Jock66 Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Hi wondered if anyone could help. We bought our 2004 Autocruise Starspirit last May from Maquis. We took it in for its first habitation check this May and were told they had found an area of damp behind the drivers seat. They thought it wasn't the toilet or bathroom and said they needed to take it in to the workshop to look at it removing the bathroom etc. very costly. We were very disappointed and said we would book it in for repairs in Septemner. We came away this weekend put the eberspauer heating on for the first time and now have a leak at the corner of the bathroom near the two heating ducts. We have never had any problem before. Any suggestions, help or advice from anyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock66 Posted May 27, 2015 Author Share Posted May 27, 2015 That's Eberspacher heater sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 I have a brochure for a 2006 Starspirit and it seems that the 'Air Heater' is located under or near the toilet. If your Eberspacher is a 'Hydronic' which heats water for the heating, and the leak occurs when it is being used it may well be that that is leaking. Do you know if your Eber. is a Hydronic or Airtronic ( which only heats air )? The 2004 Starspirit may not have the same systems as the later 2006 model which may it seems. have gas water heating. Autocruise used all sorts of combinations of heating / hot water systems. If you come back with more info. you may get more replies. Harvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock66 Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 The Eberspacher is an airtronic D4 heater. We haven't had the heater on now for over 24 hours but water is still oozing out at the bottom corner of the washroom which is next to the fridge. We are on Islay at the moment so it's difficult to get to a repair shop as the ferry is full until Saturday morning. We are going to drain the water system down to see if that makes any difference. The bathroom is a sealed unit so difficult to tell what's happening. trying to think of what else it could be. Thanks for your reply any advice would be great as obviously very concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Tony, There is no water in an Airtronic so that cannot be the cause of your leak and you only finding the leak after using it is a red herring. The leak must be coming from the plumbing behind the shower so your decision to drain down your water system is a wise one to prevent further flooding. I would hazard a guess that a joint has come apart somewhere out of sight and as your dealer has suggested they will have to remove the shower to find it. It sounds like it needs fixing sooner rather than later. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Surely the first thing to do is to contact Marquis, inform them of your discovery and ask them what you should do as it may well alter what they intended to or need to do based on what they knew before. Does their habitation check include a check on water pressure and for onboard water leaks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 I have found a Starspirit for sale and looked at the pictures. I see that there is a locker door below the washbasin. Can you access the water pipes to the taps from here, even if there is a separate access panel inside that may need to be unscrewed? Cannot see exactly where the shower hose is located in the pictures but the feed could come from the same area as the taps. The cupboard below the basin in my Starblazer has water pipes in but they are behind screwed in wooden paneling which I had to remove to find a small leak. Loose jubilee clip on a hose connection. So it seems that your leak is either the fresh water to the shower / basin, used water from the shower or basin drain, or even from the toilet flush tank if it has one and does not use water from the fresh tank direct. We do not know your capabilities re: investigating / doing diy so not sure how much investigating to advise but ...... if there is a leak in the water supply to the washroom I would expect the water pump to keep cycling, maybe intermittently, unless it is switched off. I hope your drain down helps you locate the cause. Just out of interest did Marquise do *any* investigating of the cause of the damp that they found? hth Harvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock66 Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 Many thanks for all your replies. Now we have drained the system the leak appears to have stopped. Maquis told us that they did not know the cause of the damp and that they need to take it to their workshop at Tewkesbury to remove part of the washroom and seek the cause. They have estimated the cost at £2,800. It is still under warranty but that only covers £1000 of that. The hourly rate is over £50. This is a lot of money and we are concerned that with another leak the cost will rise as they will need to do more work. We have never used the shower but obviously as part of the habitation check Maquis tested it. Perhaps this was the problem. When we bought the van there was a slight "pucker" in the laminated fascia at the base in the same corner where the leak was. I was told that it "was historic" and I took them at their word. This in hindsight would appear to have been a foolish move. If this was not addressed as was promised then the van was sold to us not fit for purpose and therefore the work should fall down to them. Is there anyway people think we could get the work done for less? We live in Horsham West Sussex. I don't know if anyone knows a good company near us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 I think you have hit the nail on the head with your comment about the 'pucker' in the fascia. I would go back and say this leak was evidently present when they sold the vehicle and that unless they can prove otherwise you are, politely, holding them entirely responsible for all costs involved in fixing it. See what they say to that and let us know the outcome. