mabel mondial Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 Our van is a Swift front lounge panel van on a Fiat Ducato,for ages now we have been getting rain water coming in and making a puddle at the bottom of the wardrobe unit under the back seat on passenger side.It doesn't appear to be from the roof or rubber around the side sliding door where it is getting in Rain water appears quickly so it's not being absorbed elsewhere before.We are flummoxed, any ideas..?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 Could be a skylight or window not sealed to body or more worryingly the body panels have a multitude of joints sealed by 'mastic', IIRC the roof on our XLWB is built from 12 panels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero boy Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 No real clue but how about testing it in the drive with a hose directed at different places.....along the sides first and then, if not found, go slowly along the roof.... Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 mabel mondial - 2018-03-10 6:57 PM Our van is a Swift front lounge panel van on a Fiat Ducato,for ages now we have been getting rain water coming in and making a puddle at the bottom of the wardrobe unit under the back seat on passenger side.It doesn't appear to be from the roof or rubber around the side sliding door where it is getting in Rain water appears quickly so it's not being absorbed elsewhere before.We are flummoxed, any ideas..?. Washroom behind wardrobe. Cassette toilet access trap in vicinity, low down on nearside, just ahead of rear wheel. Have you checked that? Apparently no window to washroom. Awning attached on nearside. Any possibility of an awning mounting causing the leak? Have you inspected the roof along the line of the awning? Top rear edge of sliding door. Could water enter there, and run down beside the seal to emerge at floor level? You say puddle in base of wardrobe and under rear seat. Seems to suggest the sliding door seal, or possibly adjustment of the rear door guide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randonneur Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 We once had water coming into the lounge area under the bathroom in a caravan, couldn't understand where it was coming from until we realised that we had a split pipe on the reservoir on the cassette toilet, unbelievable how much water was there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mabel mondial Posted March 11, 2018 Author Share Posted March 11, 2018 Thank you all for the suggestions.We've resealed all the awning fixtures- no difference, so not that, all water drained down for winter, so not toilet related either, so if it is the door seal why is the water appearing further along the van from under the wardrobe unit and not in front of the door as not wet there, arghh....next.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dshague Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 have you by any chance got a status tv aerial in the wardrobe ,ifso water as been known for water to seep in through seal on roof and run down shaft in wardrobe ,,The gas locker door could be leaking and water getting that way .its near to small seat .check all vents any any other point of entry on roof . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daleman Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 water on the floor of Walter (2011 Mondial EK) turned out to be a leak from the fresh water pump mounted in the seat/bed box. One of the connections had worked loose and allowed water to drip onto the floor. It wasn't noticed until part of the bed box had soaked enough up to make it a soggy mess. I don't know the layout of Mabel but it would be worth checking your fresh water system Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 Mabel mondial says it is rain water. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the leak is only apparent following rain. If that is correct we can all forget about water pumps etc. It might help if mabel mondial could post up a photograph or two of the area where the leak is visible: even more a plan of the layout, as few of us will be familiar with it. I note it is now stated to be water coming from under the wardrobe, whereas it was originally stated to be puddling in the bottom of the wardrobe and under the seat on the passenger side (and thus a little behind, and adjacent to, the sliding door. Remote troubleshooting of leaks is always difficult, especially in the absence of familiarity with a specific van, and in the absence of pictures/layout plan. It also requires extremely accurate use of language, so that readers can understand exactly where the leakage is emerging! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daleman Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 Brian Kirby - 2018-03-12 12:40 PM Mabel mondial says it is rain water. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the leak is only apparent following rain. If that is correct we can all forget about water pumps etc. Indeed, but Walter's water seemed to fairly randomly seep out from the soggy panel depending on the temperature, and perhaps barometric pressure for all I know. It's worth taking a few minutes to rule it out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 The Mondial GT Plus was introduced in 2008 and Vivien’s is a 2008/9 version that she has owned for several years. Details of the model are here http://storage.highbridgecaravans.co.uk/brochures/2009-mondial.pdf As it’s a PVC water ingress would normally be expected to be due to failure of a door, window, or roof-light seal, but (as Colin has said) there’s the possibility that the water is coming through a leaking seam. Water-leaks can ‘travel’ and as this problem has been occurring “for ages” and logical attempts have been made to cure it, the chances of a remote diagnosis being successful are slim. As Bolero Boy has suggested, hosing the vehicle would be the best approach as, if rainwater enters quickly, dousing the motorhome with a hose should soon provoke the leak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mabel mondial Posted March 12, 2018 Author Share Posted March 12, 2018 Thank you for more helpful hints.As it is really persisting it down today, it is a good time to try next tactic, so we have attached some heavy duty plastic to under the awning hence over the door.It might not determin exactly where but elimate other areas (?)!Watch this space Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 ..A dodgy gas locker door seal?