1990 345LE cockpit leak on floor

[willhenshall]

Hi - sharing in the interest of knowledge for the group, and asking for advice from anyone who has had similar leaking in this way...

After the unusually intense rains here in LA (10inches in a few days) the front passenger side carpet got soaked, mostly on the side by the window. But, there was no sign at all of water running down from the window, so this is all coming in through some internal channel. So I removed the captains chair, pulled up the carpet, and found the wood sub floor was totally rotten along the edge.

I then removed the wood floor and found to my relief that the actual steel frame and the steel sheet sitting on that is not rusted, and is in good enough condition, so all i need to do is to replace the wooden sub floor...

But before I do that, obviously I need to figure out where the leak is coming in.

I knew this was a problem area when I bought the coach, but assumed that I would be able to see the water coming in. Which is not the case.

It looks like there is an internal drain channel somewhere inside the double skin or in the front radiator compartment that is running the water in.

Before I go nuts and start pulling the inner skin off on the passenger side, and start dismantling the dash, has anyone else had this exact situation? Trying to figure out where the leak is sourcing from and how to then seal it up.

I know I have a bigger project to deal with at some point, which is reseating and sealing the sliding windows on both sides at the front, but I'm trying to avoid that for the next few months.

[Kvsterling]

I’ve been hunting a similar leak. Just found one that seems to let water in the same place as you. The tip of the bottle is pointing to a seam between these 2 window parts coming together. Water followed along between the frame and exterior skin, and found a hole in the thick white sealant used from the factory. Confirmed with different colored food coloring!

[Kvsterling]

Also, check for leaks at the windshield gasket. Corner of the gasket is right there and will flow downhill to the low spot on the floor

[AirStreamMar]

Originally Posted by willhenshall

Hi - sharing in the interest of knowledge for the group, and asking for advice from anyone who has had similar leaking in this way...

After the unusually intense rains here in LA (10inches in a few days) the front passenger side carpet got soaked, mostly on the side by the window. But, there was no sign at all of water running down from the window, so this is all coming in through some internal channel. So I removed the captains chair, pulled up the carpet, and found the wood sub floor was totally rotten along the edge.

I then removed the wood floor and found to my relief that the actual steel frame and the steel sheet sitting on that is not rusted, and is in good enough condition, so all i need to do is to replace the wooden sub floor...

But before I do that, obviously I need to figure out where the leak is coming in.

I knew this was a problem area when I bought the coach, but assumed that I would be able to see the water coming in. Which is not the case.

It looks like there is an internal drain channel somewhere inside the double skin or in the front radiator compartment that is running the water in.

Before I go nuts and start pulling the inner skin off on the passenger side, and start dismantling the dash, has anyone else had this exact situation? Trying to figure out where the leak is sourcing from and how to then seal it up.

I know I have a bigger project to deal with at some point, which is reseating and sealing the sliding windows on both sides at the front, but I'm trying to avoid that for the next few months.

Hi Willhenshall,

It's a while since you posted the leaks in the front area, did you finally found the source? I just restoring the floor on my `89 290 and discover exactly the same issues, rodden panels. I even went further and removed the side panels below the windows. Surprise was, that on the floor there are large gaps between the side and the floor itself, almost 1/2 inch, just filled with sealant (red circled on the pictures - I put a hand lamp on the wheel so it's quite bright there). The sealant will protect from water when driving and the wheels splash water up. My thought was, ok the water came in as the sealant was aged and rodden. Then I waited for some heavy rains but the water is stil there if the MH is not moving at all, so coming from somewhere from the top. I sealed everything outside, from the sport light, the horn, the front window gasket and the mirrors. But water is still there. I'm almost sure it can't come from the windows as they are framed and there isn't a connection or hole to the inside. So I'm close to give up and use a can of water-resistant foam spray and seal massively the area. But I'm not so happy with that solution, water will find its way again.
Any idea?
Thank you and have a great day.
Mario

[Waipio Rim]

The sliding windows can leak. One step when replacing the channels that they slide in is to perforate the fabric at the bottom so that water coming down the windows will run into the aluminum channel and out down the vertical tube in your pictures. Otherwise, water will overflow to the inside. It would have been nice if they had been designed to overflow to the outside, but no such luck. That gap that was filled with sealant is huge, I can’t believe Airstream built it that way.

[mayco]

From looking at the picture of the passenger side floor in front of the seat, it looks like your heater core may have a small leak also. The white area right in front of the heater core tells me that there has been a leak. Could be that you have a combination of things going on.
Might want to start it and let it run for a bit with your dash heater on, observe closely.