Water leak at slide lock

[robt]

Have an 08 Vectra and when it rains water leaks into the storage compartment above the bed only when the slide is out. I've diagnosed the problem as a water leak around the rear lock of the slideout. Water collects on the top of the slide and eventually finds its way under the lock and into the compartment. Has anybody had this problem and how did you fix it? The lock is about 2-3 feet from the back of the slide and far enough that I can't reach it without removing the slide top canvas.
Thank you

[garykk]

Don't know about your MH but on our slide there is a drain hole on the outside of the slide that must be kept clean or water WILL leak into the MH. some slides have two drains

[Jerry J]

Bingo, Gary! Robt - I have had the problem also and now I occasionally clean the drain holes. Get a package of pipe cleaners and run them in the little holes on the outside upper part of the slides. I found out about mine when sleeping during a heavy rain and water dripped down on my face and water was running down between the headboard and wall. What a wakeup call that was.
See the Winnebago Service Tips.

[robt]

Thanks Gary and Jerry. Just tried the pipe cleaners and they seemed to work some what. I went to the front lock and could push the cleaner all the way into the lock compartment-could see it with a mirror and flash lite from the top-but the rear lock is giving me problems. Seems the opening to the drain tube presses against the lock mechanism and would that block water from entering the hole? Going to try a piece of wire tomorow and see if I can get it to go all the way thru. The hole was dirty because the cleaners that I worked into and out of the hole came out brownish on the ends. Thanks

[Journey39n]

Be careful using a wire. The weep holes are connected to the lock area with a little rubber elbow, and you could puncture the thing.

See attached picture from under my front slide lock.

Depending upon the ceiling clearance, you might be able to get to the lock area from the inside when the slide is retracted.

Another way to clear the hole is to use a canned air unit to blow the blockage, along with some pipe cleaners.

[bobmac]

I had the same problem in my 09 Journey. Water was running across the top of the window below leading me to think it was a window issue. I opened up the cabinet above and found water running down the interior wall from the roof directly behind the lock. I also removed the lock cover, checked the exterior drain which was clear as was the rubber mould around the lock. The water was coming directly from the slide roof. I changed my slideout cover awning a couple of weeks ago and in the process of installing the new cover, noticed the caulking was missing from the front of the slide lock. While I haven't been out since, I am confident that it was the source of the leak and have sealed it with butyl tape as I didn't have caulking available.

[robt]

Thanks Bob. I cleaned out the weep hole, and low and behold it's raining. No leak so far but I don't see water in the lock compartment yet where the weep hole is located. Also, there seems to be a hole in the rain gutter about 1-2 ft from the back of the awning that lets water to drain to the top of the slide-the only water on top of the slide. Looking down the top of the slide to the front there seems to be a similar hole that drains water down around the area of the front lock. They may be holes that were not filled with a screw to hold down the awning-don't know. Also, was it hard to replace the awning and what did you us as a replacement? Mine is tearing a little on the back side-seems a little brittle and is going on 5 years old in the az sun.
Thanks

[bobmac]

Robt:
The holes you see could be screw holes used to hold the awning in the channel. Changing is relatively easy if you have 2 people and 2 solid 8 ft or taller step ladders (or dont mind moving and going up and down multiple times). All you need to do is to open the slide , unwind the roller spool to the end by hand and secure the spool by clamping it with a vise-grip style oil flilter wrench (3"diameter) and pull out the old and replace with the new.
You need to slightly open up one end of the slot on the roller spool channel with a drill to feed the awnings out and in. Details of this simple method were included wth the awning I ordered from Tough Top RV Awnings. Mine is a Carefree and it is somewhat more difficult to replace than the A&E (if that is what you have). Took the wife and I about one hour for the first one (10 feet) and the same for the second which was 21ft long. Check the Tough Top web site ..... it has detailed instructions and call them to discuss if you have any questions. He will offer you the "tips" that make it much simpler. They are great people to deal with.
When I was considering replacing them myself, I downloaded the Carefree Service Manual for my SOK III toppers and the method described there is much more complex requiring roller spool removal and could scare you away from what is an extremely simple and quick task if done as described in the Tough Tops instructions.

Bob

[ChiefJohn]

My suggestion -- cover the 3 access holds (for lack of a better name?) and disable the slide lock function. We've had NO water leaking issues around windows and/or inside cabinets since I applied this 'fix'. Remove the plastic frame around the top of the lock assembly hole (4 screws), cover the opening with a piece of aluminum using an appropriate caulk. Rather than disable the two switches that control the locks, I taped yellow electrical tap over the switch in the bedroom and on the control pad at the driver's console. I kept the plastic frames and if I should have a problem in the future, I can remove the aluminum covers and replace the frames - back to the original configuration.