Roof leak on 2011 Vista 26

[Charger1204]

So on a much needed trip to a local lake for the past holiday, it starts to rain, I mean RAIN like Noah's around and I notice that a few drops of water are coming in the RV on the passenger side. It drips down onto the dash and I think it's the gaskets that the windows are set into...it's not! it's coming from the roof somewhere! So I climb on the roof when the rain slacks off a bit and think its at the front of the gutter channel where the front cap meets the side. I take a piece of eternabond and cover that area, but that didn't help. Well the trip was supposed to be for a week and it's gonna rain for a week, so we pack up and head home. I waited for the rain to clear and inspected the roof, I'm going to try to post some photo's and ask the forums opinion about the possible locations for the water intrusion. Any and all help would be appreciated. The first picture inside the RV is where the water was coming from, dripping straight down from the roof line and into the foam insulation and down the inside of the wall. The other pictures of where the gasket surrounding the windshield has dropped down on the corner. I believe this is where it's coming from, but I can't tell if it actually is able to reach the inside or not. I've taken out the trim work and looked in behind the front storage area, but I'm unable to see anything. Has anyone had this same type of leak on your Winnie product? I would think that in order for the water to come in at that rate, it would have to be a directly above the space where it was coming in...thoughts?

Thanks
Brad

 

[John Canfield]

Pressurize the interior using a large box fan and then use a squirt bottle of water and a little dishwashing liquid to spray on the exterior. Find a window or whatever to place the fan and use cardboard to seal up the opening, you want the interior pressurized as much as possible.

 

[Martian]

When was the last time you had the roof inspected and resealed? Leaks like that do not usually happen out of the blue.

 

[Charger1204]

When was the last time you had the roof inspected and resealed? Leaks like that do not usually happen out of the blue.

I check the roof seal at the radius a couple of times a year. I have already resealed that with the recommended sealant on both sides. Its due for that to be done again, although I don't see any area that looks like its separated. I have kept the RV under a shelter for the last 5 or so years, so it doesn't sit out in the weather unless we go camping. The gasket looks to me like its moved down from it's original position around the windshield compared to the other side. If its not going to rain this weekend, I'll pull the beast out and over to the house where I can get to the water hose and do some testing on it. I could not see anything behind the trim work or from the roof area that looked like a leak has been there for any amount of time, I would think that if it were, my wife would've detected the mildew or mold that usually accompanies those types of leaks, she has a pretty severe mold allergy.

 

[Charger1204]

Pressurize the interior using a large box fan and then use a squirt bottle of water and a little dishwashing liquid to spray on the exterior. Find a window or whatever to place the fan and use cardboard to seal up the opening, you want the interior pressurized as much as possible.

I'll try to do that this weekend, Thanks!

 

[John Canfield]

Forgot to mention, use blue painter's tape to seal dash vents, AC vents, furnace vents, etc. Good luck!

 

[Charger1204]

Okay, I inspected the roof seam and found some places that needed to be re-caulked and I used the Manus Bond 75 that is recommended for my model year. I also found where some water had been getting into the RV through an area around the A-pillar. The windshield gasket appears to have slipped down on the very corner of the windshield so I used some Geocell Pro Flex and filled that crack up!!! Now...I have issues with the gaskets on the front stationary windows, they appear to be dried out and creeping and breaking away allowing water to get in the windows. I can only find ONE resource for this gasket and it's 6.99 a foot!!!! it's gonna be $270.00 to get this for both sides. My question is this, would it be just as good to use that Geocell Pro Flex on those windows instead of the gaskets? I would love to hear from the community on this topic. Thanks for any help on this.
Brad

 

[John Canfield]

I looked back in your thread but I didn't notice if you mentioned the year/model of your unit. It appears you have a Class A and your windshield is most likely set in a steel frame. Once you have leaks around the windshield perimeter, the only effective long term fix is to have the windshield pulled, the steel frame ground down to remove any trace of rust, then prepared/treated according to the latest Winnebago guidance.

