🙁 FRUSTRATION In Overdrive: Airstream Repair Woes! (Part 4)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- SO FRUSTRATED! After several days of repairs and a rain storm, it doesn’t seem that we are any closer to fixing our Airstream. We are trying to stay positive and taking it one day at a time, but our confidence is wavering. Don’t forget to Hit the "Like" button 👍 and "Subscribe" to our channel and follow along on our adventures. Safe travels!
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I suggest finding a place or mobile RV tech that can do a pressure test on your trailer. They will pressurize the inside and use soapy water on the outside to find any leaks. I had it done on my 63 Tradewind and WOW!. They can mark the areas for you to seal or do it for you.
Any possibility its coming in from around the window frames?
Same, maybe the side windows.
Will definitely check them over and reseal.
Pressure test, first, then you know the source(s) of the water intrusion. Otherwise you could be chasing leaks for a long time.
As someone else stated, the water intrusion can occur far away from where it shows up inside the trailer. The damage to my subfloor was much more extensive than what you have experienced. I was ready to pull my hair out trying to find the source. I rolled on a white ceramic roof coating from Lowe's which sealed the roof seams and also keeps the trailer cooler in the summer. Like I said before, my leak source ended up being around a tail light assembly. Hope you guys get this resolved soon. I KNOW how frustrating this can be.
Thanks. Some days you just have to step away from the Airstream and clear your mind. Once the rain clears out, we will keep working thru a process of elimination while trying to keep our sanity 🙂
Wow. That’s got to be really frustrating for you guys. 😢 Water leaks are really hard to track down. I suggest a hose test. Start low, then slowly work the water stream higher until you see the leak. You should be able to pinpoint the area in a few hours with this method. Best wishes for a speedy solution.
Frustrating yes…but we will work through it. Thanks for the tip and safe travels.
Rick,
AT LEAST you hadn’t put back in the flooring - so that is the good news. A couple of my thoughts:
- Ronnie Dennis (Airstream Nuts & Bolts - Dadeville, AL) comes highly recommended.
- Brad (Thirteen Adventures) SGM (Ret.) USMC is very technical and also believe he worked at Airstream in Utah. I also believe he is in the South Carolina area right now as well.
I hate this for y’all. Keep us in the loop-all the best as you trouble shoot the issue.
Lee, we were really bummed that the AS was still leaking, but I agree it was good that we had not reinstalled any flooring. That said, I’ve been talking with several AS owners (along with the TH-cam community) about possible problem areas and solutions. Unfortunately, it may just come down to a process of elimination thru trial and error. Anyways, we will continue to provide updates on our progress. Thanks again and safe travels.
So I’d take a good look at your lower belt line, ours were installed with screws and not rivets. You could tell that water was making it into the skin via those screws. I removed all of the belt lines and replaced the screws with rivets!
Beltline was my guess too
You might want to check the right tail light and license plate bracket. Those clearance lights on top may also be the source of the leak.
Thanks for the tip. Will checkout those two areas as well.
To add to my earlier comment! I went to Airstream dealer and inspected myself 2 Brand New Airstreams and guess what I found? In both the Right Side and Left Side Corners I found evidence of water leaking in !!!!! You hit the nail right on the head when you said Design Flaws! When you look at those lower moldings you can see they are not sealed ! Airstream advertises these Water Tests are done on all their Trailers! They don’t seem to look very close on the inside ! The one trailer I looked at was over $200000! I would think at that price you would expect more ? That’s my opinion! Good Luck
Thanks for the comment and sharing your experience. It is unfortunate that so many Airstream owners have had similar problems. Perhaps Airstream will relook their design and manufacturing process to address this problem in future models. We can only hope. Happy Holidays and Safe Travels.
I feel your pain and understand the frustration. Like crosscuttab suggest take a good look at lower belt line. I would also consider a pressure test. I have my fingers crossed you get this figured out.