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Keithl - 2015-05-28 5:46 PM I think you have hit the nail on the head with your comment about the 'pucker' in the fascia. I would go back and say this leak was evidently present when they sold the vehicle and that unless they can prove otherwise you are, politely, holding them entirely responsible for all costs involved in fixing it. See what they say to that and let us know the outcome. Keith. I strongly agree with Keith on this. Clearly, Marquis were aware of the "pucker" at the time you bought (though getting them to admit to that conversation may prove tricky!) and hadn't acted to eliminate the cause. I have two suggestions. Try to contact the previous owner and se what he can tell you. It is just possible Marquis knocked back the trade-in price when he sold on the basis of evidence of leakage. Second, get in tough with Citizens Advice and talk to them about your experience. If Marquis consider part of the cost should be met by the warranty, it seems to imply Marquis accept some liability. Otherwise, it would be dishonest for them to suggest claiming against the warranty. Under consumer legislation, the liability for defective goods entirely lies with the seller. Your warranty, (mostly in any case just an insurance) does not limit the seller's legal liability to make good. All it does is defray part of the cost for which he is liable. So, your £2,800 should (broadly) go £1,800 to Marquis and £1,000 to the insurer. However, as the van is 11 years old, there will probably be some expectation that wear and tear must be taken into account, and it would probably be unrealistic to expect it to be returned to "as new" condition at no cost to you whatsoever. When you buy used vehicles there is always an element of risk, so a three way split seems the most probable eventual outcome. It is for these reasons I suggest you speak to Citizen's Advice before you tackle Marquis, so that you know more clearly where you, and Marquis, stand legally. This doesn't mean you start a court case, just that you get your ducks in a row before you begin. Then you can speak with confidence, which should help in getting Marquis to react sensibly and reasonably. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyg3nwl Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Hi, sorry to hear about damp problem.. question..did you have a prepurchase damp inspection done..they should have done it in any preparation before you actually took delivery.. have they actually acknowledged the "pucker" as being in existence at time of purchase..if so and it is eventually traced to the water leak, then the problem is theirs to solve, and not your expense..irrespective of how they try to argue.. our van was examined before we agreed to purchase and was found suffering damp ..(Autocruise Stargazer) Our purchase was conditional on the damp being fixed and it went to Tewkesbury, and came back 2 weeks later, "fixed" having spent approx 6000 pounds in the process "beleive that if you wish". Pre purchase deal damp check after fixing showed all ok, so purchase proceeded.. 12 months later, annual hab check showed high readings again in same places as before, so back to marquis and warranty invoked. because we had some weekend booked, date for return to repair is now delayed till after we get back in july.. BUT, they said we must recheck readings before sending back for further work.. I queried this wisdom..on the basis that if weather is dry and hot , then damp patch might dry outso no action needed....on the other hand, a prolonged period if wet weather could cause further expense repair would warranty still cover costs..answer unknown. I have bought my own damp meter and am so far happy there has not been any significant rain to cause further problems. tonyg3nwl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donna miller Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 We've got a Starspirit and found that the shower hose leaked if the tap was left on and you relied on the thumb lever to operate the shower, it was probably due to the hose being pulled about as it extends and retracts. If I can remember without going out and emptying the cupbpoard, I think there is a connector that can be blanked/turned off leading to the shower hose, if you don't shower in the van then consider shutting off or removing this hose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 No consolation I know, but Autocruise CH vans (before taken over by swift) very seldom had 'water ingress ' problems, internal leaks yes, same as most vans, and what the above problems seem to be. I miss the 'Quality build' of my 2005 Autocruise Starlet 2 and its great Eberspacher heater/boiler, great shame that they (Autocruise CH) are no longer around. Otherwise I would have one.Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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