Water collecting in underbelly

[twofacelady]

**Does anyone have any ideas where we can start looking before we drag it to the repair shop?**

We have a 2014 Fun Finder 266KIRB travel trailer. After our last trip on July 4th we emptied the gray and black tanks. It has not been used since then. Yesterday we were moving it up a few feet to let it sit on a different part of the tires. We noticed the underbelly bulging a little. Pushed the liner up and about two GALLONS of water came down on our heads. Thank goodness it was not grey or black water. Definitely clear almost cool water which is strange because we are in Florida. Absolutely nothing is wet inside the trailer. We have had a lot of rain but there is no indication it is rain coming in and going down there since there isn't ANY water inside.

Called our useless dealer (btw they no longer sell Fun Finder). Said to bring it in (70 miles from home) and they would take a look.

We are thinking of filling up the fresh water tank (since the water was clear)and seeing if the water accumulates again. Maybe we have a leak in the fresh water line. We don't have any idea how long the water has been sitting there. We are guessing it is only since our last trip. It is too much work to take down the underbelly since there are a lot of hose and wires screwed into it.

We appreciate any insight if anyone has had this issue.

[myredracer]

twofacelady wrote:

This weekend we will take out the entire underbelly, look for any leaks (in case it wasn't the water from the back), hoist up any falling wires, hoses, etc. (since it is the shabbiest workmanship), check the fresh water, check tanks, etc.

This is one of those threads where you HAVE TO post what you find! (Or else...) Some pictures would be great too.

There are some alternatives on how to re-attach the coroplast materail and if you can't find it on a search, you can just ask.

[twofacelady]

So happy to see so many answers. Surely, it is one of these issues. The TT is no longer under warranty. When it was under warranty, the dealer had to fix over 17 items in 2-3 visits. One of the visits they had the TT for six weeks! We are willing to try to fix it ourselves or take it to a local RV repair shop rather than deal with LaMesa again.

Anyway, took a quick look last night. I noticed an inch gap in the underlining in the back, right below the bumper. It looks possible that the water could have been hitting the bumper and running into the gap running to the front. We took out a couple of screws before adding four more screws to secure it. In the back three feet that we could see without pulling down the entire underbelly, there is NO insulation. We took a quick look at the front where the initial water poured out from and there is NO insulation in the front 12 inches or so. I guess that might be both good news and bad news.

This weekend we will take out the entire underbelly, look for any leaks (in case it wasn't the water from the back), hoist up any falling wires, hoses, etc. (since it is the shabbiest workmanship), check the fresh water, check tanks, etc. We will also check all of the outside rails, seals, etc. This is probably something that we should have done a year ago after finding so many issues.

Thanks everyone for all your insight. People are so wonderful to come on here and help out a stranger. It truly makes a strong RV community.

[Tequila]

Interesting about road splash. I think I will get under mine with some spray on sealant and check for holes & cracks, before my winter trip. In my case the floor is quite a height above the road, but you never know.

[SoundGuy]

twofacelady wrote:
We are thinking of filling up the fresh water tank (since the water was clear)and seeing if the water accumulates again. Maybe we have a leak in the fresh water line.

This sounds like the exact same issue I had many years ago with our TrailCruiser hybrid ... turned out to be nothing more than a fitting on the fresh water tank feeding the pump's intake hose that hadn't been properly tightened during assembly. I just removed the hose, hand tightened the fitting, reconnected the hose, and the problem was solved completely.

[myredracer]

You need to remove the underbelly material. Remove the wet insulation and discard it. Dry out the underbelly area. Then start inspecting for leaks, which can be from many different sources.

Be prepared to find lots of ugly factory workmanship hidden behind the underbelly material. On the bright side, it will give you the opportunity to fix things and do it right. Inspect the tank supports as they do sometimes fail. Maybe also considering installing Horst Miracle probes on the tanks while in there. You may also find that you can do a much better insulation job than the factory did. Our floor is insulated but still cold on the feet in the heating season.

Of course, if still under warranty, the dealer should be fixing this. But they wouldn't be re-doing bad factory work in there.

[93Cobra2771]

If you are under warranty, I'd get the rig back to the dealer pronto.

If not, do the obvious:
1. Get the bottom opened up asap and pull out wet insulation.
2. Get up on top and start looking for cracked sealant.
3. Inspect everywhere, including along the edge of the roof.
4. If nothing seems obvious, then you will need to pressure test and find your leak. You have one, somewhere. As long as it's been sitting, you may have some rot damage as well.

Do not wait for the next rain storm, do the above asap.

[2Shays3712]

For what it's worth, drove through a three inch rainstorm in Arizona in January (unusual) and had nearly a gallon of clear water in the underbelly. Montana owner's forum noted that this happens a lot. Placed small hole at low point. Problem solved. I guess spray from underside of truck is tremendous during a downpour. Hope your problem is similar.

[Tyler0215]

Check for water damage ASAP. Pull the under belly down enough to see if there is any hidden damage.

[Lynnmor]

I found the wrong type hose was attached to the tank gravity fill and it leaked there. Several folks mentioned the same place for their leaks and it is a good place to start. Whatever you do, take down the underbelly, throw away any wet insulation and let it dry out.

[Tequila]

It could be the fill up at the top of the fresh water tank. Either way you need to take off that underbelly & yank out any soaked insulation ASAP. Take photos first, whether this is warranty or insurance, you are saving them money by doing that before mold or rot occurs.

I had something similar this spring. I forgot to turn off my pump, hit rough road and a tap cracked open, I flooded my trailer and the water went straight down to the underbelly. The insurance company thanked me for having the sense to yank out all the insulation. The inside dried in 15 minutes as i was in high heat & low humidity. No permanent damage.

Nice name for a leaking trailer, Fun Finder.

[newman_fulltime]

check your vent topson the roof they could be missing or damaged water could be following the outside of the pipe down in heavy rains

[RCMAN46]

I had a water problem with my 5th wheel on two occasions.

The first when it was new I noticed water in my underbelly after I would fill the fresh water tank. The factory did a poor job with the connection from the fill port to the tank. That problem was fixed by the dealer.

The second was after the warranty and I found the underbelly material was not sealed at the front of the trailer. I would pick up water when driving in the rain. I lowered the front of the underbelly fabric cleaned every thing and used double sided carpet tape between underbelly material and trailer. Then reinstalled the metal strip that was used to originally hold the fabric in place.

[RVcircus]

We had the same issue with our older TT and it was water from the roof leaking down through the wall and collecting in the underbelly. The water could be coming from anywhere and will likely take some thorough digging. I starter at the bottom bu cutting the fabric from the underbelly, removing the insulation and following the rot. Unfortunately, the previous owner neglected this trailer long enough to do major damage.

[twofacelady]

Korbe-Thanks for your input. We have had a LOT of rain this summer. We will wait for our next torrential downpour (which will probably be today or tomorrow) and recheck the underbelly. Maybe we can follow the water runoff and try to figure out how it could be getting inside the liner. Our concern is how to completely dry it out under there so we don't get mold.