Hello Everyone,
Well, it has been a few months since I posted last. As you may recall if you read my previous posts, my wife, Donna, and I purchased a used 2018 Fleetwood Storm 34S in January 2020, and other than two weekend getaways locally, this is our-second-long distance trip/vacation. We are presently sitting in Orlando, Florida, away from the snow in northwest Pennsylvania. However, we have a problem we need advice on.
We have been here since last Friday. On Saturday and Sunday, we had several strong thunderstorms along with almost torrential rains at times, come through the area. Sunday was almost all-day non-stop. On Monday, Donna was dusting the dashboard, and I heard that fateful cry, “Mike, come here, you need to see this!”
She then lifted the Camp Pass that was sitting down inside the windshield on the passenger side of the dashboard, and the bottom was soaking wet, dripping water. When I leaned over the dash to see where the windshield met the dash, there was standing water from the corner of the windshield on the passenger side about halfway across to the driver’s side, or the center of the windshield. I quickly wiped it up and dried the area, and then began to look all over that area for any wetness or dripping. There was none at the roof, the ceiling, or any place on the windshield on the inside that I could find. None of the inside trim or material was wet, not even at the corner after I wiped up the water. Since the windshield is surrounded by material, I would figure that something would have shown water contact. Nothing on the inside did.
I went outside to investigate. What I found was that there is rubber trim outlining the entire windshield, top, bottom, and both sides. In each corner of the windshield, where the vertical and horizontal trim pieces come together, there are plastic 90-degree black angle caps that cover those corners. Under each of those caps is a formed piece of soft rubber that is glued into place over the joint where the vertical and horizontal pieces of rubber trim come together and meet.
On the driver’s lower side (right side) of the windshield on the exterior, that cap is glued firmly in place. I checked that side as well to be able to compare it to the one on the passenger’s side, where it seems most of the water was laying on the inside of the windshield. (I have attached pictures). To my surprise, the rubber cap on the left passenger side on the exterior of the windshield was so loose that when I pulled slightly on it, it just fell off. Underneath that cap was that soft, formed piece of rubber (like a rubber patch) that is used to seal the gap between the vertical and horizontal rubber trim. It, too, was totally un-attached (no glue) except for a small area at the bottom of that piece of rubber (the patch). For that matter, when the cap had fallen off the left side, unlike the cap on the right side, I did not see any caulk or glue at all on the underside of that cap. I cannot find any evidence of glue on that rubber patch as well. I could easily bend that patch all the way down, as well as lift the edge of the horizontal rubber trim that the patch covered. When I did this, water just ran out from that area, and did so for several hours. I placed the edge of the plastic cap under that edge for several hours, until the heat of the day and that gap allowed all the water to dissipate and quit running. I feel that the heat, almost 90 degrees, dried up what water may have been still lying under that trim. And all the days since then have been in the mid to high 80’s to low 90’s.
As I continued my investigation, to my dismay, I also found several small cracks in the windshield on the exterior of the driver’s side lower corner, that were almost unnoticeable. Had it not been for this prior issue, I would not have noticed it at all. I don’t know when they occurred, as we bought the motorhome used last January 2020 in Tacoma. But, in our two long trips since owning this, we have had some stones hit the windshield. The issue is that when I purchased the insurance (GEICO) on the motorhome, the sales agent made it sound like I had glass coverage. Come to find out after calling them yesterday, the agent in said that the only glass coverage I had was if the windshield were damaged to the point that I could not see through it. It had been long enough since the first agent I spoke to when we first purchased the motorhome that I could not recall his name, but I was led to believe that this insurance covered windshields as well. This new agent did tell me I could get glass coverage for an additional 175 a year, which I immediately added. But that does not cover pre-existing damage. I did not file a claim. She said that I should try and get it repaired myself, and then if it continued to crack, it would be up to the adjuster whether to cover the replacement. Even with glass coverage, the deductible is still quite high, but not the 5K it would cost if it all came out of pocket. I had Safelight come out today, and the technician said he could not repair the cracks as they were under the corner. He said they will continue to crack, and I should have it replaced (which I cannot afford out of my own pocket) as soon as possible. So, this is one dilemma. (see attached pictures).
The other issue is that he could not seal the other corner on the passenger side for me. The next best option is that I purchased a tube of 3M Windshield Black Urethane in a caulk-gun type tube. The reviews on this stuff are good, although all reviewers said it is extremely messy and hard, even when very warm, to get out of the tube. There were many cautions, and it takes 3 days to fully cure. The reviews said it will get into all the cracks and seal everything. Of course, they also said to use gloves as it will be on your hands for weeks if not, and make sure you tape off everything you do not want it on and have two or more rolls of paper towels handy.
My plan is to tape off all around that area, and then lift the patch and fill the voids with this stuff. Then, place the right-angle plastic cap over the patch and caulk, then also caulk it on over the patch. I will remove the painter’s tape once it starts to cure. It looks like the plastic cap on the driver’s side has caulk under it that binds it to the patch on that side. Any suggestions as to this procedure?
The technician from Safelight said today that although he cannot help me with the crack, that should be enough for my insurance company to satisfy the fact that I have taken all the measures that I can to rectify the situation. I asked him if he could at least put some of that gel they use to fill cracks and chips over the cracks, but he said that would just be superficial. I have a repair kit with the gel in it, and I am wondering if I should try putting the gel over the cracks myself?
Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated. And thanks in advance. We head home in a few days and I am wondering how safe that windshield is, especially if that cracks any more than it already is. As far as we know, those cracks could have been in that windshield back in January 2020 when we purchased it in Tacoma. Now, it has 15K on it, and when we purchased it, it had 2,500 miles on it.
Again, thanks for your help and any suggestions you may have. Tomorrow, I’ll attempt to fix the leak.