Sometimes the windshield can be removed without breakage but mostly likely not. I've been through the leaky windshield adventure twice, in both cases Winnebago did the work. The second time I was allowed back in the service bay to review the work and was a bit startled to see how the rust progressed after the first attempt at rust mitigation*. I was going to take a couple of photos of the windshield frame but was told no pix, even of my own unit. After the fact I was told the escorting person should have allowed photos of our unit.

But I digress. The steel windshield frame was ground down to shiny steel and then treated according to the latest process. The burning question is - will the rust ever return? I suspect it will at some point, the frame would have needed to be abrasive blasted and immediately coated to have a chance for a couple of decades of being rust-free.

Then on the the windows..... I never had leaks between the glass and frame to deal with so no advice there. However if you suspect there are leaks between the sidewall and frame, pull the window and use butyl tape on the frame and set in place. Pulling a window is a bit of work but certainly within the capability of the average DIY person.

Use blue tape around the window frame on the sidewall to protect it from scratches then carefully use a narrow flexible putty knife to insert under the frame to break the bond between the adhesive tape and sidewall. Repeat around the frame about 30 times .

If you have plans to keep the unit for many years, it's going to cost quite a bit of money to sort of permanently deal with windshield leaks and window leaks. If the window condition is very poor, the best solution (without seeing it in person) is replacement assuming it's even available.

* probably five or six years between instances the windshield being pulled by Winnebago

 

[Charger1204]

I looked back in your thread but I didn't notice if you mentioned the year/model of your unit. It appears you have a Class A and your windshield is most likely set in a steel frame. Once you have leaks around the windshield perimeter, the only effective long term fix is to have the windshield pulled, the steel frame ground down to remove any trace of rust, then prepared/treated according to the latest Winnebago guidance.

Sometimes the windshield can be removed without breakage but mostly likely not. I've been through the leaky windshield adventure twice, in both cases Winnebago did the work. The second time I was allowed back in the service bay to review the work and was a bit startled to see how the rust progressed after the first attempt at rust mitigation*. I was going to take a couple of photos of the windshield frame but was told no pix, even of my own unit. After the fact I was told the escorting person should have allowed photos of our unit.

But I digress. The steel windshield frame was ground down to shiny steel and then treated according to the latest process. The burning question is - will the rust ever return? I suspect it will at some point, the frame would have needed to be abrasive blasted and immediately coated to have a chance for a couple of decades of being rust-free.

Then on the the windows..... I never had leaks between the glass and frame to deal with so no advice there. However if you suspect there are leaks between the sidewall and frame, pull the window and use butyl tape on the frame and set in place. Pulling a window is a bit of work but certainly within the capability of the average DIY person.

Use blue tape around the window frame on the sidewall to protect it from scratches then carefully use a narrow flexible putty knife to insert under the frame to break the bond between the adhesive tape and sidewall. Repeat around the frame about 30 times .

If you have plans to keep the unit for many years, it's going to cost quite a bit of money to sort of permanently deal with windshield leaks and window leaks. If the window condition is very poor, the best solution (without seeing it in person) is replacement assuming it's even available.

* probably five or six years between instances the windshield being pulled by Winnebago

I'm probably not going to pull the windshield as it seems like a considerable expense. The rain was in fact coming into the RV from under the glass because of the gasket edging shrinking and missing and definitely not around the frame as you mentioned. If I were to tell the BETTER HALF about the expense and process, she would say to sell the RV because of it. It has 25k miles on it and is hardly ever used! It's a 2011 Vista 26p btw and kept under a shelter for the last 6 years.

 

[John Canfield]

Ah, can't see the forest for the trees - you mentioned your make and model. I don't think your windshield is set in a gasket but I've been wrong (very wrong ) before. If you are going to sell it in the future, not properly mitigating leaks and other problems could dramatically affect selling price or being able to sell it at all. And if you are going to use it, you wouldn't want to deal with leaks on the road. And if it just sits, it's going to deteriorate. I've been in the dilemma many times with she who must be obeyed and I wish you luck.