My vent stacks had the flat disc with a large opening for venting. In a hard rain one of them leaked. No-lox solutions - Phil suggested removing the flat disk, it's just snap fitted on the legs that hold it up and putting a 4"pvc waste cap on with pvc pipe glue. The waste cap is different than a the caps used on sprinker lines. A waste cap is flat and available at home depot . I know your leak isn't near there but i thought I would throw this out there for the future.
Rick thanks so much for your positive attitude. When this is over you will be an expert on Airstream water damage prevention! I'm learning a lot from you. We have a 2016 25ft International and it occurred to me that for those with new models with composite flooring there will still be leaks.... the floor may not rot, but other damage is quite likely to occur. Best wishes toward a thorough correction.
Thanks for the support and the words of encouragement. We have learned a lot through this experience and happy to share what we have learned with fellow Airstreamers. Safe travels.
How can you not be outraged by this kind of poor quality with something that costs the highest price in the RV Trailer! I was given the impression it is only a couple years old ! Airstream should be a stand up company and repair such a mess as this ? I’m sorry what you were sold is such poor quality !
I will admit that I have been frustrated and disappointed at times during this process However I try to remain positive and know that Airstream are trailers that do allow for repairs where many other brands would not be able to be repaired. Being mad wouldn’t help me make the repairs and I’m sure my wife wouldn’t want me around. 😂
If a roof or wall penetration is leaking it needs to be removed and the primary seal that is between the thing and the surface needs to be redone. The sealant on the outside is just a secondary barrier and is really only there to redirect water. Adding more sealant to the outside is pretty much never going to fix a leak and if it does it will only be temporary.
💯Agree. That is why we are taking off the lower belt line so we can remove the original sealant and reapply new sealant along the outer skin and the top edge of the belly pan. Thanks for the comment and safe travels.
Try sealing around your side windows - we thought for sure we had a roof leak sealed everything up - still leaked - then I resealed the side window in the back -- all gone
This is great advice!!!!!
Thanks for documenting all this. It’s awesome to see how you progressed through the challenges. Also I agree with some of the other comments. I would suspect it’s coming from the belt line and not the roof. Good luck 🤞.
The belt line is for sure the next area for us to focus on. Hope the video updates are helpful to others who may be experiencing similar problems. We will continue to post updates as we progress. Thanks for watching
Feeling your pain! Based upon the amount of water inside, I think your intrusion area has to be much larger than a rivet. Is there a chance water is infiltrating from the front end of the Airstream and migrating or pooling at the back end due to a slight slope of the floor towards the rear end?
We were really surprised by the amount of water as well. The trailer is pretty level, but you never know where water will enter and where it will end up. But we’re not going to give up until we find the leak(s). Safe travels.
Sorry for the continued woes chasing down that water leak. But you're taking the appropriate steps and narrowing down the possibilities. Also, just wanted to say happy Veteran's Day to you both and thank you for your service.
Thank you for the well wishes. As a military family (our two sons are active duty military) there is much to be thankful for in life and this water leak is just a part of our Airstream journey. We are confident we will get through it, and we appreciate all the support and encouragement from the Airstream community. Safe travels.
I had the same issue with water leaks in the same areas of our 2014 25ft fbt flying cloud. The first leak was from a failed gasket along the deck of the stinky slinky box. Fixed by drilling out the rivets on the lid and then sealing with Sikaflex. The second leak was found around the courtesy light by the door. Fixed using Lexel. Meanwhile I cleaned and went over the Doctor on the roof paying attention to the skylight, antenna mount, and awning connections. I used Dr. Tolleys around the windows and / or caulked with Lexel around all the running lights, awning bracket mounts, door and window frames, license plate bracket and compartment frames. I further took off the rub rail and caulked all the rivet heads and then, after installing new rail material, ran a small bead of Lexel along the top of the rail.
There was still a leak - frustrating like you can't imagine.
