2019 Vista roof leaks near drivers seat

[mff3429]

Hello,
During a stay in San Diego recently, we encountered two atmospheric river rainstorms. Inside the RV, there were drips coming down near the drivers seat that i traced coming from up above the wooden shelf assembly. See photo. Once home, I inspected the roof. I could not find anything glaringly wrong. So my thought is to replace some of the sealant, but I do not know what with. I don't think silicone caulk is appropriate. for the front cap/roof junction, "A" in the photo, I was thinking of adding self leveling caulk across the whole span. For the seam line "B", likewise. but what should I use for the vertical seam "C"?
I've read various postings and watching AZexpert You Tube videos, so the repairs seems straightforward, but the various options for caulk and sealant seem daunting.
Any advice others could provide would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Mike

[Eagle5]

Hi Mike,
From Manuals & Diagrams, you will find the Sealant Callout Sheets. The 2019 Vista LX 30T gives you your specifications. I would go to your local Winnebago Dealer and get those specified sealants, and carefully inspect the entire roof for any voids or damaged areas. Clean those with rubbing alcohol, let them dry, and reseal all damaged areas.
Thanks, Eagle5

[powercat_ras]

I had similar problem and the water entry point was no where near where the water dripped by the winshield, it was from the joint where the front cap meets the Filon Roof panel, in my case it looked like the source was where the joint curves around on the passenger side. I bought a 50' roll of 6" White Eternabond sealing tape, currently $ 84 on Amazon.com, and just centered it over the joint all the way from one side to the other, rather than try to add sealant, or to remove the original sealant and replace. Eternabond is a lot less effort and my cap to roof joint has not leaked since in several years. You just have to get the surfaces very clean and let them dry before tape application. The Eternabond moves just like that joint moves and stays flexible so it maintains a watertight seal over the long term.

I chose 6" rather than the cheaper 4" as the original Winnebago sealant is almost 3" wide in some places and I wanted a good contact area on both sides of the original sealant. 50' is the most cost effective length.

[bigb]

Don't overlook your clearance marker lights.

[creativepart]

When I had this it was as Randy mentioned above. The side where the front cap meets the sidewall above the drivers window.

For me, the caulking on the cap out dried out and opened a void at the cap right where the drip rail on the side wall ends and the cap begins.

The fix was to dig out all of the existing caulking in the cap corner until I could see daylight when looking up there from inside the RV. Then I filled the area with Manus Bond 75 sealant as specked by the sealant callout sheet.

I’ve circled the problem area in this photo:

[Reniram]

I had the same leakage only after extreme rain events..I inspected everything but found no cracks or defects on the roof..and the marker light fixtures as mentioned........now heres the impossible answer to my troubles.... On the bottom of the rain gutter there is a square hole..It is manufactured that way for some unknown reason ...I got a piece of stiff wire and put it in the hole and to my amazement it went into the insulation inside the rig! This is the only connection I could think of from the outside to the inside...I plugged the hole with a mixture of 1/4" ss screw and shoegoo glue..Success!.. After 2 years and torrential storms during winter Florida staycations I can say that this was the source of the annoying water leak...It does not make much sense because it meant that water has to travel Uphill into the rig, but I have to imagine that some kind of cappillary action was causing the problem..Hope this helps

[Morich]

Sometimes just being able to see how that put it together may help?


Quite a process to make that curved side joint but you can also see that if water gets in at one spot, it may land on top of the next layer and run as far as it wants to find a way further down!
Makes chasing leaks a real thrill, so when I do try to find one, I often just go for trying to seal most ALL potential spots!

The lights ARE a defintie sopt to check, both the joint between fixture and roof but also cover to fixture, which can let it then follow the wires down inside!

[HappiHenri]

In my 2005 Adventurer I had similar leaking problems - water getting into the cabinets above the front seats. Very unclear where it was getting in as it spread out over a big area. After much work and re-sealing finally figured out that the water was coming in around the top 5 marker lights along the front edge of the roof, above the windshield. Determined that these were the only places left after pouring over the roof and front roof cap - both of which shed water to the sides. Except for the water coming on down across the front, right over the light assemblies.

So I sealed them up well with OSI Quad Max, which I got at H.D. I caulked right from the plastic edge of each lamp right onto the body - not relying at all on the gaskets behind each light. Like you mention, I found that the GE silicones just do not hold up well in the sun, which seems to deteriorate them. I switched to OSI, and find it much better as far as stickiness and durability.

BTW - when I now apply this caulking I always apply painters tape 1st around the area I am caulking. In this way I can apply the caulk, run my finger along it to press the caulk into a seam, and then remove the tape, leaving a nice, smooth edge. Makes a MUCH neater job when caulking.