Screw Penetration in the Front Cap -

[Franko Foto]

Has anyone else seen this phenomenon? I was cleaning the bugs off the front cap recently, just after we had left Middlebury for our final inspection. I wrote our service person and she tells me that they believe it is an incorrect screw that was used for a time on construction of the coaches, and it has penetrated the cap.


Of course this raises the question of how many more are waiting to erupt?


It would be nice to know if this is a rare event or something seen before, and what you did.


The pix are close ups of the crack - the windshield rubber and marker lights should give you more perspective.



Thanks,


Frank

[fla tom]

I have not had that on our Entegra but I did have that issue on a previous coach,same appearance.

[Gary.Jones]

I have seen this issue reported by other post here on iRV2 for Entegra Coach. My memory was that the OP had a bunch of the punctures on the front cap Onan generator fiberglass section.

Gary

[MoHoGo]

The bumps are what I assume are fasteners backing out of the seam on the rear cap.

Originally Posted by Franko Foto

Has anyone else seen this phenomenon? I was cleaning the bugs off the front cap recently, just after we had left Middlebury for our final inspection. I wrote our service person and she tells me that they believe it is an incorrect screw that was used for a time on construction of the coaches, and it has penetrated the cap.


Of course this raises the question of how many more are waiting to erupt?


It would be nice to know if this is a rare event or something seen before, and what you did.


The pix are close ups of the crack - the windshield rubber and marker lights should give you more perspective.



Thanks,


Frank

[757driver]

Originally Posted by Franko Foto

Has anyone else seen this phenomenon? I was cleaning the bugs off the front cap recently, just after we had left Middlebury for our final inspection. I wrote our service person and she tells me that they believe it is an incorrect screw that was used for a time on construction of the coaches, and it has penetrated the cap.


Of course this raises the question of how many more are waiting to erupt?


It would be nice to know if this is a rare event or something seen before, and what you did.


The pix are close ups of the crack - the windshield rubber and marker lights should give you more perspective.



Thanks,


Frank

Looks like a fresh crack. Perhaps a new screw was added during your final inspection.

[Franko Foto]

That's what I thought also Don, but their service manager says it is a problem from first construction. I have to accept their explanation and I have been assured there are not others about to work their way through.
Final inspection and repair was a very positive experience - not without some "discussion" but I still have faith in the Entegra desire to do the right thing. That attitude makes up for a lot of problems.
I have to be back there on the 28th of this month and after I get home I intend to do a full write up of the experience to help others prepare for their final inspections.



Meanwhile they have indicated they will get this repaired when I am back.


Frank

[brobox]

Frank , that crack looks to be all the way through. Might want to put some sealant on it to prevent water intrusion until it's repaired.

[Fattman-Litlboy]

I have the same anomaly on my 2015 Anthem. Had one repaired last year. It reappeared with a 2nd one recently. Will repair when back in Phoenix in October. I just called Collision Unlimited who did the original repair. Waiting on their response.

[Franko Foto]

Originally Posted by brobox

Frank , that crack looks to be all the way through. Might want to put some sealant on it to prevent water intrusion until it's repaired.

Good idea Chuck - I'll check it tomorrow.


Frank

[Fattman-Litlboy]

I emailed Entegra about this problem yesterday, and their response was "This has not been a known issue on our end. Should you take the trim off and need assistance repairing, we will be happy to assist upon reviewing photos of the trim removed". I then contacted Unlimited Collision in Arizona who repaired my last protruding screw and they said "We have completed that type of repair on Entegra’s, Tiffin’s, Fleetwood’s, etc." I guess from Entegra's response, they haven't repaired many. Maybe if Entegra owners would report these problems, with photos, they might change up their process to possibly prevent this from happening. Or maybe, it's just a normal anomaly that happens here and there with not much to do to keep it from happening. Oh well, just another minor issue for our baby. I just filled the gap with silicon and will deal with it later. We still love our 2015 Anthem living full-time in it since new. [emoji4]

[jestal]

With the bulging screw heads under the trim try going inside the cap (front or rear) and see if you can see any screw threads out in the open?

Our rear cap did that and then started to separate to the point there was a 1 inch gap at the joint to the rear cap. Bottom line: the screws are supposed to be driven thru the cap and into an aluminum spar at the end of the sidewall framing. In our case almost all the screws missed the spar completely and were sticking out into thin air, readily visible from inside the cap if you looked closely.


Interestingly this was not considered a "structural failure" by Entegra and was therefore not a warranty item under their structural warranty. Luckily I took the coach to S&S for repair and they showed pictures of the failure to Entegra and confirmed I had not clipped a tree or something and tore the cap loose. Joyce also got involved and Entegra did end up warranting the repair at S&S. S&S did reinforcing the joint with a glued backer plate between the spar and the wall. It is overlapping the sidewall and the cap since the rest of the screws had started to rip out of the cap once the molding was removed.


Hint: This might be a bigger issue than it seems so the sooner it is looked at the better in terms of getting a good repair and doing less damage because if the screws are loose the cap can start to move and paint may get involved in the repair so don't ignore it!

[Franko Foto]

Originally Posted by jestal

With the bulging screw heads under the trim try going inside the cap (front or rear) and see if you can see any screw threads out in the open?

Our rear cap did that and then started to separate to the point there was a 1 inch gap at the joint to the rear cap. Bottom line: the screws are supposed to be driven thru the cap and into an aluminum spar at the end of the sidewall framing. In our case almost all the screws missed the spar completely and were sticking out into thin air, readily visible from inside the cap if you looked closely.


Interestingly this was not considered a "structural failure" by Entegra and was therefore not a warranty item under their structural warranty. Luckily I took the coach to S&S for repair and they showed pictures of the failure to Entegra and confirmed I had not clipped a tree or something and tore the cap loose. Joyce also got involved and Entegra did end up warranting the repair at S&S. S&S did reinforcing the joint with a glued backer plate between the spar and the wall. It is overlapping the sidewall and the cap since the rest of the screws had started to rip out of the cap once the molding was removed.


Hint: This might be a bigger issue than it seems so the sooner it is looked at the better in terms of getting a good repair and doing less damage because if the screws are loose the cap can start to move and paint may get involved in the repair so don't ignore it!

Thanks for this. I am due to be at Entegra on Monday and they are to have me take the coach to S&S. Hopefully the problem will not be as complex as yours.


Frank

[rorr1821]

Originally Posted by Franko Foto

Has anyone else seen this phenomenon? I was cleaning the bugs off the front cap recently, just after we had left Middlebury for our final inspection. I wrote our service person and she tells me that they believe it is an incorrect screw that was used for a time on construction of the coaches, and it has penetrated the cap.
Of course this raises the question of how many more are waiting to erupt?
It would be nice to know if this is a rare event or something seen before, and what you did.
The pix are close ups of the crack - the windshield rubber and marker lights should give you more perspective.

Thanks,
Frank

I had the head board down to check for condensation issues so I have a good idea of what has happened. When I took mind down I noticed they had 3 or 4” screws along the top of the windshield edge holding the head board up. These screws go into wood which was fiberglassed into the cap. First of all you do not need those long screws to hold the head board because the wood is only about 1” thick as I recall. However, if the screws are angle out they could easily penetrate the fiberglass. That is the reason I used shorter screws when I replaced the two head boards on my coach. I hope you are still under warranty. All of those long screws need to be replaces.

[philnail]

That is an easy repair as I had one on my Anthem. I just carefully lifted the molding and screwed it back in. No problem since