Big oil leak in the walk in closet in 2001 coach - Luxury Coach Lifestyles
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Old 03-05-2012, 02:20 AM   #1
leskorcala@hotmail.com
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Default Big oil leak in the walk in closet in 2001 coach

Well, I am one the most active guys on this forum in last few weeks!

I was vacuming today and last week inside checking for any water leaks in teh bays area and other spots! I noticed in the walk-in clostet in teh corner dark brown stain, first I tought it was one of our dog , sometimes they chew hard bones & swallow , than next day the vomet out! well i cleaned and it came off with no problem, week later same spot same stain! no dogs since its stored!

So, today I pulled entire floor carpet cover and was amazed to see the floor 60% of it soaked in oil!! OHM first tink I am thinking how much problems we will have and what next! we just spened 30.000$ on new roof rebuld from the icestorm we had huge pine tree fall and crash on our home!

So, looks like this coach is going to the mechanic for check up and reapir!


I looked in the engine compartement and did not find any oil , all dry in there, dip stick is shoing somhow right in the center of F & L

Under the coach perfectly dry asphalt !

It was dark , so I have to crawl under and see everything at day light!



Our 2001 Newell has Detroit 60 engine


Best,

Les korcala

Newell 2001 2 slide # 582
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Old 03-05-2012, 04:01 AM   #2
Barry Rooker
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First off, any oil that's been in the engine is coal black. Then there's hydraulic fluid for the engine fan & the steering, it's red. There's also the HWH slideout fluid, a typical oil look. Transmission fluid is also red. The hydraulic fluid resevoir is just under your closet floor. The engine's crankcase breather is just under the floor. Some engine coolant is above your floor in the radiator's expansion tank, the tank with the pressure cap. Red coolant usually. And on general principles, I like you having a perfectly dry floor under your coach. Tell us more about that oil stain please.
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Old 03-05-2012, 11:36 AM   #3
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Les,
More info on the spot would be helpful. You start out saying you were able to clean it up with no problem, but you don't say how you cleaned it. Black diesel oil is almost impossible to clean out of a fabric. You say the underneath was 60% soaked in oil--verify you are speaking of a wetness from the oil. Like Barry said the color is very important as is the smell. Coolant will feel oily on a fabric or carpet, but smells different than oil.

Common to diesel pushers is a black dust collecting in corners and wall creases that is caused by the engine area not being tightly sealed from the house area.
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Old 03-05-2012, 05:11 PM   #4
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thank you for quick respond, I will go back to my coach today and look closer on all at all teh areas where and what color teh oil is, I will check teh hudraulic level reserivoir just in case! We did have big problem with teh front slide while at Newell picking up our coach , front slide's frame pinched one of teh fluid houses and bursted inside our coach with oil sprying all over! but all happen in front part of teh coach ( right behaind the driver's seat )so that should have nothing to do with the mess in the back.

For the corner carpet's stain I just used good quality spot remover and worked each time ! As Steve said it would be impassible to remove the engine oil from light color carpet. I did panic when I saw all teh stains and sis not look for color of it but looked drk brown to my old eyes! It rainy today all day and I still might try to get under and see with good flash light for any leaks! Also the floor has 2'x2' entry to the top of the engine , so perhaps I might remove that part of teh floor and look right under! now looking closer on to corpet's corner where you can see teh stain , its more like rusty,warmer brown, on redish side! cant not smell it becouse it was aturated with the carpet cleaner! well I better go and check it all out ,

Will try to attach some photos.

more later
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Old 03-05-2012, 06:19 PM   #5
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Les,
You need to be more specific as to what your problem is. If you have a dark dirty staining showing up in the edges and corners of a rear closet it is probably just engine dust that is infiltrating your house area and can be controlled. The fix is to better seal the engine area from the house. Vacuum the stains & treat with a quality stain remover.

If you have dripping oil the way to stop it is much different. You must first determine the type of oil so you can look in appropriate places for the leak. Cleaning it up won't help until you stop the leak.

I'm still not sure which one best describes your problem.
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Old 03-06-2012, 12:18 AM   #6
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Okay , so we went back to the coach with my wife to see and work together to find out and get idea what is the problem with that leak!
I think we can sleep better! since we both agreed that its not the oil leak!

We checked the hyraulic slide's dip stick and is right at normal level, checked the egine oils same situation.

What we see on that plywood floor is in both far corners , both of them are wet in about 10" round surface area! ( the most effected and most wet areas )

The wood was wet for long time I think since it swelled and when you push on it it bubbles up and liquid shows up like sponge! looking at your finger it gets cover with clear non smell water! you can clean it of you finger! no smell of any kind!

