significantly thicker than the original.

Fortunately, leaks between roof and van are very rare - as they would be much harder to fix.

I had a leak from the small high window in my Topaz, NS window taken out ,sealant cleaned out and window replaced, slight stain came off with that stain remover in a pink spray bottle, couldn`t tell once it had dried. never had any more trouble with it.

I agree with mojo, upper side windows, seals seem to dry out over the years and water can show itself anywhere, even at the top of the front pillars, it runs round the inside edge of the fibreglass roof.
Don't rule out the rooflight seals either same thing again.

Dave

Yep! Upper side windows. My last Symbol had a side shelf where you store a table leg that ran like a river if the wind was in the right direction. One of the first fixes I did to it. I used to have a Ramble on the older 1994 body and never had a problem with leaks on that, no water in the gearbox or rusting jacking points etc. The only bad bit of design I can remember was some bright spark thought it would be a good idea not to use and sealer on the windscreen rubber seal resulting in the scuttle panel rusting away in each lower corner of the screen if you didn’t catch it early. Technology eh!

oops!

-mojo- wrote:I can ~almost~ guarantee that the leak will be around one of the windows - I had a similar A/S roof on a similar van (actually a Flair on a '99 Transit) and both sides leaked at different times. The reason it's hard to see where is because of the trim and interior panels, which can easily hide the original entry point and allow it to track some distance before emerging onto the front.

DIY fixing is not hard - I did both sides myself - but a bit tedious, as you have to take the roof panels out to get to the window clamps, remove the windows, replace the sealant and put them back. The butyl rubber sealant strip that A/S now recommend is significantly thicker than the original.

Fortunately, leaks between roof and van are very rare - as they would be much harder to fix.

I'd go as far as saying you are 100% right on the bib! One of my windows (the narrow ones in roof side) has the same problem but only when the van is stationary, the window open, and the rain fairly heavy. I've stood watching what happens and the water runs off the window edge down into the rubber seal, then seeps through so it's behind the beige wallboard panel.

Close the window in heavy rain and it's fine. As my leak problem is so minimal and has little effect, i've left it alone as i know the 'fag' of removing panels after having to sort the stupid roof aerial which involves removing two panels and god knows how many screws (lost count!).

For stain removal I used 1001 and it worked a treat! Just follow the manufacturers instructions.