Forum Discussion

MetalGator's avatar
Jun 20, 2018

Miramar shower leak

I posted this on one of the Thor forums but also wanted to post here to gets people's opinion/help with my shower leak issue.

Our Miramar 35.3 is back at the dealer for the 3rd time for a shower leak. A few minutes after taking a shower, water will start weeping out from underneath the from corner of the shower. Sometimes you don't notice it but if you take a paper towel and push on the panel that is on the front of the shower, water will weep out onto the paper towel. In testing for the leak before I dropped it off, I filled a 5 gallon bucket about half way with water (from an outside water source) and poured water down the shower drain. I figured this would rule out water leaking from the the hot/cold values and also rule out water splashing onto the door frame or other areas of the shower. In doing this the first time, I didn't see a leak (or I didn't wait long enough). My second test I filled the bucket half way again but this time I stood in the shower when I poured the water down the drain. So now I have pressure on the shower floor from me standing in the shower. About 5 minutes later I checked with my paper towel trick and no water. I came back about 15 minutes later and sure enough, water weeped onto the paper town when I pushed on the front panel. It's like the water is dripping from underneath the shower pan and eventually pooling up against that panel piece in the front of the shower. I noticed that the trim near the floor coming into the bathroom (which is next to the shower) was coming loose due to the water.


Camping world called yesterday afternoon and said they had calked the shower door frame and some other areas (which was done the first two times I took the motorhome in for the leak). I told them that this wouldn't fix the leak since I know the leak is coming from underneath the shower. It's got to be coming from the shower drain or the plumbing underneath the shower. My service tech said there should be some type of access panel to get underneath the shower for the plumbing. I'm not sure how since the grey water tank seems to be right underneath the shower. If I go outside and open up the compartment under where the shower is, there appears to be a tank. I believe there is a furnace vent that comes out the front of the shower near the floor so there is definitely room underneath the shower. I guess that front panel will need to be pulled off to get access underneath the shower pan.


For the Miramar owners, do you know how to access underneath the shower? My guess is when I get the motorhome back from the dealer it will not be fixed and I will have to eventually fix it myself. I dropped off the motorhome 2 days before my warranty expired and they have now had it 2 weeks so no more warranty.


Burch

9 Replies

  • Farmboy666 wrote:
    It's THIS kind. Not much to leak except the connections.


    Thank you for that link. They said that Thor would have to send the part and it might take 7-10 days. I can't wait that long as I have a trip planned next weekend. I am going to see if they can just get the part locally and I'll pay for it since it is not expensive.

    Burch
  • I just spoke to the dealer. It is the P-trap that is leaking. They said it's not a normal p-trap and it has some type of baffle that keeps water from flowing back into the shower drain. They don't have the part and will have to order it from Thor. I have a trip planned in 10 days so I sure hope they get it fixed by then.
  • MY thought was p-trap as well.

    The "glue" used for attaching the piping in our 2017 appears to harden and crack allowing "joined" parts to separate in different ways. If the glue wasn't applied correctly it makes it even worse.

    For me it was the connections from the kitchen sink to the grey tank. the pipes just pulled apart, there was glue there, but it had hardened and cracked losing its adhesion abilities.
  • The dealer called me yesterday and said they were going to look at the p-trap. I just an curious how they are going to get access without have to tear out the shower.
  • Once you make a claim under warranty it doesn't matter if it runs out, your good until it's fixed. Sounds like it's coming from the shower drain except if it were leaking right at the drain you should see water right away. It's possible that it is leaking at the drain very slowly then running on the bottom side of the shower floor and then dripping down which is taking a few minutes to show up. Water leaks can be a real puzzle but remember water always takes the easiest route. If the gray tank is directly underneath there would not be a very long run of pipe but there still needs to be a trap so there will be some length of pipe but the water wouldn't sit in the pipe for any length of time. There should be access to the trap but who knows. If not the only sure way to fix it is take the shower out and they won't want to do that so now it comes down to who gives in first. Stay with it until it's fixed.
  • bartlettj wrote:
    The warranty should still be in place because you made the dealer aware of the problem before it expired.


    I know the dealer I work with will honor warranty work if it was on record before warranty ran out.
  • Our access panel is from the cabinet on the opposite side in the kitchen. Actually the pantry area in the slide out. Bottom shelf, back wall is a panel that can be unscrewed and you see the plumbing for the shower wall. You can see some of the shower bottom, not sure if you can see drain maybe with a flashlight or not. Check the area opposite the shower wall.
  • The warranty should still be in place because you made the dealer aware of the problem before it expired.