Now for some reason the outline of the playwood floor was painted black ( about 2-3" strip of it ) the water over the time would absorb in the wood and also in the paint and discolored entire wood to brownish color, since carpet is yellowish it turned to orusty brown! and that what made me think that we have huge oil leak somwhere!

I started engine and had my wife to see if there was any oil showing on teh floor , but nothing! we looked at the right side of the engine where the oil dip sticks are and checked all the areas very well for any wet or wet spots, nothing! the overhead of the engine it has cover with nice vinyl pyllow type dampping and both sections are perfectly dry! I checked directly in the back part of the engine ( main latch ) and again all dry!

From the rediator area you can not see anything since its very sealed there!

Now, we have to figure out where is the water coming from? first I tought well,, wheels are right even on the same side as the spots, but I was wrong they are more lined up with rear B- droom windows ( in front of the walk in closet )

Somehow we hve some sort of water build up or huge condensation there! I noticed gray mold build up in two small places where the water saturated wood.

Set the floor heater closed the door in the clostet and will try to dry the wood first! I google the net and best way to clean the oils or other stains is to use 4 parts of bleach to one part of water , also some other way to do it!

After all dry out I will keep the carpet off and watch it see what is going on! if everything goes away, I would put some good quality deck wood protector and seal it well!

Again the color stain on the carpet made me thinking of some type of oil but having mold,black paint,water and yellow carpet it wood surly made to the rusty brown color!
If that stain never showed up , we would never see what was going on under, so scary ! could not tell anything becouse you could not see it or smell it!

BTW: I was trying to lift off that 2x2 feet latch right in the center of the floor but with out any succes, did not want to force it to much!

Best,
Les
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Old 03-06-2012, 12:32 AM   #7
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Les,
I'm glad you don't have an oil leak. While water leaks are not fun to deal with they certainly clean up much easier. You might want to check where the rear cap seals on the roof. Another common leak area is the clearance lights.

Good luck..........................
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Old 03-07-2012, 03:56 AM   #8
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Thanks Steve, I will check both areas for any leak! living in Northwest we deal with huge amounts of rain falls all the time!

I will use sender and sand the whole surface of the playwood and than seal it well! we just live it with out the carpet for some time and let it breathe and watch for any leaks!

Best,

Les
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Old 03-07-2012, 11:03 AM   #9
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Les,
Here is an option to consider. Check out this web site http://www.rvleaks.com/index.htm

There are several dealers in your area that use this technology to find water leaks in rvs. I have never used it, but have spoken to people who have said it is well worth the price. Those pesky water leaks can be hard to find and this company's process identifies exactly what's leaking--no guessing.

Hope this helps......................
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Old 03-07-2012, 02:50 PM   #10
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Check out this product: http://www.rotdoctor.com/products/cpes.html
I used it when I replaced the plywood subfloor in my bathroom. I should never have to repair the floor after putting 2 coats of this.
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Old 03-07-2012, 03:26 PM   #11
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The product that Forest used is an Epoxy that has been thinned out to a watery consistency and there are many of them out there. You should be carefull if you use one of these because the wood (or what is left of it) should be clean and not oil soaked because the Epoxy cannot soak into the wood. If it is wet then the Epoxy will not cure properly.

If this is a Freshwater Leak you could use a Food Coloring---not yellow for obvious reasons---to help find the leak.
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Old 03-07-2012, 03:39 PM   #12
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Here is the Epoxy that I have been using for 25 + years;
http://www.westsystem.com/ss/


This is the standard for boats and yachts. The System uses the Epoxy with different hardeners for different temperatures. You can thin it out to make it a penetrating type. There are numerous fillers for coating, adhesive and fairing applications. I have used the fillers with Polyester and Vinylester Resins as well.
I am using the Epoxy to repair some Windows at my rental. I have used it with the Cotton Fibers to "glue" the Joints or thinned it out with Denatured Alcohol to penetrate where there is a small area of Rot and the Micro Balloons to Fair the Frame when I simply removed the bad wood.
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Old 03-08-2012, 03:52 PM   #13
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I echo Steve Bare's remark about the clearance lights. We've had significant leakage at several clearance lights in the front. I was surprised to find that the fiberglas caps on the front & back of the Newell have no waterproof pocket for the clearance lights. As a result anytime a clearance light bulb is changed the lense must be re-siliconed to keep water out of the inside of your coach! Then there are the seams between the caps & the aluminum skin. A small leak there can bring in more water than you'd think. Clear silicone to the rescue. NBD.
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Old 03-12-2012, 05:29 PM   #14
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Default Back to my leaking Newell

YThank all you guys for great sugestions on using epoxy , it was my next step to sela the wood floor well with some kind of Yacht/Boat Quality sealer!

What I did , I went to the coach and used my orbital power sender and took several layers of bad wood! I have used floor heater ( its mounted in perfect low spot ) & used fan to move around hot air, its drying very nice!

