Born Free Leap'n Lions RV Club Info & Discussion Forum

My 23RK has water stains on the wall carpet on both sides on the curved wall immediately behind the driver's and passenger's seats. The stains start nearly a foot below the cabover bed shelf. We just had 4" of rain two nights ago, and the stains are now HUGE. The windows don't appear to have leaked, and I can't find anything wet above the level where the stains appear, but there's nothing right there to leak... I'll have to do some troubleshooting, but my question is... is this a common problem? Anyone else experienced this and know where to look?

Thanks,

Roger

I haven't heard of it. It sounds like the spot where the coach body meets the cab, right behind the seats, below the cabover. Is this right? Check the calking/seal in that area...

Trish

The answer sounds vague, but check every seam where the roof meets the sidewalls and all the windows.

Where you see the water on the inside may not be where it is coming in. Depending on the angle it is parked at, the water can run along something and show up in another spot. Same as in a house. The water can come in the roof and run along a beam and show up on a wall quite a distenace from the actual leak. I know that for a fact

Good luck.

John

Roger,

I had this problem on one side of a 2004 24ft. RB and found the water was coming in from a crack in the caulking on top of the window. It appeared not to have been applied very thick and when it dried it cracked and provided a path for water running off the roof.

I added some more caulk until I could get to the factory and then Born Free removed and reset the window and replaced the privacy curtain which was water stained.

Art.

Roger, depending on the position your coach is parked, and the fact that both sides are affected it sounds like the access point may be high enough so that the water possibly travels down the roll bar in both directions, unless both of the side windows or side seams developed a leak at the same time which would be most unusual. We had a similar problem a couple of years ago but it only affected the curb side and the problem area was a spot near the roof where the front cap joined the side section. In this case the water did follow the roll bar and the area that we discovered wet was about twenty inches from the floor. As John mentioned finding the source is always a challenge.

The channelling that covers the joint between the nose cone and the body side panel is bolted on and then covered with a plastic insert that runs the length of the the side panel. I had a leak in the interior near where the floor meets the side panel. I pulled the plastic away from the outside channel in this area and found moisture and dirt under the plastic insert with some of the screws rusted from being wet. I cleaned the channel, inserted a line of caulk and put the plastic insert back in place. I seemed to have reduced the severity of the leak, but have not stopped it completely. As suggested earlier my leak may be at a higher point and I may have only diverted it elsewhere.

Leaks are difficult.

Is there a possibility to take it in to the factory and have them check it? I know they have lots of procedures, and they have the water bay to help find them.

I wish you the best. I know how hard it can be to pinpoint a leak. I had one that only occurred when the coach was in movement on the road. And the road was wet. How long that took to find!!! But find it we did. And fix it they did. And repair/replace everything that was damaged, they did. Still a happy camper here. Trial and error. Keep looking...

Good luck.

Trish

Hi all! Thanks for all the good ideas. I was kind of hoping that this was a fairly common problem and someone could say "oh yeah... look at the blah blah... it happens regularly".

But... since obviously that's NOT the case... I agree that the top seam is the most likely place to start since the moho was parked level and the drips seem to be even on both sides. It's unlikely that both sides would develop leaks simultaneously, so the top seam between the roof and sleeper cabover would be the most likely place to start.

I'll keep you posted on what I find. I'm close enough to Humboldt that a trip over to the factory isn't out of the question if I can't figure it out. I don't want it rotting out the floor!

Roger

When you take the plastic insert out of the channelling, make sure all the screws are tight. I do that every fall before the rains start and I always find some loose.

I have something that will get those stains from the leak out but I can't remember the name of it. The bottle is dark blue and I may have heard about it on this forum so a search may find it. I will try to remember to check the name when I get home and post it. Worked great on a stain I had on the walls.

Found it in a search. The stain remover is called Spot Shot and I found it in a grocery store.

Sam, there is a roof seam where the roof section joins the cabover sleeper section. There is a piece of extruded aluminum trim moulding over that seam that is bent to match the roof contours, and a cosmetic vinyl insert that covers the screws in the trim moulding. That is most likely where my leak is, and probably the most likely place TO leak on the entire coach.

I can't get to it tonight, but sometime this week, I'll try to take a look at what condition the caulk is in on mine and pull the vinyl trim to see what shape the screws are in.

I'll take some photos for you when I do it.

Roger

ALL seams are vulnerable. Those that have the caulk exposed to sunlight and weather all the time (like roof seams) are the MOST vulnerable as the caulk eventually dries out and allows for leaks.

Roger

Roger, Having the same unit that you have I will be interested in seeing what you find. I will also be interested in where this seam, and also the aluminum moulding is. Take good pictures as I will need all the help I can get in case this problem ever happens to me. Thanks!! Rich

Sam, I agree with you about having the factory fixing certain problems expecially since I am only 65 miles from Humboltdt. I had them caulk around the cabover window and fix a couple other things this spring, when we come home from Florida. Not because of a leak, but because I didn't want one. We will see what Roger comes up with. Rich

Interesting. Keep us posted. I am not picturing where the caulk goes. I'll have to go look.

One tip, though...I put 303 UV protectant on all the caulking and exterior rubber on the coach at least once a year, to help keep it from drying out so fast...protect it from the elements.

I'll let you know in a year or two how well that works.

Trish