Horizontal windows leaking

My wife and I heard they were discontinuing the MPG and bought an MPG 181 in November from a dealer 350 miles away. When we got it home we soon noticed that the horizontal window over the dinette was collecting water and dripping down the walls and into the storage compartments below the seats. The closest dealer of MPG's (that we know and trust) is 65 miles away. They discovered the window was installed upside down and the glass wasn't tight against the metal frame. It was replaced by a new window, but still, a tiny bit of water trickles down when it rains. Today after a really heavy rain I discovered that the other horizontal window over the bed was collecting water in the metal trough. I'm not looking foward to the 350 mile drive back to IN to see if they can fix both windows. Maybe a free ADCO cover?? Anyone else had leaky window? If so, did caulk alone fix anything? Thanks!

Hi Smokieshiker,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed.

You might do some checking to make sure the window drains in the bottom are open and not plugged with dirt or caulking. Also if you would contact Heartland yourself and have a local repair shop you trust, they might just give you permission to have it repaired locally.

Enjoy the forum.

Jim M

The horizontal window in the back of my 185 leaked as well. A little caulking and its been 2 years drip free!

Thanks- I'll try some caulking on the window over the bed.

We just had ours fixed ! I guess they used caulking as well! Someone not paying attention to how they are installing their windows!

We took our MPG 181 out for a two day trip to Yosemite this past week and when we arrived at our campground, we too found that the rear horizontal window over the dinette had been leaking. The cushions were wet, but I could not nail down where the water was exactly coming from. I looked around the inside of the window and could find NO moisture, but there was evidence of water running down the inside wall. I looked outside at the window and found a 3/8" gap in the weather stripping around the glass. I just happened to have some soft putty type adhesive with me, so I used some of that to fill the gap. Perhaps I will have to order up a new window or seal, but for now, I hope that I have the problem fixed. The front window did not appear to have any problems because the seal is well seated and no gaps.

Smokieshiker, I'd start by calling the factory customer service people and explain the problem to them. Your best bet might really be going to the factory to have it fixed properly, even if it is quite a trip. While you are there maybe you can get a tour. That's well worth it!

We've had our 181 for over a year, and haven't had any major problems with it. When we were at the National Rally last summer we did have a leak in the propane hose, and it was promptly fixed. I suspect that the factory would really like to see the problem and have the opportunity to make it right. They will probably want to give your trailer a good inspection, too, just to make sure that there aren't any other issues hiding.

After a couple days of rain, I decided to go over and check on my MPG 181 this afternoon. I found a puddle of water on the inside lip of the rear window. Not sure where this water is coming in from, but I suspect the outer seal that surrounds the window. Mine has a 3/8" gap in the seal and currently have it filled with a temporary filler. I spoke with the dealer this afternoon also and they suggested silocone sealer around the entire window. They also said that they could replace the seal, but DO NOT have one currently on hand. As soon as this rain decides to stop for awhile, I will wait until the seal has a chance to dry out and then seal it with silocone.

I bought some silicone sealer and attempted to seal up the rear horizontal window, but the 3/8" gap in the seal is still not to my liking. So, I am taking the trailer to dealer today and see if they will replace the rear window seal under warranty. Not sure how that is going to go, because I do not hold much trust for the dealer's service department. But, I will let you know how that goes.

Update: I decided to take my MPG 181 into the dealer to let them fix the rear window. The service rep and I both learned something about the rear window and the rubber seal that goes around the window. The window itself is held in with some type of adhesive and the rubber seal is just to fill the gap between the metal frame and the window. It has no other function besides filling the gap. It does not prevent water from coming into the coach. The real source of the water leak is from a possible gap in the adhesive used to bond the window to the frame. So, the window has to come out, new adhesive put on the frame and put the window back in. Luckily, there is an RV parts store right across the street from the dealer and the guys in there really know their stuff. My trust with the dealer's service department is still up in the air, but I will see if it is better or worse after I get my trailer back (with NO leaks). Hopefully they will test it before calling me to come pick it up.

There is a test that some dealers can do to test rigs for leaks. It's called the Sealtech test. I just had my rig tested and no leaks were found.

http://www.rvleaks.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8JMPhBPuEo

Thanks all, for your suggestions. Now that I've taken my 181 out on a few trips, oddly, I've discovered that the leaking seems (quite possibly) related to leveling in my driveway. We have a deteriorating asphalt driveway on a slope with some bumps and patches of grass in some spots where the trailer is parked, and each time I've leveled it a little differently, especially with regards to how many lynx levelers I use under one wheel. Of course I'm using a leveler, but I get slightly different measurements at different ends of the trailer. So I noticed more leaking (esp with the window over the bed) when I was using a higher stack of levelers under the one wheel. Since I last parked the trailer, I'm seeing no leaking (so far). This still seems odd to me, since trailers should be waterproof regardless of slight variance in leveling (I would think)!