I noticed that one corner is quite bad since I could just peal the wood with my finger nail , it was so soft!

I looked around for more wet spots and I found one down deep uner the Fuse Panel right where the main power cables come of the box , tere is empty space there where they go right in to flooring etc, that spot is quite wet! placed there clip on type smal fan to move some air.


It looks to me like the water is coming off the roof area down the walls.
Went back on the roof on the dry day and put down more tape ( I used that fancy tape they advertize all over the net ) forgot the name now! I know is not nice looking , but again it's working! & i dont care what is my roof looks like as long as all is sealed well!

I covered entire roof month agao and missed teh very last part of the roof ) the very rear area where the two skins meet ( the rear and teh long top section) theer are about 60-80 rivets spaced about 2" apart and sealer was very poorly put on ! in some spot not at all! so, I just ran long one strip of 3" wide tape and should work well!

Another spots I am worring now since somone mentioned light , is the yellow lights run on teh sides and rear above teh rear camera! perhaps water can penetrate right trough the brackets and get in teo the coach!


Month ago we found two small water laeks in our coach , one was right in front of the fridge in teh roof area ! water would fill in the one of teh hallogen small lights, I twisted and ope the galss cover and bunch of water came out! second spot was around teh log front slide area .

After seeing all this instead using silicone , I bought 50feet of thsi 3inch tape and just taped the wholw roof, No more leaks ! accept for the last one , but again I did not finish the rear of the roof case we had 4 weeks of rainand just no dry day to work.

I am hoping we have found the last leak and hopfully will all dry out with time, Plywood or any wood top layers allways will dry fast but down deeper could take weeks or months! will keep the carpet off, heater one and watch and go fromt there & hopfully seal all with good sealant.

Thanks again for all of yours respond , this forum is amazing ! so much great wealth of information!

We love our coach and cant wait to live in it! just 3 months left!


Les & Cheryl Korcala

Newell 2001
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Old 03-12-2012, 05:48 PM   #15
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Les,
Are you using EternaBond tape?

I wonder why you had the one area with all the rivets. My roof is not like that. Maybe the previous owner was trying to stop a leak?

Glad you're making progress............................
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Old 03-19-2012, 04:54 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rheavn View Post
Les,
Are you using EternaBond tape?

I wonder why you had the one area with all the rivets. My roof is not like that. Maybe the previous owner was trying to stop a leak?

Glad you're making progress............................
Hello , Yes its it EternaBond , so far is working very well!

The coach was build this way! with rivets running on each sides of the top of the roof , about 6-10" in spacing , as well as the front top and rear has rivets running from side to side every 2' or so, many rivets ! Original owner never steped on the roof before ( I talk with hime ) he also lived in dry terrain with out any rain! so thsi is brand new situation to this coach.

Still drying all the wood and still very wet after haet/fan usint for some 2 weeks on!

Les
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Old 03-30-2012, 08:22 PM   #17
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do you guys have the 2" or 4" wide eternabond tape? i am going to pick some up and wondering what you all have found to be the most useful?

tom
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Old 04-04-2012, 03:08 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by encantotom View Post
do you guys have the 2" or 4" wide eternabond tape? i am going to pick some up and wondering what you all have found to be the most useful?

tom
Hello Tom,

For the roof work I found that 3 " wide 50 fees spool was about right to cover entire roof and vend & AC units area!

For the single rivets spaced about 12" apart along the to sides of the roof I used small 3x3" patches , i found that after seperating the clear backing i would stick one end to the roof and smooth is with me had , than use utility knife or razer bald eto be perfect tool for the job! sicissors were the worst tool to use it ( blades got gulk up with the glue from the tape ) do not use it , it will work for few cuts only!

For the front top and rear top where the rivets run about 2-4" apart ( may of them ) they are holding in place the top shell of the roof , I used long 8foot + tape , it worked very well for me !

So far no leaks ! the only one thing ahppen over the weekend on the trip to Albany OR. where they had 4 straight days of pouring rain, before puling the slides back, I usesd ladder and climbed and used long broom and pushed all the water from top of the slides , than i went back and pulled slides back, while doing the rear one , I heard the sound of rushing water from teh top of the slide trough the celling right down to the bad and front happened same time all over my lap top computer and drives 1 what a mess that was !!! somehow the water still was trapped againt the seal and whe the seal got defeated and slide pulled back in water ran inside the coach!

Was wonder if perhaps dumpping some more air from the slide side would cure the problem! Its first time thsi happened to me 1 So far we love our coach 1 it drives like dream!!

IBTW Eternabond Ebay sells 50' for around 50-70$ have not found any better prices, sorry for my bad english Tom. I hope this help.
Best,

Les
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