# Car exterior knowledge needed… **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 29, 2023, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-exterior-knowledge-needed/984719 "2023-05-29T03:05:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-exterior-knowledge-needed/984719/1 "2023-05-29T03:05:08Z")
So I’ve posted before about the travails of my 2000 Civic. On the inside, it’s still pretty young, but on the outside… well, my lack of long haul commuting hasn’t prevented time and wear from taking its toll. So I went through a car wash today, and something happened. There are two channels along the length of the roof of the car, filled in with a rubber strip. Q1: What _are_ those ruts for, anyway? The rubber strip has, of course, warped with time and are now not so well attached to the bottom of the rut. Something in the car wash caught one of these strips and lifted it up out of the rut. I managed to push it back in reasonably, but there’s nothing keeping the rubber strip from just lifting out of the rut at any time. It got loose from the back. Q2: Should I have the rubber strip repaired somehow? How likely is it to come loose, say, during a freeway drive? What effects, if any, will the lack of a rubber strip have if it does come out? But while I was examining that, I noticed the seal between the car’s frame and the windshield was also loose. I don’t know if this happened as a result of the car wash; it may have been there previously. As seen below. (The strip I’m talking about above can also be seen to a lesser extent.) [[Album] imgur.com ![](https://i.imgur.com/gnE1gPA.jpeg?fb "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/a/sqy2rtk) Q3: How urgent is this to fix? Am I risking water getting into the car the next time it rains. Again, since I can’t remember how long that’s been there, I’m not sure if I already went through rain with it that way. Thanks in advance! ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-exterior-knowledge-needed/984719/2 "2023-05-29T04:45:49Z")
I’d just get some adhesive and glue it back in place. Something [like this should work](https://www.walmart.com/ip/LOCTITE-Power-Grab-Express-Interior-Construction-Adhesive-6-oz-Tube/580548620). ---
**Author:** ![Mikkel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikkel/32/13151_2.png) [@Mikkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikkel)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-exterior-knowledge-needed/984719/3 "2023-05-29T05:37:20Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Q1: What _are_ those ruts for, anyway? They are there to fasten a roof carrier in. The hook just compress the rubber and you tighten it down. I don’t think the rubber is neccesary except to stop windnoise and for the looks. The window is more worrying. Perhaps ask at a autoglass workshop, they will have the right glue and may be able to squeeze a bit in to ensure that the glass stay and water don’t get in. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-exterior-knowledge-needed/984719/4 "2023-05-29T22:21:49Z")
Thanks for the answers, all. My windshield was last replaced many years ago, though it should’ve told me that my instinct that those seals were native to the car was incorrect. I’m taking the day off tomorrow, so I’ll go to an auto glass shop nearby and see what they can do.