Roadtrek Window Leaks

[TrekerJack]

Hi Everyone,
I'm new to RVing and the forum. I bought a 2000 Roadtrek Popular 200 (fiberglass body) last August. So far it's been a 7 month head ache. Unfortunately, the rear window that the previous owner said was fixed still leaks. I've taken it to 2 different dealers and is now in the shop for the 7th time! Luckily the dealer that it's at now has only charged me for the first visit.

So far they have pulled the window twice. Caulked and re-caulked. Replaced the gasket between the frame and the fold out emergency glass. Caulked both tail lights. The leak is better but not gone. Light rains do not seem to make it in but heavier wind blown rain does. The bottom rail fills with water and then spills over to the interior.

Has anyone else experienced this? How did you fix it? Any suggestions / ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

[TrekerJack]

Wow - I must been really ticked when I posted that first message. My apologies. Well, we have gotten through the summer and some tremedous downpours with no more leaks!! On the last trip to the dealer, they could not recreate the leaking we experienced at home using a hose and they also let it sit through a couple of rain showers with no leaking. They did some minor "precautionary caulking" on the roof around the sewer vent pipe and I took the Roadtrek home. I inspected the air conditioner (removed the rooftop cover). The original caulking all still seemed to be intact and there was no evidence of leakage. For good measure, I removed all the old gasket that sealed the rooftop cover and replaced it with new. So it looks like we've gotten past the "headache". I hope I didn't scare anyone away from buying a Roadtrek. With the exception of the frustrating leak we are really like it and are looking forward to many more roadtrips!

[TrekerJack]

Thank you all for the input. I spoke to the dealer yesterday - they're still scratching their heads. Can't get it to leak using a hose and have left it outside during a couple of rain showers. Is it possible it's leaking somewhere else and making its way to the rear window, ie. the ac unit? It seems there would be water damage on the ceiling if that were the case, which there is none.

[path1]

I'll try to help as I to had a problem. My RV is not a roadtrek. Window brand is Heyr or hywr. I also know some of roadtreks stuff is custom made for them and this reply might not apply at all.

Here goes...From what I learned and went thru 99% of leaks are caused by a caulking failure of the actual window frame to the window hole of the RV. After pulling my window 3 times and each time either adding more putty tape and making sure the fit was water tight I started looking for a different type of leak. Very frustrating. As it turned out the leak was where the glass is glued to the inside of the actual window frame and NOT the window frame of the RV. It looked like the factory just missed a spot less than 1/16 wide gap in caulking. This happened on our 2003 and just now started leaking. I would think a factory job failure would of shown up long time ago. Maybe a weak point just finally gave way?
There are several youtube vid's on window leaks and a simple google search has a lot also. But they all deal with the leak being outside of window frame to the RV and not the actual window leaking from a bad glue job. After finding the real cause just a little dab of windshield leak repair stuff took care of problem. The next window leak problem I have I'm going to get the window out and clean up all caulk and before I re-install, lay window flat and run water inside of the window to make sure the actual window inside its frame is not leaking.
Hope this helps

[TrekerJack]

Thanks Mlts22 - I forgot to mention the dealer that has it now has done 2 pressure tests (positive inside cabin pressure, soapy solution applied outside) onn previous visits. Not sure if it's precisely the Sealtech test. The reason I chose this dealer was they have that capability.

[mlts22]

I wonder if a Sealtech pressure test would help in this case.