I finally had our son-in-law put the hose to it again - again!!! What I found was water coming in from the step box, where it meets the bottom black plastic curved belly there was / is / no gasket. I also found that the belly pan had a small gap where it met the frame going back to the bumper - a slight misfit which was never caught at the factory. I then checked the wheel wells and found that the barrier between the wheel well and the outside aluminum sheet (toward the bottom) is a rubber gasket which was cut a little short on one side. Note: Rain couldn't get in from this location, however it would be a definite problem during some of the pouring rain situations we have driven through.
I am finally confident enough to put the subfloor back in and finish so we can get back on the road. I will however now be thinking of water tightness below the beltline as much as above.
Trust you have found the maddening leak.
Further thank you for the video on Airsafe - in the past year we upgraded to a 3/4 ton pickup - suddenly have dimples either side of the front compartment - a fix I will need to have done either at JC or a trip way out to Vinny's. Meanwhile we are purchasing an Airsafe hitch to hopefully medicate further damage.
Thank you for the comment and sharing your experience. We 100% understand the frustration of locating a water leak. It can become very discouraging at times. We would be interested in your experience with the AirSafe hitch. We have been very happy so far, just wish it weren’t so heavy 💪. Happy camping & safe travels.
Does your AS have gutters? I wonder if you may have a clog somewhere that’s causing water to seep into the AS and not flowing away from RV. Keep at it!!!
No gutters per se on the Airstream but a lot of seams, rivets and windows to check. Thanks for watching and safe travels.
Still looks like your panoramics are leaking. It didn’t look like you checked them yet.
We did check all the window (not shown in the video), but believe the leak is coming from the lower belt-line. Thanks for watching and safe travels.
Yikes OMG!!!!
Airstream sux. Used to be good. Just lipstik on a pig RV now
Even with all her faults, we still love our Airstream. Thanks for watching and safe travels.
I used the tulleys on the window seals on our trailer. It sealed them up an eliminated one of the leaks I had.
So far it looks like a great product to keep on hand. Unfortunately my water leak must not be coming from the areas where I applied it 😟
Hi Rick - because you asked, I'll give you my suggestion. Dry up everything you have. Now take a hose and inundate the rear section of your Airstream until you see water. Note that it may take some time for the water to travel its distance and accumulate - you'll have to figure that out. The purpose of this is to confirm that your test methodology will produce the problem. You don't need a lot of water like in the video - just enough evidence of a leak. Dry everything up. Now take some blue painters tape and begin to tape off certain sections. Obviously, start with the most likely candidates. Repeat the water hose test and look for leaks. Continue this process methodically until your spray test confirms there is no leak or your entire Airstream is covered in blue tape. Once you discover the leak, that's where you attack with sealant. We've used this method a number of times to find and fix leaks. Good luck and we know you'll keep your community briefed on the progress.
Hey Rich, thanks for the advice. We are definitely going to try the hose method next. Just need the rain to clear out for a few days so we can control the application of water to the Airstream. Obstacles become opportunities and problems become possibilities 🙂. Safe travels
@@thewrightlife Look at it this way: the good news is that you have a BIG leak if you got that much standing water in the belly pan. That should be easier to find than the irritating slow drip...
On a dry day, have someone hold a hose on one section of the suspected area for a few minutes at a time while you are inside the trailer looking for water leaks. If no leaks happen, then tell your hose person to move to the next section until you find the area that is letting water in. One section at a time. Very important.
Appreciate the tip…hopefully this rain clears out this week and we can continue to try and isolate the leaks. Thanks for watching and safe travels.