 

[TheBar]

I'm probably not going to pull the windshield as it seems like a considerable expense. It's a 2011 Vista 26p btw and kept under a shelter for the last 6 years.

Like a leaky roof, it doesn't need fixing when it isn't raining. If you avoid using it when rain is predicted and its under shelter when it is raining I wouldn't fix it either. But you need to disclose the problem when you sell it.

 

[Brad Buchanan]

So on a much needed trip to a local lake for the past holiday, it starts to rain, I mean RAIN like Noah's around and I notice that a few drops of water are coming in the RV on the passenger side. It drips down onto the dash and I think it's the gaskets that the windows are set into...it's not! it's coming from the roof somewhere! So I climb on the roof when the rain slacks off a bit and think its at the front of the gutter channel where the front cap meets the side. I take a piece of eternabond and cover that area, but that didn't help. Well the trip was supposed to be for a week and it's gonna rain for a week, so we pack up and head home. I waited for the rain to clear and inspected the roof, I'm going to try to post some photo's and ask the forums opinion about the possible locations for the water intrusion. Any and all help would be appreciated. The first picture inside the RV is where the water was coming from, dripping straight down from the roof line and into the foam insulation and down the inside of the wall. The other pictures of where the gasket surrounding the windshield has dropped down on the corner. I believe this is where it's coming from, but I can't tell if it actually is able to reach the inside or not. I've taken out the trim work and looked in behind the front storage area, but I'm unable to see anything. Has anyone had this same type of leak on your Winnie product? I would think that in order for the water to come in at that rate, it would have to be a directly above the space where it was coming in...thoughts?View attachment 2462683View attachment 2462684View attachment 2462685View attachment 2462686
Thanks
Brad

So on a much needed trip to a local lake for the past holiday, it starts to rain, I mean RAIN like Noah's around and I notice that a few drops of water are coming in the RV on the passenger side. It drips down onto the dash and I think it's the gaskets that the windows are set into...it's not! it's coming from the roof somewhere! So I climb on the roof when the rain slacks off a bit and think its at the front of the gutter channel where the front cap meets the side. I take a piece of eternabond and cover that area, but that didn't help. Well the trip was supposed to be for a week and it's gonna rain for a week, so we pack up and head home. I waited for the rain to clear and inspected the roof, I'm going to try to post some photo's and ask the forums opinion about the possible locations for the water intrusion. Any and all help would be appreciated. The first picture inside the RV is where the water was coming from, dripping straight down from the roof line and into the foam insulation and down the inside of the wall. The other pictures of where the gasket surrounding the windshield has dropped down on the corner. I believe this is where it's coming from, but I can't tell if it actually is able to reach the inside or not. I've taken out the trim work and looked in behind the front storage area, but I'm unable to see anything. Has anyone had this same type of leak on your Winnie product? I would think that in order for the water to come in at that rate, it would have to be a directly above the space where it was coming in...thoughts?View attachment 2462683View attachment 2462684View attachment 2462685View attachment 2462686
Thanks
Brad

I had the same problem with our 04 Horizon.

I thought the windshield gasket was leaking and then I inspected the caulking on the seam between the front cap and the roof. It looked fine but when I pulled it I noticed discoloration under the caulking.

I removed the old caulking and put two layers of dicor self leveling caulk down.

My water problems disappeared.

 

[Charger1204]

I had the same problem with our 04 Horizon.

I thought the windshield gasket was leaking and then I inspected the caulking on the seam between the front cap and the roof. It looked fine but when I pulled it I noticed discoloration under the caulking.

I removed the old caulking and put two layers of dicor self leveling caulk down.

My water problems disappeared.

I just resealed that connection as well as working on my shrinking window gaskets, hopefully this will do the trick!!!

 

[SLOweather]

Check the clearance lights. Both my Suncruiser and Sunstar had leaks behind them that looked like the water was coming from somewhere else.

 

[Charger1204]

Check the clearance lights. Both my Suncruiser and Sunstar had leaks behind them that looked like the water was coming from somewhere else.

Those are on the list of places to reseal as well, Thanks!!!