Water Ingress - What next?

[gillyk]

Our 2003 (or at least thats what we were told) Fleetwood Sonata is leaking!
We have had it for 2 1/2 yrs, and after 10 months we found that the back locker had 'damp'. Warranty expired.

We dried it out and got our mobile service engineer to take a look. He removed and resealed the join on the roof spoiler.
This year water started pouring in when we got caught in a real downpour, it was coming in under the inner side of the window seal. The outside was secure and still dry. Our engineer came along and had another look, checked the roof seal again, ok, so resealed where the spoiler joins the awning rail and around the window seal.
In august we arrived for our 1st night on summer hols and it leaked again but has not done so since despite nights away with rain. However when I went in this morning to 'put the van to bed' and upend the cushions etc, it had been pouring in again, the seal has come unstuck inside the window but outside is still fine.
We would love to get rid but cannot afford to get a new one. When we bought thiswe thought Fleetwood were a solid name, but within 6 months were no more. We cannot even ask their advice.

WE ARE NOT TECHNICALLY MINDED so......
Would this be an expensive repair as not sure we have the spare cash to get it done?
Has anyone had a similar problem?
Currently wishing that we had not traded in our 1988 Swift just because it had a cracked front window!!
Any comments/advice as to where it may be coming from welcome

Gill

 

[TopCat1]

Tracing water leaks is a very time consuming job, not least because water is clear and able to travel some distance between entry and exit points due to both gravity and capilliary action. This type of problem can sometimes be best identified by either air pressure or vacuume. In a caravan this is very difficult to acheive without spending ages sealing all of the ventilation points with polythene and tape. Pressure or vaccume can then be created by passing the hose from a vaccume cleaner into the van via a sealed entry point. I would recommend pressure to start with wet the outside and look for bubbles. If you have no luck then switch to vaccume and spray a hose over the outside whilst the vaccume is applied. This takes two people, one inside to check entry points and the other outside to spray. You will be surprised how the effect of a little of either pressure or vaccume can produce a dramitic effect. Failing that then add some soluable dye to water and gently pour over the outside. The problem is that you may be forced to strip out quite a bit of the interior to find the joker. As an aid try to think if your van is parked at an angle other than level when the leak occurrs. if this is the case then consider roof pooling and carefully search this area.

If you have the time and determination I am sure you will find the problem, the trouble is it only needs a small hole to cause a big leak!! Good luck

 

[Reg]

Now this may seem unorthodox but I use GROUT SEAL on all of the joints of my van.

Grout seal is as the name suggests is for sealing the tile grouting in showers and it works by penetrating the grout and depositing a chemical sealant when it dries out. Like water it will ingress into any gap however small. I chose to do it when the van was dry and the weather was quite hot but I don't know if that is really necessary. I used it in my shower (the one in the house not the van) approx 2 years ago and it has never leaked to date. It leaked pretty bad before. I didn't have any leaks in the van, a 5 year old Bailey, but knowing that they were prone to leaking I decided to do all the joints. It is as dry as a bone inside.

It's not a proven cure but at about £15.00 a bottle I figured it is worth a try.

One word of caution when you apply it make sure you clean up the joint before it dries on the paintwork. You will not get it off it it dries.

 

[DerektheSecond]

I use this its worked for me in the past

http://www.captaintolley.com/

 

[Robert_374373903]

My past motorhome had this happend by a large window 3'x2' and the whole window seal was replaced, the rubber seal had leaked from the outside where it had got squashed by the window itself. The seal came to £27 and labour £60. The seal on our m/h was far thicker than caravans ie 45mm thick.

 

[gillyk]

Thanks for ideas so far, will discuss with oh.

 

[Delndi]

I have used Captain Tolleys and find it to be excellent