Help with water leak

HMMMMMMMM, may be getting closer to the source here.

Just because your other RV slide did not leak would not mean that this one doesn't?

Dave H M wrote:
Have you checked to see if water is getting under/pooling on the slide roof?

I have slide toppers but I still get a little water pooled on top of the slide roof when it rains or from the condensation from the AC units. My last RV didn't have slide toppers so the slide roof was exposed to the rain and elements and I never had any leaks.

Have you checked to see if water is getting under/pooling on the slide roof?

Maybe I am off base and do not understand your layout. just a thought.

Dave H M wrote:
This will not fix your problem, but I would yank that valance off. That will give you better observation in your quest.

I took down the valance and blind and the corner hole where one of the screws hold in the valance was wet. I stuck a q-tip and paper towel in the hole and after about an hour, the paper towel was soaked. I replaced the q-tip and towel several times over the weekend and each time it was wet. I am really concerned that there was so much water still in the ceiling of the slide.

I calked and sealed everything I could find on the slide roof and also calked around all the slide topper screws. If it still leaks at this point, I don't know what else to do.

Dave H M wrote:
This will not fix your problem, but I would yank that valance off. That will give you better observation in your quest.

I also think taking the slide topper off until this gets resolved would be in order. Isn't that the only way you can get good observation on what is under there along the outside of the slide?

I was thinking about taking off the valance. I watched a video on how to do it.

I reached out to Thor about the issue and told them that Camping World had tried 3 times to fix the leak with no success. Thor suggested taking it to another dealer that is actually local to me. When we bought this motorhome 2 years ago, I tried to give this local dealer the first shot as they sale the same models as we were interested in. I had a bad experience with them but the dealership is under new ownership. I called them and they told me that they were backed up with leaking motorhomes and the last few they worked on they couldn't fix and had to send them back to the factory. They then told me to call Thor which I explained that I had and Thor told me to call them! They then told me to just call a mobile RV tech. So I guess they don't want me business.

If I wouldn't lose my butt ($$$) I would trade this in on something else and be done with it. Very frustrating.

I will bring the motorhome to my house this weekend and try caulking every nook and cranny I can find. I would like to take off the slide topper but I don't feel comfortable doing that myself.

This will not fix your problem, but I would yank that valance off. That will give you better observation in your quest.

I also think taking the slide topper off until this gets resolved would be in order. Isn't that the only way you can get good observation on what is under there along the outside of the slide?

Another update on my leak. I think I know where it is coming from but I can't see from the outside where to fix. We were in the RV this past weekend and had two nights of rain. My wife put these thin cardboard pieces between the slide ceiling and the valance cover that goes over the blinds. There is a screw in the corner of the valance that goes into the ceiling. As you can see from the picture, the right side of the valance has water stains.



Here is what it looked like a few hours after it rained.




Eventually, the water gets into the top of the window frame and then starts dripping on the inside of the window. Here is a picture of the window. We put a piece of blue tape on the window just below where it is leaking and also tapped a paper towel to the window to catch the water.



I have had the motor home to the dealer 3 times for the leak. The first time they said they took the bolts out that hold in the awning topper and calked each bolt. They also calked around the window frame. I do not think the leak is coming around the window frame as it doesn't seem to leak when the slide is retracted. The 2nd time I took it to the dealer, they put a piece of tape along the inside length on the top of the slide. This didn't make any sense to me since the leak is coming from the outside top of the slide, not the inside. The 3rd time I took it in they didn't do anything as they said they couldn't make it leak. I have calked everywhere I can see and I can't find where the water is coming in on the outside. Anyone have any ideas?

Burch

I had a similar leak that drove me crazy all summer. Caulked every thing I could see up on the roof but it still leaked over the drivers window. I finally took my wife's vacuum cleaner and put it in blow mode and made a seal with butyl tape and placed it where the water was coming in, I noticed water bubbles 30 ft away in the rear of the MH right at the seam where the roof attaches to the side wall. The water was running down that channel all the way to the front window because my driveway was on a slant. So you can try that method because you know that the leak is always in the same spot, obviously you will need another person to look for bubbles on the top part of your slide paying close attention around screw holes. I would also pay attention to where the material of the roof meets the side wall. Spaying soapy will make the bubbles easier to see. The other thing you can try is to coin tap the outside side wall to above the window to see if there is any delamination. As you go from front to back a delaminated area will make a thud type sound a bonded area will have more of a ring to it. Hope this helps.

Wanted to update this. The mobile tech was several weeks away from being able to look at my leak. So, I took the motorhome back to the dealer and they have had it for almost a week. It rained for a couple of hours yesterday and they said it didn't leak. The window doesn't always leak when it rains so it is going to be difficult to find. The dealer says they can't do anything else since they can't duplicate the issue so back to Tampa I go to pickup the motorhome. The last time we had it out it rained both nights we were at the park. The first night it didn't leak and the 2nd night I didn't think it leaked. When we got up to leave the next morning, there was water dripping out of the top of the window frame. Looks like this is going to be an extremely hard leak to find. I will now have the mobile tech look at it.

Be glad they did not try to use white duct tape to fix a leak. I have seen this.

Do it yourself. Minimal tools and skills required.

Remover the window by unscrewing the phillips (or square taper) screws from the inside. These should be visible in the window frame. Window will likely not fall out, it will need to be pried out, use a putty knife or something that will not bend the frame or damage the siding.
You will see a lot of looks-like playdough. Just peel this off everything.
The butyl window stuff, mentioned early in the forum, is what you need. Any and all RV shops should sell this.
Place it along the permeter of the window the same as where you took it off. This is what makes it waterproof.
Put window in, have someone hold it now.
Screw things back together.
The putty will ooze out as you tighten things. Work the screws tighter and tighter a little at a time and go around the window on each screw a little each time until it is tight. No need to over-tighten.
With something plastic, like a plastic knife, trim the excess ooze away from the trim. OK to wait to do this the next day since it will ooze many hours after install. Or OK to never trim the ooze out, wont hurt anything except the looks.
Or have the dealership do the repair and expect a carp job that will likely leak again.