Leak fixed, new leak, and misfire

[Tahoe]

Last time I posted I had fixed my rear top seam with excellent results and haven't had another leak from that area. Unfortunately we now have another leak that isn't obvious and is probably coming from one or more side seams. From the back forward to the carpeted area I'm completely dry but the carpeted area is completely soaked. We had been camping just 4 weeks ago in the rain and had no problems. 2 weeks ago I was out to check it as I do weekly for any issues and found the soaking wet floor and we had recently had rain. I can't find any evidence of any moisture anywhere above the floor and inspecting the outside I can't find any obvious entry points. Obviously there is at least one and I know from owning vintage trailers in the past that leaks can travel in the walls and end up in strange places. We can't use the BF as is so I need to find the source. Unfortunately I do believe we need to remove the living area furniture and remove the carpet and padding. It might be a good time to concider an alternate floor material. Any suggestions? The front cabin area appears to be dry except for about 1 inch from the transition.

On top of that I had a bad misfire. Running the code reader I fould that #9 cylinder was the issue so I replaced the coil and all was fine. After driving about 150 miles another misfire. This time #3, #5, and #7 are all misfiring. Looks like I need to replace all the coils. Not difficult to do if you can reach the coils. #9 wasn't too difficult, but I don't think some cylinders are easy to get at. It seriously looks like we won't be using the BF for several months. I have many other projects around the house and although I'm not cheap I can't stand paying someone else for things I'm capable of doing myself. This may be one of those times where if we want to enjoy the BF I might need to pay up.

[stevek]

Regarding the leak, pressurize the cabin and use soapy water on seams.
You can find various videos on youtube.
Maybe use a leaf blower?

[SteveLombardi]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/U9c1SCiUfwaGmxI23

If you can follow the link it will take you to some pics showing how I found leaks in my 2012 RB. It follows the same theme as Steve K indicated by pressurizing the cabin. They BF factory had a professional machine for doing this but I followed the lead of others on the Internet and made my own. First cut a panel to fit an outside door. I used a shop vac's blow port along with the dash heater fan on max to develop the cabin pressure. Make sure the dash fan is set to bring in outside air and not in max AC recirculate mode. Then make sure everything is closed up. Roof vents, windows, outside doors etc. Put tape over the drains in lavatory, shower, and kitchen. You will know when you have enough pressure if when you close the main cabin outside door you get a lot of resistance from air pushing outward. For fun I made a manometer out of a piece of clear tube with a small amount or water in it. You can see from my pic that I had perhaps 1/2 inch of pressure which is plenty. To find the leaks use soapy water and start squirting every seam, light fixture...etc. From the video you can see I did in fact have leaks along the roof line of the rear cap. I was standing on the roof ladder looking down at the seam and then moved on to the side seam. The amount of bubbles you see caused a relatively serious leak. I gather upward of a 1/2 quart coming out of the cover of the rear roll bar in one particular storm. This problem occurred three years ago and was determined to be a problem during original manufacture and was fixed under warranty. Since I have the leak checking setup I plan to use it to occasionally to perform tests because in my experience they will leak sooner or later and this method really pin points even the smallest leaks right at there source. Looking for them from the inside, I think, is a difficult trial and error process. Good luck.

[Tahoe]

Thanks! I'll be doing the leak test soon. Today I completely removed everything in the carpeted area including the carpet and padding. It's unfortunate but not really a bad thing. After 17 years I think it's okay to update the flooring since it's not terribly expensive to do.I'm 90% sure I found the source on one of the verticle side seams down low. After removing everything it appeared to be the culprit, but I plan on doing the pressure test anyway to see it that's it, or if there's more than one source. I'll post pictures in time of the minor remodel. We have a few ideas to think over, but we're thinking the coach needs some color to break up all the earth tones it originally came with. FYI, I could find no permanent water damage except the carpet and padding. No amount of kitty liter or drying fans was going to save it.

[stevek]

If I ever did any work on my floor, I would put a heated floor in. Maybe not 100%, but in front of where I sit most of the time. Not sure about Brands. I know the newer BFs offered a heated floor. Anybody know what Brand they used? Good luck. Looking forward to seeing your remodeling pics.

[shilohdad]

Steve, I don’t know what brand of heated floor Born Free used, but I asked Ed Newman about getting it when we ordered our 2017 Spirit. He told me they stopped offering it, as it caused the flooring “tiles” to warp.