I was shocked by the amount of water that accumulated. The good news is that you don't just have a little leak somewhere, so you should be able to find it. With that amount of water, I'm surprised that the subfloor damage was not more. The amount of water would seem to indicate that you the leak was pretty recent. Have you noticed any recent changes in access doors, locks, windows or happen to hit something? The fact that the leak happens on both sides of the back would make me look to the lights first (tail lights and running lights). The suggestion of the belt line is a good one, but it is hard to believe that amount of water would come in at both sides ... or one heck of a coincidence. Also the water did seem to be coming down the back side, so while it is possible that the leak is somewhere far away, it doesn't seem likely. But easy to test with a hose on the back part of the trailer when it stops raining. A mystery is the flooring near the door, but maybe it comes from the same leak source. I did see a post that suggested fixing and selling. I would be on the other side of that argument. Once you fix it, you'll be smarter about your trailer, which you love, and you'll move onto the next problem and years of enjoyment. This is going to happen to every Airstream. We have a 2016 Classic and am waiting to see what the root cause of your leak is. We normally automatically go to the roof for these sorts of things and once you find the true problem it will probably surprise you and all of us. How about a thermal sensor? If hot (like in Texas) then spray cool water and see if you can detect a temp change through the wall. If cold, then heat the water. I'm betting on a light fixture. Water pours off the roof, hits the top of a taillight, comes in and runs down the wall. I'm still shocked at the puddle! Good luck and looking forward to the great discovery. What year is your trailer?
Hi…I have to admit that we were surprised by the amount of water that entered after the rain storm. It was really frustrating at the moment, but we have been a few days removed and came up with a plan to test the seams with a water hose to pinpoint to leak location. We will likely start at the lower belt line and work our way up, until we start seeing water intrusion. I will also reseal every seam, light, and connection point to be on the safe side. As for selling, that is the furthest thing from our mind. Not sure why I would get rid of our Airstream and the known problems that we repair, for another Airstream with unknown problems that we will eventually discover. Besides, we are making memories with this AS. As for the year, it is a 2017 International. We will provide weekly updates as we progress with the troubleshooting and repairs. Safe travels.
Yes, so frustrating. I chased a leak for some time and found the leak was around the latches on the outside compartment doors. Once I sealed the edges and the screws holding the strike plate, the leak went away. Wishing you the best on this journey and thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the recommendation. I will definitely add that area to my list to investigate. Safe travels.
Our lower belt line (floor level) had screws that were stripped and/or rusted loose. These apparently are used to hold the molding in place for riveting. I also found a few rivets that didn’t make it into the c-channel leaving the pre-drilled holes open. I ended up removing my trim completely, filling each hole and running a bead of sealant under the trim channel before reattaching it with stainless steel screws. After riveting in place, I sealed each fastener and let the sealant cure before installing new trim inserts.
Based on all the comments and recommendations, I agree and think the belt line is my next area to investigate. Thanks for watching and we will keep everyone updated on the progress.
Oh man! We hate this for you and Lisa. Great attitude for keeping at it and thanks for sharing. See ya down the road.
Thanks Mike, we really appreciate the kind words and encouragement. Lisa and I really hate that we missed the last club rally, but hope to start traveling again soon. Safe travels.
Have you considered taking it somewhere to have a pressure test done?
Several viewers have made that recommendation, but I’m just not sure where I could get it done. But first, I have a few other areas to investigate and reseal.
I hope you and your lovely wife get this resolved soon. ❤
Thank you. Enjoy your weekend and safe travels.
Ah man! SO frustrating 😢 There are a lot of great suggestions in the comments here. I hope one of these ideas fixes it. You are both in our thoughts and prayers!
Hey thanks for the continued support and encouragement. I’m sure we will eventually locate and resolve the leak. Just been a little frustrating at time 😕 We will keep working thru a process of elimination and provide updates as we move along. Safe travels.
@@thewrightlife sounds like a good plan. We are traveling right now, so thank you 😊
Put it back together and sell it then get another one, or bring it to airstream and have them fix it.
Yip I did that. 4 times
@@mfhairstream6812 Do you mean you brought it back to airstream?
At this point I have too much invested in this AS to sell it and to get another with it's own set of problems. I can't imagine what price a dealership would charge for the repairs $$$. Thanks for watching and safe travels
@@thewrightlife I hear you. Hope you will be able to find and repair the water leak soon and get back on the road.