We had a couple wet spots. Chose a large local RV shop with a SealTek machine and had it tested. Turned out the joint between front cap and the rolled roof was damaged, the black tank vent jack looked sealed but wasn't, the body seams at the front near the cab, the tail lights and most windows all leaked. The roof itself and other seams and attachments were OK. All neatly and nicely sealed now. They re-checked with SealTek once it was done and it's tight. This is on a coach without slides or a front cabover window.
Now to go camping!
God Bless, jd
2003 Jayco Escapade 31A on 2002 Ford E450 V10 4R100
Sounds like the best way detect and fix leaks. I'm sure it brought you peace of mind. I am just curious...how much did it cost in total (diagnosis-fix-recheck)?
J-D I too have a 2003 Jayco Escapade 31A and through the years we have had it there was always these small leaks in different locations. Jayco replaced windows at there expense even after the warrentee had expired, but they came back. Then finally in the 5th almost 6th year bubbles appeared in the ceiling over our bed and discoloration at the wall to ceiling area all along the drivers side. I called Jayco and made a video of the problem and sent it to them with a letter. To my surprise they called and to make a long story short they took the motorhome back to the factory and replaced the complete top at no expense to me. Seems that in 2003 they changed to a TPO roof instead of the rubber roof and they had problems with the TPO where it wrapped over the sidewalls. When i got my motorhome back from the factory ,I saw that they had returned to the rubber roof. SO this is just for your info. If you want more details just send a message. Denny
Agree with "best way detect." Here's a link to Sealtech (correct spelling):
http://www.rvleaks.com/
Somebody on this forum built one. It's essentially a furnace blower plus a duct and an adapter that clamps into a roof vent, probably the bathroom as opposed to a Fantastic Fan, etc. But this machine has a pressure control regulator. They took me into a travel trailer they were testing and it doesn't make your ears pop but it moves a lot of air. Small vents like the range hood can be open and testing isn't affected. I called three shops. All three had a Sealtech and charge one hour to set up, percorm the test, and prepare a repair estimate. The shops quoted $95, $99 and $105 per hour. The test consists of spraying soapy water on every potential leak spot and watching for bubbles. The lowest price didn't have an appointment for six weeks, the next was far away, and I had two strong recommendations for the third at $105, so I took it there. The estimate was five hours to repair, plus materials. The tech prepared the estimate and walked me all over the coach, roof included, to show me what he found and what he would do. I asked him to figure six hours (in addition to the one for the testing) and do joints/seams that weren't yet leaking. So seven hours at $105 plus materials which was four tubes of Dicor Lap Seal in the roof areas and three tubes of DAP 50-year white silicone around windows and body seams. So $735 labor and about $65 materials plus $15 misc supplies. The visible repairs to windows and seams make it look like a new coach. We owned the coach we just sold for 10 years and it never went to a shop, so this was my first RV shop experience. Outstanding from scheduling to results and pickup. Rivers RV in Jacksonville FL.
Denny,
We'd exchanged PMs over this issue. As second owner, no case built by first owner and warranty expired, it seemed a local repair would be my best bet. I corresponded with JAYCO and they were willing to help their "local" dealer (farther away than Rivers) troubleshoot the problems. The Rivers tech called our roof "picnic table cloth" meaning vinyl over fabric. We didn't have issues with any roof edge seams/joints except across the back of the front cap. Of course the roof is slightly crowned to help drain water, but the construction of the cap puts the front seam in a small flat area. Water gathered at the leak there.
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