[Tahoe]

I don't think we would actually need a heated floor. Besides BF not offering it in the end, we've never thought it was needed, but then again we only camped in sub freezing temps 2, maybe 3 times. I have been looking at Marmoleum click tiles https://www.forbo.com/flooring/en-us/pr ... quu#333866 which have been used successfully in Vintage trailers. My wife likes cork or bamboo floors but I'm not convinced that look with oak cabinets will work asthetically, or if extreme temps will cause problems. Need to do lots of research to see what the best options are. I resealed the area I thought might be the issue today. We will be getting plenty of rain the next week so I'll be checking constantly to see if more water is coming in.

[jjhepkin]

It may be that your water is not coming from up above, but from a water line under a cabinet?
i had a bad leak that soaked our carpet thoroughly and finally traced it to a loose clamp on a water line running under our kitchen cabinet that connected to the kitchen faucet. once the clamp was tightened the leak was gone.
so, you might want to check your water lines.

good luck

john hepkin

[Tahoe]

I thought the same thing so I took the panel off the end where the water tank is and then filled the tank part way and turned on the pump to check all lines. Then I hooked up the hose to the city water and checked again. Not a drop and no signs of water traveling from that area to the carpet. What I did find was a posible void on the verticle seam on the passenger side about 6 inches above floor level. After removing the carpet and flex steel sofa I found a stain and carpet stains starting in that area. I sealed that seam and have been checking while it rains here and so far no evidence of water again. I'll keep checking all week as its not suppose to stop raining for several days at least. I'll eventually get around to leak testing, but I need to have some dry days to that. I guess I don't have to but I'm not thrilled about being outside in 40 degree temps while its raining. I noticed Camping World can do leak testing and there only an hour away. Not sure what they charge. I might give them a call to find out. Anybody know what RV shops charge for that service?

[karls]

I've done the spark plugs and coils on my '98 V-10. The plugs are mostly by brail and not easy, but with every socket extension known to man it can be done. The coils are "easier" but still a pain for the center ones. Loosen the fuel rails and disconnect the electrical clip to each injector.

Karl Striedieck

[Tahoe]

So frustrating! After locating a few potential leak spots I removed all old caulk, cleaned, and cleaned some more. Resealed with dicor and then was happy as can be because after several heavy rain storms I had zero leaks!!! A week goes by with great weather and then last night another heavy rain. It's leaking again just as bad.

What am I doing wrong? I've isolated it to the front drivers side horizontal and verticle seams. Besides recaulking, I removed the vinyl cover from the gutter and vertical extrusions and concidered removing all the screws and replacing them with SS, but they don't appear to be the issue, but I could be wrong. Has anyone removed the sealing strip completely to reseal under it? When we bought the BF we had zero leaks, but this last year Ive been chasing them starting in the back and now the front. Oh and the front overhead window now leaks bad as well. Frustrated beyond belief, but now it's personal and I will fix it somehow. FYI, I was going to have someone do a leak test, but they wouldn't do the test unless they also resealed the entire coach. I passed on that expensive, no guarantees solution.

[randallrae]

Did you check the seal around the side window?

[Tahoe]

Did you check the seal around the side window?

I did, but it doesn't seem to be coming from there. I can see that it's entering on the drivers side vertical seam approx 1 foot down from the horizontal gutter seam. I know this means nothing because it could travel from somewhere else. The positive in all this is I know it's on the front drivers side where it's actually coming in. I covered that portion again this morning and no leak. Remove it and a few minutes later it starts again. I guess I'm wondering how much it helps to replace the screws. The screws that are there don't look bad at all and I see no wetness under the vinyl cover so it seems like it travels under that extruded strip from somewhere. It's supposed to be dry again Tuesday and I'm tempted to remove the gutter and vertical seams and reseal underneath and replace all the screws. I'm hesitant to do that because I'm not sure how easy or hard that is to do and if that buys me anything. Does anyone know what the factory originally did under those horizontal and vertical extrusions?

[harrisgowing]

We are still working to fix our leak as well and will have it leak tested at a local RV dealer now that we are home. We checked for this service at a Camping World in central Florida who said they would charge their hourly service rate and the process would take most of the day. This could add up to hundreds of dollars so we prayed for dry weather on the way north and waited.

[whemme]

There have been various posts on how to find water leaks by pressurizing the interior of the motorhome and then using soapy water on all the fiberglass body seams to find the leaks. Although, so far I have not had any leaks in my coach, so have not tried this idea but I think a simple why to pressurize the coach would be to use the Fantastic Fan installed as standard equipment. Just turn the fan on to maximum speed with air directed into the coach. Make sure all doors and windows are closed.