Help! Roof leak on the van I just bought.

[Professor Sean]

Hello all,

I'm hoping someone here has some insights to share.

I just bought a 2002 E350, 6.8l V10, with a SMB penthouse and Quigley 4WD. 101,000 miles. Good condition overall.

But it started raining yesterday and today I noticed that the headliner above the passenger side visor is sopping wet. But I'm not sure where the water is coming in.

There doesn't seem to be any gap between the windshield seal and the body. The street in front of my house has a substantial slope down toward the curb, and I wonder if the water is coming somewhere else and dripping along the underside of the roof to the wet spot.

Edit: I already searched the forum here and found the thread about the common problem where a leak forms at the top of the A pillar, at the very top corner of the windshield. But the wet spot on my headliner does not extend all the way to the top of the A pillar. Instead it's centered about 12-18 inches closer to the center of the van.

Here is a short video I made that shows what the wet spot and possible entry points:

https://youtu.be/XPKpN-kv6pY

Has anyone else experienced this? Any ideas or suggestions for how to proceed?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Cheers,
Sean

 

[sn0mad]

https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/forums/search.php?searchid=5478382

https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/forums/search.php?searchid=5478382

 

[doublevan2]

TwoXentrix suggested to me to place 3/8 inch foam (Amazon) in each roof trough - cut to fit the trough (edges cut to sit down into trough - to help keep rain from being pushed under PH top and then running back/forward and leaking into roof line - and also applying some clear caulk/Permatex (?) along top edge of rubber windshield gasket to stop leaks - pry away from glass carefully with plastic putty knife - and give her a squirt !

Based on your video - my "guess" is that your roof "fin" / antenna - is leaking - any and all roof mounted accessories should be removed and re-caulked asap ! If done one accessory at a time - you should be able to tell which step eliminated the problem !? DRY ALL wet fabric thoroughly of course before sealing ! Good luck !