I have had a Citroen Berlingo Multispace from new for three and a half years and it is the most practical and cheapest car I have ever owned and one of the few I can comfortably sit in (at 6’6” tall) and one of the even fewer that will take my similarly sized and fast growing children in the back seats. It has been basically trouble free but a little niggle has raised its head. The four rear windows hinge out rather than wind down and they have all started to leak water between the seal and the glass, resulting in a little trickle of water from the front corner of each window when it rains hard and long (like all this summer!). I have tried my two local Citroen service agents, neither of whom has met this problem before. One suggests rejuvenating the seal with silicon spray but not replacing the seal as this could well make it worse. The other recommends replacing the seals, about £65 each! I have to do something soon as it won’t go in my garage and the rain continues.
Why is my car leaking and not others and what should I have done to fix it?
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It's a pity Citroen wouldn't consider rectifying under warranty - you must just be month out of the 3 year warranty (?)
I don't know the Berlingo window seal setup, but it does sound very much like the old Mini arrangement, where the seal simply sits onto the body flange. If so, there are a few (cheap!) possibilities.
You could try taking off the seal, putting a bit of silicone sealant or suchlike on the body flange then re-applying. It might be that the water is getting between the seal and the metal of the body.
On the other hand, if the rubber is not contacting the glass properly all the way round, you might have to remove the seal and gently bend the metal flange out a bit with a pliers - then replace the seal. This brings it 'further out'.
You could try and get a replacement seal from a scrappie - I guess that would be way way less than £65 and unlikely to be damaged or unserviceable in so young a car.
Maybe (if the seal is a hollow rubber section) you could insert some foam or suchlike inside the seal to make it a 'little plumper'!!
Is there any adjustment on the window hinges and/or catch? This might pull things together a bit more tightly and just do the trick.
Such a simple arrangement as this should not be taxing the brains of a resourceful mechanic - I'm sure it could be made watertight without the need for expensive parts.
At a push / or at least as a temporary solution, you might find that some foam draught excluder stuck to the seal might keep the rain out. Not recommended for a permanent repair, though!
Graeme
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Thanks for your thoughts, I haven't taken the seal out (I suppose I ought to really, but I've been put off by horror stories by the service agents) there is no adjustment on the catches or hinges apart from putting in extra washers. The seal is all rubber (I think)and the water leaks between the window and glass, this is a hollow section with drain holes but I'd have to fill it evenly or it would be even worse. I like the idea of draught excluder. The bottom line, so I'm told, is that if you get it wrong the window shatters when you flip the catch!
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If you have electric windows they shouldn't shatter. If they are the same as other modern Citroens, they should reverse when they hit an obstacle (childs head etc).
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Land Rover do a rubber piping for their door seals etc....
The tubular rubber seals would squash with age, and when they go through water, it would pour in the doors! The dealers have rolls of rubbery solid pipe called interference seal or similar, this is fed into the tubular seals to bulk them out as another poster suggested.
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Thanks, this sounds like a good idea but it could still overstress the windows (I'm beginning to wonder if this is an old wives tale). What I'm really hoping for is someone to reply "Of course this is a common problem I do two a week.....", the more I look around the more I see cars with hinged windows, have they all cracked the problem and Citroen not, or was it just the dud tail end of a batch of rubber, the rest of which is in sunny Spain and the South of France.
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Electric!! perish the thought, I avoided all nasties that could go wrong (except ABS). No they're simple hinges with catches, 1920's technology on rectangular but finely curved panes of toughened glass.
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No they're simple hinges with catches, 1920'stechnology on rectangular but finely curved panes of toughened glass.
Now I am confused
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The simplicity has to be seen to be believed, a plate of glass, 2 hinges at one end and a 2 part lever at the other which locks open or closed, but can only compress the seal a little at the hinge end...This design is common to at least several cars, most common could be the Ford Galaxy/VW/Fiat equivalent.
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>>Electric!! perish the thought, I avoided all nasties that could go wrong (except ABS).
Ahhh, a person after my own heart. Just like my Berlingo. Alas, I believe that since the facelift, electric windows have now become compusory on Berlingos.
Wish I could help with your problem. I suppose the thing to do is to contact another Citroen dealer for a third opinion, but I realise this may not be practical. Our dealer has managed to sort out all the trim problems we have had without much difficulty - including the door seal on the sliding rear door coming loose and letting in the rain. Berlingos are great vehicles, but clearly designed for rain-free areas.
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Sorry, I have read your original post again, its the rear windows, I was thinking of a leak on the front windows.
Surely the seal can't be that expensive.
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There are 2 service agents I can get to, they are both great to speak to though I've only used one for service, you actually speak to the 'service manager' and he actually works on the cars. The other 3 dealers all say "book it in and we'll look at it" but you only ever speak to the young (and I mean young) lad or lady on the reception desk. Oh, and Citroen do have a technical help line - a premium rate call at £1.50 a minute! Should I bite that bullet? Did your dealer fix the leak by replacing the seal? Mine would charge £24 for the seal plus half an hour labour which seems quite reasonable. If they could guarantee to fix it for the next three years at that price I'd think it good value, the trouble is he's too honest, he's not really sure it will make any difference.
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I was very lucky. We discovered the problem a few days before the car was booked in for servicing, and we told them about it when we brought it in, and they fixed it under warranty. (Car only a couple of years old) Your situation is a bit trickier. I'm not quite sure how they fixed it - all I know was that they did. They may have simply applied more adhesive.
Sorry I can't be more help. Let us know what happens. It'll probably happen to us one day.
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Yours wasn't registered in April 2001 by any chance? I'm still hoping someone somewhere knows how to fix this particular seal.
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Ours was registered March 2002.
This may not be much of a good idea, but if you look on the "good garages" section of this website, there are a few citroen dealers. If you are anywhere at all convenient to any of them, you could try giving them a telephone call.
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Thanks for this idea, there is one outside my usual area, I'll try them. Funny how it hasn't rained since I took it in to the first agent.
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