Water leaks inside motor home by passenger window

[Mary T]

We have a Forest River, Georgetown XL, 2004. We have had this motor home for 4 months and have not used it yet due to an ongoing water leak. It only leaks when it is raining. We have had two Sealtech tests done and no leaks were found. However, when it rains, water comes in thru the passenger side window. I have it at a dealer now, they cannot find the leak.
They have now removed the TV cabinet, VCR Cabinet and the ceiling over the passenger side seat. They have now found the foam in the ceiling, approx. 24" x 6" is soaked. The wood above the foam is dry. There is no evidence that the wood has been wet at all. When they pressed the foam, water poured down the passenger side window and wall. They have had this RV since last Friday and no one can find where the water is coming from. They have check the windshield, clearance lights, and where the TV/VCR cabinets are attached. Does anyone have any suggestions. The dealer and my husband both have poured water over the room and nothing leaks. Please e-mail me at maryt1947@yahoo.com if you think you can help.
Thank you!

[rob98801]

Mary: Try this it may help, yes I know it sounds strange but.....

Take an electric leaf blower inside the rv, and have someone on the outside with a spray bottle of soapy water, aim the leaf blower at the edge of the windows, along the edges between the walls and ceiling and other openings while the outside is being sprayed with the soapy water mixture, watch for any bubbles. This was the only way I found "the leak" on one of our earlier RVs

Rob, Janet
1999 M-265 Georgetown

[Mary T]

We have had the Sealtech systems test done two times. They could not find any leaks. They then let water run over the roof and down the sides for approximately 6 hours (my husband did the same thing for about 3 hours) and still no leaks showed up. However, when it rains, the passenger side window begins to leak inside. The dealer has now removed the front cabinets and the cabinet above the chair in the coach. They have found wet foam. However, the wood above the foam is dry. The only wet area is the foam.
It is going to rain in Raleigh, NC tomorrow. So my RV is sitting outside so they can see where the leak is coming from since they have opened a small area of the RV ceiling. I am lucky that it has only set a small section,
24" x 6" and there is no major damage. We just need to find the leak and repair. Thanks for your help.

Mary

[Hokiehall]

It might be leaking around a vent and following the path of least resistance to the lowest point. These things sometimes occur well away from where you see the water coming in.

[rob98801]

Mary T:

Did they find the leak? If so where?

Rob and Janet
99 georgetown m-265

[Mary T]

I think Hawley's RV in Raleigh, NC has finally found the leak. Since it only leaked when it rained, we had to wait until it rained so the technicians could actually see where the rain came in. Well, we really had a rain yesterday and wind also. Please keep in mind I have had two Sealtech Systems test that are suppose to detect all leaks, no matter what kind. Lots of luck with that system, after two times it still did not show up this leak. The technician thinks it is coming in thru the side wall where the awning and down rods are.
They have taken out all cabinets in the cab and the one over the chair directly behind the passenger seat. Then they began taking out the ceiling.
They found a piece of foam, approx. 18" x 6" that was soaked. The wood above the foam, however, was completely dry. Now we are waiting for another rain so we can be sure this is the leak, before the technicians put all cabinets, etc. back in place and caulk the outside.We have agreed to leave it until it rains again and they can be sure this is the leak.

Hopefully we will be able to travel after this repair. We have had this home for 4 months and have not been out in it yet.

Thanks for asking. Do you have leaks?

Mary T

[Roy]

Mary,
Thanks for sharing your troubleshooting of the leak.
I also have a 2004 Georgetown with the same leaking problem. Need to put out the towels when it rains!!! Have already ruined one set of side curtains from the water. Haven't been able to find the source even though the roof has been re-caulked and the windshield reset. Water still gets in and also sits in the window channel.
Sure hope your technicians are able to confirm the problem leak area and you can start to use the unit.
Looking forward to the final conclusion.

