colin weston Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 Crawling under the van recently I spotted what appeared to be some rot of the floor beneath the offside locker. On further examination I have found that the floor edges adjacent to the side lockers has rotted and even spread inboard on the nearside. Fortunately, it seems to be limited lengthwise, not extending beneath fitted furniture. I had a problem with water ingress some years back on the nearside which I deduced was due to water 'pooling' adjacent to the locker seal at the front of the nearside locker aperture and passing behind the seal due to capillary action. I put some sealant between the seal and the frame retaining edge and that seemed at the time to cure the problem. I also added some 'Draught excluder' (see photo) along the upper edge and partially down the sides of the locker aperture as a bit of a deflector. Are there any other 'Autocruisers' out there who have experienced similar problems? I don't know if anyone can advise whether this type/make of locker door is fitted on other coach-built vans? I know from other forums that I am not unique in having this problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 We had a similar issue with an Autocruise Starlet. As ever with me I look for the easiest and cheapest solutions first! Can we assume the outsde and inside sealant around the hatch is intact, and the hinges are not loose or worn? Can you see any daylight around the locker door from inside the van? Maybe someone outside with a decent torch in the dark would make it easier to see if and where light and water gets in? I don't remember how I cured it, but I do recall it did not cost anything! It possibly involves the rubber gasket not touching the hatch door when closed and you may be able to find a way of either bolstering the gasket to push it outwards or adjusting, tightening or bending the locking catches to pull the door in tighter. Some lockers have an aluminium flange that could be bent a bit to push the gasket tighter but yours does not seem to have that, unless it is beneath the beige trim? A new gasket might solve it, so might taking the gasket off and turning it to face the other way if it is symetrical in shape? A very long time ago I did have some success threading some cord through part of the hollow section of a door gasket when it was removed but that might not be possible on yours. It was tedious and time consuming but it worked and was free! Be carefull as the whole lot is not particularly strong, particularly the plastic bits that become brittle with time and UV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 colin weston - 2022-01-29 4:16 PM I know from other forums that I am not unique in having this problem. A 2010 MHFacts discussion about the issue https://forums.motorhomefacts.com/50-autocruise-motorhomes/66796-autocruise-locker-door-water-ingress.html As I've said previously, water initially found its way into my 2005 Hobby motorhome through the external locker doors. The Hobby's top-hinged doors were not the same as those fitted by Autocruise, but water 'pooling' did occur at the base of the door's frame and 'wicked' into the locker by capillary action where the interior rubber seal's joint sat in the pool. I glued the ends of the seal together and that stopped the leakage. (I originally planned to cut away a small piece of the door-frame's white plastic outer 'lip' to allow the water to drain, but then discovered that the frame was made of painted aluminium!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 That locker door is the same as fitted to my 54 reg Chausson, I had some water ingress there recently and noticed I could see daylight in a small area from the door seal when it was closed, looking at it from under the fixed bed, I checked the seal and found that a small area of it was trapped under its self ? I teased this trapped piece out from under its self and manipulated it so it became pliable again and that seems to have cleared the problem, no more light or water ingress from that area , touch wood. The only difference in your locker door and mine is that the black rubber seal on yours is fitted to the door frame ,where is mine is actually fitted in the door its self, maybe you could add an extra rubber seal in the door too ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruisecontrol Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 Around 2012 to 2013 we had a 2009 Autocruise Wentworth which suffered similar problems of damp inside the near sideside locker. This was resolved by the Southampton dealer under warranty. A At the time I was convinced that although the seals were intact the basic fault may well have been the build. Autocruise chose to install the locker aluminum frame such that its join was at the bottom where, if the seal was ineffective, water could ingress further into to locker floor and wall. At time of its sale in 2012 back to the dealer I noted the offside locker had damp readings. At later dates conversations with other Autocriuse owner revealed similar tales of damp lockers. That's no help to you I know and I'm sorry to learn that it's happened to you though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 Cruisecontrol - 2022-01-30 2:02 PM At the time I was convinced that although the seals were intact the basic fault may well have been the build. Autocruise chose to install the locker aluminum frame such that its join was at the bottom where, if the seal was ineffective, water could ingress further into to locker floor and wall. . Good point - simply taking the seal off and refilling it upside down so the join is at the top might be worth a try? PS - when we had the Starlet I made a cover for the underfloor locker shown in the photo which meant we could store things we rarely wanted in it out of the way and retain a level locker floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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