Clearance lights

7997redtail · 10-17-2021, 10:46 AM

I was going to add this to my leak post but thought it was “too much information”.

While looking for a leak I pulled off one of my front clearance lights with the idea of replacing and revealing all of them. I have the lights and I’ve read that it’s a common leaking area. And I do have a leak.

My problem and question.

When I pulled the light off (2 philips screws) it was well silicones in. Too well. When I pulled it off and tried to pull the wires out they too were silicones in. I didn’t want to pull to hard being worried about damaging the connection then note being able to get at the wiring.

So some advice please on how to get to the wiring to replace and resell the lights.

BTW, I had just posted another question regarding how to see behind these lights (inside the front cap) from the inside of the coach.

Thanks in advance fir your help.

Morich · 10-17-2021, 12:13 PM

Sounds like you are a victim of the folks who believe getting leakes sealed is just amatter of MORE silicone when it is often that extra which causes the leak.
Step one is to think of how water will move and on the top of an RV, that doesn't always mean down but lots of other directions or puddles.

So a lot of silicone doesn't do the job if it makes the water stay longer and have more time to find that tiny little spot to get it. I want a good seal on the edges of a thin layer of silicone so that any water that gets there does keep moving rather than having time to get in.

First step for me is taking a lot of the gob of silicone off and really cleaning the area with something to cut silicone and make a clean place for the new to stick. Whie doing that, it sounds like you need to cut or clip the ton of it out of the hole so that you can get the wires out. There is likely to be enough inside to get the connections to pull fully out if worked carefully. I favor snips or scissors rather than a knife so that I can tell what gets cut better than a knife that can slip!

Pick a nice day when it's not so hot and work slow?

**creativepart** · 10-17-2021, 03:02 PM

On my Adventurer - which is a bit similar to your Sightseer - inside the front cabinets over the dashboard there is a kind of cordiroy "mouse fur" floor and walls. The backing to the walls is a thick almost cardboard material and there are tan square hole screws that screw it in place to a wood and metal framing.

I was able to remove almost all of it by unscrewing it, except for the area behind some metal platform that holds my entertainment componets. I actually found only a little bit of the cardboard there as it was mostly open for wires to the equipment. I ended up cutting that small section so that the main back wall of the cabinets could be folded back.

Once that was done I was directly behind the top of the windshield and it exposed all of the top cap from the inside - including the clearance lights from behind.

I took this apart to put fiberglass insulation behind the windshield/cap and it's lowered the temps in the cabinets by 40 degrees or more on a hot day.

I took some photos of that process and it may help you as well. These are from before the insulation was added. The clear plastic bin is holding the back wall up. It's been separated from the bottom shelf of the cabinet interior and is still connected to the ceiling - so I've folded it up from the bottom and it's against the ceiling now in this photo.

Notice in the photos that behind the cap is thick, very thick, spray foam insulation with a hard plastic surface. You can see the rear of the clearance lights are completely covered in this spray foam.

I don't think they can leak inside due to the spray foam, nor do I think you can get into the back of them.

7997redtail · 10-17-2021, 06:31 PM

Thanks for the info Richard. I did the cap and donth think i was to librale with the lap sealant. But i hop to be able to see from the inside.

7997redtail · 10-17-2021, 06:34 PM

Thats what im looking for, pictures. Mine is quite differnt in that we have curved cabinets above. It looks like you really took it apart. I think i will start with the top cover and see what that opens up.

Going to be tomorrows day job since its going to rain like crazy. Oh wait. Its been raining like crazy for a week now. The pinapple express. On radar it looks like a river from Hawaii right into seattle and vancouver. I think we have had something line 6" of rain over 4 days. somethinkg like that.