Roy & Shirley from Canada but now travelling in Florida

[Mary T]

Hi Roy and Shirley,

We still do not have our motorhome. I don't want Hawley's to put back everything and then find out the leak is not repaired. So now we are waitng for the RAIN. It is suppose to rain in Raleigh, NC this week and hopefully they will know exactly where the leak is and go ahead and repair it.
It is amazing to me that the Sealtech test (which cost me $144 each time they did it) did not show up any leaks both times. That test is useless and I certainly would not recommend it. I am even going to refuse to pay for the second test. Anyway, good luck to you and I will keep you informed on what the technicians find.

Mary T

[rob98801]

Mary T

How we doing on the leak?

[Jokers]

We had a 2000 Georgetown with EXACTLY the same problem. Had the seal test, re sealed everything, it still leaked when it rained and the rig was in a certain direction. The second leak test they found a leak somewhere around the awning. They resealed and said "no more leaks". After around 2000 dollars and tons of frustration, the leak returned. We now had delamination and bumps in the interior under the passenger window. We finally fixed the problem by trading and I will never have a Forest River product again.

[Paul B]

Sorry you haven't had any success with the positive pressure routine. I have done my own with a shop vac and found leaks in my tt that I couldn't find otherwise. Also found leaks in my neighbors kayak(another story).

I can't believe they didn't find anything. Air has to be coming out somewhere if you truly have positive pressure in your RV. Our local electric company even does this type of operation on homes to find outside air infiltration. Buttoned up my house real good after all the sealing they did. So the system does work "IF" done properly.

Were you there when they preformed the test?? It sometimes does take some patients when doing this as the bubbles don't sometimes show up right away. One that was very frustrating for me was the bat wing antenna leak. Couldn't find that one right away!!

Trust me the test works ONLY IF done right and with patients.

Again sorry you had bad luck............

Of course you do know "THEY" (RVs) all leak at one time or another.

Paul B

[Dragon]

Hi all, I don't know if this will help or if you want to put in this much work but here goes. I had a Winnebago awhile back and had a leak above both windshields, everything that we could think of was done, and we could not find the leak. finally one day when I got so mad I was ready to tear the top off, I found the leak. It was a wire that ran from back by the A/C unit. The water would come in travel along the wire and end up coming out above the windshields. I plugged the whole under the A/C where the wire came through and no more leaks, but the flustration was unbelievable.

[wilslt]

We just purchased a 2005 359 ts xl. Raining when we picked it up. No signs of any leakage until 50 miles later. Water ran down over the front of the TV when we slowed for traffic. Back to the dealer and they did the leak test and found no leaks in the roof but they did find that it was prepped for the sat rec. There is what appears to be a vent in the roof just behind the passenger seat. That is the access for the sat cabels and any water that gets into that goes into the roof and foam insulation then takes the path of least resistance and ens up who knows where. The tech applied sealent to plug the hole through the roof. I pulled the liner down in front of the tv enough to bow air from a huge shopvac through the foam for an entire day. Everything seems to be dried out. Also waiting for rain to see if the fix is in.

[cfsoistman]

Originally Posted by wilslt

We just purchased a 2005 359 ts xl. Raining when we picked it up. No signs of any leakage until 50 miles later. Water ran down over the front of the TV when we slowed for traffic. Back to the dealer and they did the leak test and found no leaks in the roof but they did find that it was prepped for the sat rec. There is what appears to be a vent in the roof just behind the passenger seat. That is the access for the sat cabels and any water that gets into that goes into the roof and foam insulation then takes the path of least resistance and ens up who knows where. The tech applied sealent to plug the hole through the roof. I pulled the liner down in front of the tv enough to bow air from a huge shopvac through the foam for an entire day. Everything seems to be dried out. Also waiting for rain to see if the fix is in.

First off to FRF. Sorry to hear of your leak. Hopefully the dealer has found the culprit. One other place to check if it reoccurs is the wire boot where the cable up to the antenna runs. These rubber boots can crack and allow water to get in as well.