(combined with poor internal locker sealing?) or would that be putting any "rainwater" below where this water is present? (we had a caravan style battery box/locker on one "nearly new" van, and when we first had it the plastic battery tray would fill with water when it rained...). I don't suppose the sliding door runner/track on the van side, could be a possibility? (although if it was, presumably there's be loads of cases...?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 Don't know this model at all, and the published brochure is completely "silent" on the subject, but gas lockers in PVCs are commonly accessed from within the rear hinged doors in preference to carving a gas cylinder sized hole in the SEVEL tin. I'm therefore dubious that a gas locker door will be the culprit. OTOH, the seal at the rear of the sliding door seems to me at least a possibility. On ours, there is a lip of the conversion flooring that protrudes into the area just forward of the rearmost sliding door seal. Any water entering at the top rear, or down the rear edge, of the sliding door would be liable, depending on the angle at which the van is standing, to run onto that lip of floor, and from there could spread further. In the case of Vivien's van that lip, if present (different conversions based on different SEVEL models), would be adjacent to the forward facing rear passenger seats, and the wardrobe, which is where Vivien reports seeing "rainwater". So, worth eliminating, I think, as a possible source, on the basis that it is a fairly simple leakage source to detect. I suspect it is also fairly simple to fix as the door guides are adjustable, and it is possible that all that is needed is for the "shut" of the door to be adjusted to bring it into firmer contact with the top, and possibly rear, seals. From Derek's post the van is now around 10 years old, so some "setting" or hardening of the seals might reasonably be expected, as well as some wear on the sliding door guides, either of which may have effectively reduced the tightness of the door's closure. Until eliminated, it seems a reasonable possibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will86 Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 bolero boy suggested a hose ... add a coloured liquid ... deal with one area at a time ... problem solved ? Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 Brian Kirby - 2018-03-13 5:46 PM Don't know this model at all, and the published brochure is completely "silent" on the subject, but gas lockers in PVCs are commonly accessed from within the rear hinged doors in preference to carving a gas cylinder sized hole in the SEVEL tin. I'm therefore dubious that a gas locker door will be the culprit. The van shown in Derek's link(3 posts up) shows a gas locker in the van side, to the rear of the sliding door (just forwards of the rear wheel). :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mabel mondial Posted March 13, 2018 Author Share Posted March 13, 2018 Well, no puddle there today so the plastic sheet covering the door top may have worked, so door seal looks to be the culprit,will try the hose technique next!Still think the water must be defying gravity and sneaking uphill to get where it is!! Thank you all PS is adjusting the door something we can easily do or does it need an 'expert'?Also gas locker is next to sliding door Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 mabel mondial - 2018-03-13 9:57 PM Well, no puddle there today so the plastic sheet covering the door top may have worked, so door seal looks to be the culprit,will try the hose technique next!Still think the water must be defying gravity and sneaking uphill to get where it is!! Thank you all PS is adjusting the door something we can easily do or does it need an 'expert'?Also gas locker is next to sliding door If that sheet has "only" covered the door and nothing else (eg not the external door track, nor the gas locker) ,then that would point to it being the door? I'd still be having a more "targeted" hose pipe approach though(just in case it was the "wrong sort of rain" (lol) ) (I've never adjusted the sliding door on a Fiat, so can't help sorry) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will86 Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 And yes water will move up and over a shape by capillary action if the downward side is further in length but not quickly as you first suggested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 Just re-reading this- If the water is showing itself in the bottom of the wardrobe-and the gas locker housing appears to sit directly beneath it- then the gas locker door frame/housing would be something I'd be checking.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 If the door needs adjustment this should be fairly obvious as it will not sit flush with the surrounding panels. Another option is a piece of trim getting trapped under the door seal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 pepe63 - 2018-03-13 7:47 PM Brian Kirby - 2018-03-13 5:46 PM Don't know this model at all, and the published brochure is completely "silent" on the subject, but gas lockers in PVCs are commonly accessed from within the rear hinged doors in preference to carving a gas cylinder sized hole in the SEVEL tin. I'm therefore dubious that a gas locker door will be the culprit. The van shown in Derek's link(3 posts up) shows a gas locker in the van side, to the rear of the sliding door (just forwards of the rear wheel). :-S Yes it does, but unless the Mondial GT Plus stores its gas in the toilet, I think the van illustrated is the Mondial RL, which has its kitchen on the nearside, where one might expect to see a gas locker. I did find an illustration on a dealer's website of what they claimed was a Mondial GT Plus, and that had its toilet cassette access trap in a similar position, which is why I had earlier suggested that as a possible culprit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mabel mondial Posted March 26, 2018 Author Share Posted March 26, 2018 Whey hey, think we have solved the problem! Having taken an interior trim off near the slidey door I squinted down the side between the wardrobe unit and the van wall, at the same time husband poured water down over side panel door runner using a watering can. Saw water tracking along a plastic water pipe.Looks like rain may have been running down behind it and probably getting in through a screw hole.( well that's the theory) Applied some sealer to top of door runner. If this doesn't do the trick...I'll let you know!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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