Help.........me T-bar Roof Is Leaking

[84darren]

CAN ANYONE HELP I KEEP GETTING WET WHEN IT RAINS...........IVE ONLY HAD ME MR2 THREE MONTH BUT WHEN IM DRIVING ALONG WATER KEEPS DRIPPING ON ME FROM THE SEAL BETWEEN THE GLASS AND THE ROOF NEXT TO THE DOOR............HEARD ITS A COMMON PROBLEM BUT WHAT CAN I DO TO FIX IT?

[dudeone]

Hi Fella,

Sorry cannot help but I would like to take the opportunely and say welcome.

[Rash@R.A.Motors]

Hi mate,

try doing a search on here as im pretty sure a few people have had problems with leaking t-bars before - i think their's a sealant of some sort that you can buy... Someone with more know-how will be along to shed some light on the subject hopefully....

Cheers

[RowMR2turbo]

Hi and welcome to TOC.

A frequently asked question to which there's many answers. Try using the search option in the top right corner for starters.

This thread gives reference to said 'spray' your on about.

HTH

http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.p...topic=13778&hl=

[Jimlad]

Halfords rubber and nylon lubricant. Used to sell it in a bright yellow can. They've changed the can colour now, possibly the name. But you can still buy it.

Spray it on all the seals.. let it dry.. then put the roof back on. If that doesn't work then get the eccentric rod guides. If that doesn't work, then last option is to get the seals replaced.

I've done all three and get no leaks whatsoever.

[Razor_Rage]

took this from IMOC:

Ok so you have the MR2 T-bar and you're feeling good while the suns out and life is just great. Then it rains and you get wet. Fact. MR2's leak through the T-bars whether its a mk1 or mk2 and you would've thought by the mk2 those clever Japanese types at Toyota would have fixed it. After all when it rains over in Japan it really does chuck it down so how they managed to repeat the mistakes of the mk1 t-bar arrangement into the mk2 is anybodies guess.

OK update on this, Ryan has made himself know as the originator of the sealant and clingfilm fix and so duly gets the credit and thanks from me and others that he deserves!

Now there are a variety of ways to get round this problem. These solutions are listed below and have been gleaned from my travels round the information superhighway with stops at IMOC and MR2OC some I have tried others I haven't.

Eccentric T-Top Rod Guide - two per side. Part number 63283-17040 with M4 x 10mm machine screws - two per side. Note that you must get metric machine screws.

rubber seal rejuvenator for spraying round the seals and freshening them up for a better seal between the panels

new rubber seals from Toyota - ouch

silicon sealant in a green tube from Halfords and some cling film

Come again??? What was that last one??? Its so simple and yet brilliant in my experience.

What you do is identify where the drips are coming from, usually at the join with the windscreen and

clean both seals in that area

squeeze a liberal amount of the silicon sealant onto the seal on the t bar panel seals (not the car body like I did.....)

tear off some cling film and cover the area now spread with the sealant

put the T-bar back on and tighten up as normal

repeat for other side as necessary

wait 24 hrs and then remove t-bars and cling film then replace t-bars

job done

I can honestly say the sealant and cling film worked a treat and I've never had any leaks again in the rain or when washing the car. Job done and costs only GB£10 tops in bits and 20 minutes of your time. Well worth it. Thanks Ryan for the original posting cause this fix has kept my leg and the seat nice and dry now for over a year. !Removed! brilliant. If you put the sealant on the t-bars then its doesn't show when the tops are off, unlike me who put it on the actual car seals. Still black on black doesn't exactly stand out.

What happens is that the sealant that has been spread onto the seals is now compressed and squeezed by the locked T-bar into the areas with all the gaps and hence fills them. The cling film allows the sealant to dry AND allow you to remove the T-bars later without pulling the new seal off at the same time.

[jdbecks]

i got that pronlem too, razor so i put some silcon sealant on the the pannels then put some clingfim over the sealant and lock the pannels down

[Bibbs]

Clicky

It's a post from me when I did mine .. and then about a year later when I finally got a digi cam :D

[84darren]

cheers gonna try some of them tommorrow ill let you know how i get on

[ToyotaTosh]

use silicone spray!

[84darren]

silicone spray? seen silicone in a tube but never in a spray, whats the difference. is it any good, if so where do you get it from?

i havent tryed anything yet cause someones roof tiles hit me car on friday night so ive been getting that sorted. need my bonnet, wing and light repairing and painting.

[welsha]

took this from IMOC:

Ok so you have the MR2 T-bar and you're feeling good while the suns out and life is just great. Then it rains and you get wet. Fact. MR2's leak through the T-bars whether its a mk1 or mk2 and you would've thought by the mk2 those clever Japanese types at Toyota would have fixed it. After all when it rains over in Japan it really does chuck it down so how they managed to repeat the mistakes of the mk1 t-bar arrangement into the mk2 is anybodies guess.

OK update on this, Ryan has made himself know as the originator of the sealant and clingfilm fix and so duly gets the credit and thanks from me and others that he deserves!

Now there are a variety of ways to get round this problem. These solutions are listed below and have been gleaned from my travels round the information superhighway with stops at IMOC and MR2OC some I have tried others I haven't.

Eccentric T-Top Rod Guide - two per side. Part number 63283-17040 with M4 x 10mm machine screws - two per side. Note that you must get metric machine screws.

rubber seal rejuvenator for spraying round the seals and freshening them up for a better seal between the panels

new rubber seals from Toyota - ouch

silicon sealant in a green tube from Halfords and some cling film

Come again??? What was that last one??? Its so simple and yet brilliant in my experience.

What you do is identify where the drips are coming from, usually at the join with the windscreen and

clean both seals in that area

squeeze a liberal amount of the silicon sealant onto the seal on the t bar panel seals (not the car body like I did.....)

tear off some cling film and cover the area now spread with the sealant

put the T-bar back on and tighten up as normal

repeat for other side as necessary

wait 24 hrs and then remove t-bars and cling film then replace t-bars

job done

I can honestly say the sealant and cling film worked a treat and I've never had any leaks again in the rain or when washing the car. Job done and costs only GB£10 tops in bits and 20 minutes of your time. Well worth it. Thanks Ryan for the original posting cause this fix has kept my leg and the seat nice and dry now for over a year. !Removed! brilliant. If you put the sealant on the t-bars then its doesn't show when the tops are off, unlike me who put it on the actual car seals. Still black on black doesn't exactly stand out.

What happens is that the sealant that has been spread onto the seals is now compressed and squeezed by the locked T-bar into the areas with all the gaps and hence fills them. The cling film allows the sealant to dry AND allow you to remove the T-bars later without pulling the new seal off at the same time.

←

sounds like this came from my website though maybe stating you lifted this from my website would have been nice as I have acknowledged where I collated the info http://www.allanwelsh.dsl.pipex.com/motor/...y/tBarLeak.html

[Silent BoB]

My t-bar does the same, its not too bad only leaks if it has been sitting for a while.

[ricomr2]

i used the silicone spray on mine too in the summer last year and its only just started to drip again recently.

Just need to spray the seals again and it'll be fine for another 6 months or so...

[Jimlad]

not read the rest of the thread......

but my tbar used to leak. I bought new seals, used the eccentric rod giudes and also the lubricant from Halfords. No leaks anymore.

I would suggest the spray from Halfords first as it's the cheapeast.