Dodge Xplorer Rear Window Leak

Window leaks have taken down a lot of RV's over the years.

I once removed my conversion van window which was not leaking for another reason, and when I returned it I used the original flattened gasket and caulk. Started leaking after the first time I drove it.

I had to remove it again and buy new foam weather stripping which I crushed flat re installing it. I trimmed the excess what squeezed out and made a fillet with caulking( tape both surfaces first), then I paint over that. The paint eventually cracks, and I clean it, sand it lightly/ tape it off and paint on another layer before the rainy season starts.

Dang another thing to add to the list.

I don;t know about your explorer windows, but consider the possibility that the leak is starting higher and collecting on the window where it drains

Also, now my back window is leaking as well? When I purchased the van it had a new paint job and they redid all of the seals. I wonder if they are all breaking down now?

Thanks for the help everyone!

I may try the tape trick if it rains again tonight/tomrrow. I did a quick video of what the ledge looks like. The link is below
http://www.youtube.com/edit?video_id=uL_aSvAdFAM&ns=1&o=U

There was a lot of dirt and grime on the ledge and I think that was collecting the water. I cleaned a decent amount of it off and it began raining again!

My xplorer is a 1990 model, non pop top.

Chris

Chaingang has helped me with my 1997 Xplorer 230XL. I did the side gutter repair on both sides & that solved most problems. ANother area is the rear window upper hinge. Screw heads there can cause a leak and recaulking them helps. I also have black duct tape across that seam.

What model & year is your Xplorer?

You can reduce or even stop the leak while on the road. The culprit is the rain water that collects in the rain gutters as it's suposed to. Deflecting the collection of water coming off the roof by diverting all of it from entering the gutters is a temporay fix. What I have done successfully while attemting to narrow done the location of leaks, was to place a long strip of good quality strapping tape to the roof portion above the gutter and close to the gutter for the entire lenght of the gutter. so that only half of the width of the tape is on the roof. The remaining portion of the tape is placed on the gutter itself. This will deflect all water from the roof by-passing the gutter. A tape that is at least 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide will be needed to do the job correctly. Get a good quality tape such as 3M brand as the adhesive will be much better that the el cheapo brand, and will stay on the vehicle much better when travelling as the air flow will try and pry the tape off. Do not leave the gutters leading edge at the windshield end open to the air. Wrap the tape around the open end towards the upper roof above the windshield. Removing the tape at a later time will leave some residual adhesive that is easily removed with products like Goo-Be-Gone. Good Luck.

Thanks for all the replies folks.

So basically the leak is coming from above the window on both sides and there is not much I can do about it until I get a few non rainy (currently in Alaska) days in a row and see what I can get figured out. That does explain why I was smelling mildew from inside my closet as well.

Thanks again,

Chris

Rear side window leaks on Xplorers in the sleeping compartment at the rear end of the motorhome is usually at the site where the extension was added to the basic van produced out of the factory. Xplorer added a section to the basic 15 passenger van to accomodte the larger interior setup. The section that was added is approximately 3 additional feet to the overall lenght. The joint of this section is at the location of the windows edge that are closest to the front of the motorhome. Those joints' weakest point is at the rain gutter location above the window. The fix is to remove the gutter by pealing it back rear to front drilling out the rivets (aluminum 1/8) till you can separate the gutter from the vehicle wihout putting any severe bend/kink in the gutter. It will require pealing it back way betond the working area. That will reveal the joint that will need to be cleaned and recalked to seal out the penetration of water. After that the gutter can be re-rivited back to it's original location after you have throughly cleaned all surfaces so that the mating riviting surfaces are back to original. If you do not do this clean-up the two surfaces will not come close enough to hold together with the replacement rivets. This leak is a common issue with Xplorer units as the extension is sujected to much tourque and flexing during over road travel.

Do you have the tire carrier on that rear door? Had a 97 Ram Van with the tire carrier mounted on the rear door and after a while the door started leaking. Found out the vibrations from the tire carrier was bending the door causing it to leak. Ended up trading it in for a 99 with the spare underneath.

make sure the drains in the frame are open.