Front Lights Causing Water Leak?

[christieb]

We have a 02 KSDP. We got it last October from an older gentleman who couldn't maintain it any longer. It needed alot of basic maintenance. Caulk, caulk and more caulk. When we got it we knew that there was some kind of leak in the front cap area, as you could see water stains on the dash and curtains.

After arriving home I caulked everything on the roof including the 5 front lights....Water test...Still leaking @ lights so it appeared....Ordered new lights from Newmar. Installed (cleaned all old caulk off for good seal) and re caulked once installed, no leak!

Well that was November 09 and everything has been super till... now. Last weekend camping in huge rain storm and leak is back with a vengeance. Got home and checked lights and the seals look just fine??? Has anyone had this or similar leak? If so how did you fix it.

We had plans to replace the TV and front curtain next month, so I'm kinda glad it happened now as opposed to after we had done the work.

Christie

[Route 66]

Although Newmar's front clearance lights are a known leak problem, it could be the air horns or something else on the front of the roof.

Newmar has a fan they place in the drivers window, pressurizing the rig and they use a spray bottle with soapy water to look for bubbles indicating leaks.

["007"]

If what Dirk said does not help try this. 02 coach may have dried out gasket.
Take a close look at your windshield gasket along the top. You may have windshield dropping down and a small space that will only enlarge.
My gasket torn in the center and windshield dropped 1/2 " this past Jan. Newmar reset both windshields with new gasket before coming home from FL.
Welcome to the Newmar forum & irv2.

[Norm4015]

As Dirk said, Newmar's front clearance lights are known to leak, but I think they got it solved in recent years. My 2000 DSDP had leaking lights and Newmar replaced them all, front and rear, because some had a few cracks. They said the assembly line worker had tighten them too much.

Six months later they started leaking again and Newmar recaulked them again, all under warranty. Well, six moths later they were leaking again. I removed the lights and all caulking. Then I filled the cavities with sealant and mashed the lights into the sealant and tightened the screws. I let the sealant dry overnight the then I sealed around the lights. I kept that motorhome another four years and they never leaked one drop.

A friend with a Dutch Star had the same problem as mine and he fixed it with my procedure.

[tommildren]

do you remember what sealant you used. i have replaced the lenses once and recaulked and had to replace the privacy curtains due to a bad leak from the lense over the front windshield and anticipate having to do it again at some point. i have a 2000 dsdp

[Norm4015]

I don't remember the exact sealant, but it was a clear exterior GE silicone.

[christieb]

Thanks Everyone. My original idea was to pull the lights and load up the silicone in the cavity and under the light and re-seal the outside of the the lights as well. So that is going to be my strategy, after I check the windshield and double check the cap. I'm fairly confidant in anything going through my cap and where it meets the roof, because I'm really slow and methodical when I am caulking. But I am going to re check just to be sure.

I did notice that behind the lights in that cavity/cutout you can see a lot of silicon? that was put in, but I can still see around it to the light lens outside. So I am going to really try to fill that hole. I will keep you posted on how the fix goes we are going to try to get it done tomorrow or Friday.

Norm4015 did you fill from the outside in or the inside out? Did you put up something to hold the silicone while it cured, like duct tape?

Christie

[Norm4015]

Quote:

Originally Posted by christieb Norm4015 did you fill from the outside in or the inside out? Did you put up something to hold the silicone while it cured, like duct tape? Christie

I caulked from the outside. After removing the lights and old caulking I put several beads of new caulk around the perimeter of the opening and mashed the light in the caulk before it dried or ran. I tightened the screws just enough to hold the light in place but not crack the lense and then wiped out the excessive caulk that flowed out. I did one light at a time. The next day after the caulking had dried I added a little more around the lights.

When I say caulk, I used GE exterior silicone. I kept the motorhome and fulltimed in it another four years and the lights still looked great and never leaked again.

[RobRV]

We used Sikaflex in White to seal behind and around the Lenses! About a Year and No Leaks!

[Max Hubrich]

christieb, Christie-

I have an '02 Mountain Aire. I went through the whole 5 amber running light bit you have been through- No luck. It was leaking in 5 areas below each light onto the Dash board.

I then calked the front cap where it meets the roof. I used Di-Cor self leveling sealant- Walla- That was it !

I later had a leak pop up near the kitchen area, so I Di-cored the entire area where the side and rear caps meet the roof area on the whole rig. That solved the problem again

I found that The sealant takes a week or so to penetrate into the old caulked areas- But it works great. It saved me from buying a new MH!

Good luck,

[georgeblack]

Thanks to all for the tips. Just returned from a short trip and noticed water on the dash and dripping from above the windshield. Now have a good place to start.

[christieb]

Before I started on the lights I inspected the windshield seal and it looked to be in good shape. I couldn't see where it had dropped out of place. I have (hopefully) completed the fix. I removed old lights, scraped off old silicone and sanded down till all clean. Caulked inside the holes and around the base of the light, then mashed down and screwed in till secure, but not over tight. I will bring the coach home in the next few weekends and do a water test. I also resealed around the XM radio antenna. Rechecked all the other seams and they seem to be in good shape. So hopefully this will be the end of it!