Slide leak fix - Montana Owners Club

vickster · 08-18-2004, 08:32 AM

We had Monty back to the Warranty Doctor for slide leakage repair. Apparently the "surgery" was not totally successful, for the dinette slide still leaks in the lower right corner.

I know that several of us have had this problem and some even have had a successful fix. For those of you who have had a successful fix, would you be willing to share the name of your dealer? I would then have our dealer contact your dealer to find out first hand the corrective measures taken. Seems to me this would save time in driving back and forth to the dealer, and the dealer scratching his head. Thanks for your help.

lightningjack11 · 08-18-2004, 09:16 AM

My dealer gave me a walkthrough of a 3400 and explained how to recognize if your slide was going to leak. Unfortunately, the dealer is in dispute with Keystone. I am not sure I could recognize the problem but it has to do with the slide adjustments and seating.

I think he can still do warranty repair on Montanas. J&CRV in Port Richey. They engineered the fix for the penguin air conditioners. 1-888-331-0003.

If you come to FL, look me up.

Montana_404 · 08-23-2004, 12:03 PM

J&CRV in Port Richey was the only dealer that would work on our stuck main slide last winter when we were in Tampa, FL. Sun Coast refused said they only worked on units they sold. J&C did a good job and I just wanted to add my 2 cents. We still have a bedroom slide that leaks that our dealer in Ill could not solve. Our rear kitchen, triple slide 2004 Montana is now out of warranty. I think that the slide looks like it hangs/tilts in toward the trailer. Anybody else? Thanks, Jerry Becker

vickster · 08-23-2004, 01:39 PM

Sounds like J&C RV in Port Richey has an outstanding service department staffed with knowledgeable techs. I will ask our dealer to contact them for ideas on how to repair slide leaks.

Jerry: Had hubby go up on the roof of Monty tonight (before I would feed him his dinner!!) with a level to check the slide-outs. All three slide-outs are pitched away from the unit.

Montana_404 · 08-25-2004, 09:48 AM

Ron and Vicki, thank you for that tip. I am sending Jerry up to the roof before supper with a level. Char

applejack · 08-25-2004, 03:54 PM

It seems like Keystone changed the slide seals for 2004. I have yet to see all of my seals fully come out when the slides are extended on my 2004 2980. My dealer is not able to fix them and is in contact with Keystone. I have wanderered around my dealers lot and noticed that all of the 2004s have the same problem. I have also noticed that the 2004s have a small gutter under the slide seals that do not extend past the slide seals, thus the water would end up inside the coach.

Bowie · 08-25-2004, 04:39 PM

Waiting to hear what your dealer does to solve the leak problem. Thus far we have been fortunate--knock on wood--no leaks. Our dealer told us that the seals needed to be "trained". Honest. We thought that sounded pretty weird but gave it a try. Every time we slide 'er out we use a long thin stick to align the seals properly. After our one month trip we notice that we have fewer and fewer reluctant seals. So maybe there was something to the advice. Still feel pretty stupid when people ask what the stick is for and and we unthinkingly reply "For training our seals."!!!! However. if those seals aren't trained before the warranty runs out we'll be talking to the dealer about them.

sreigle · 08-26-2004, 03:12 PM

If someone showed me a stick and told me it was for training their seals I'd probably wonder if they also have dogs and cats.

applejack · 09-02-2004, 02:42 AM

Slide seal update.... My dealer was unable to get all of the slide seals to unfold on the kitchen and living room slides (bedroom seals all unfold). The dealer contacted Keystone for assistance and was told that the slide seals only provide a "backup" or secondary protection thus do not necessarily need to be unfolded. I sent Keystone a email to confirm the dealer resonse and the following is the result.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

"We have just reviewed your email sent Sunday, August 29, 2004. The
answer your dealer was given is the correct answer. The outer slide
seals is there for backup and added protection. The primary seal is on the inside which keeps the water from coming out. You are the eyes and ears in the field so to speak. Your comments, both positive and negative are welcome as they will help Keystone build more practical, reliable, and user friendly products.

Thank you for your time and input,

Keystone Owner Relations"
--------------------------------------------------------------------

A word oof advise to anyone looking at purchasing a Keystone product .... DO NOT!

Northstar · 09-03-2004, 09:07 PM

Thanks for the posting. I have a feeling that most coaches have the same problem. Keep us posted. Happyrving......

8.1al · 09-05-2004, 05:05 PM

I tend to disagree with Keystone. The inside seals are just that, INSIDE. If the water gets that far you have trouble

applejack · 09-06-2004, 04:09 AM

I agree with 8.1al, the rubber slide seals that unfold are the primary protection and the inside slide seals are the secondary, however I do not know what else I can do since both the dealer and Keystone have closed the file on this one. Maybe if a lot of owners would compllain to Keystone that they may do something about it or at the least change the slide seal design back to what it was in 2003 and prior years for the new models.

Just148 · 09-07-2004, 11:48 AM

My dealer repaired my seals, the ones on the outside. The seals replaced was the side and bottom they were splick.

applejack · 09-08-2004, 01:29 AM

Just148 did the dealer replace the seals with narrower ones? Do all of your seals unfold now ?

vickster · 09-11-2004, 12:39 PM

Just148 - duh, this may be a dumb question, but what is a "splick"?? Thanks.

sgf · 09-12-2004, 08:29 AM

We were told the same about the outside seals when we took ours in for service,the bedroom slide leaked ;still does,the outside sela are secondary seals and need to be trained,we still pull them out every time.I told the dealer that was hogwash and they showed me the bulliten from keystone.Their repair was to do that and then they pushed alot of silicone caulk somewhere in the bottom and then slid the slide in, guess where all the caulk went, it must have been not cured,on our carpet,that is why they have to replace the carpet.E-mailed j&c rv , and while their service manager was helpful , they said they are no longer associated with keystone and could not give technical advice without possible legal ramifications from keystone. Basically the service guy said, good luck,it will always leak some unless keystone comes up with a better fix, apperantly this was not a happy seperation and they now advertise the sunnybrook line.

Ishler · 09-12-2004, 09:49 AM

We accidentally gave our rig the acid test last week. Forgot to retract the slides on our 3670 last week before Frances hit. 6inches of wind driven rain and no leaks at any of the slides. I don't know if the changed anything in the 2005's.

Bowie · 09-12-2004, 10:15 AM

Ishler--happy to hear that you survived the inadvertant test!! Probably the biggest one that any of us will have to deal with.

sgf--more bad news for you I guess! Good grief you have had a ton of it! If it is any consolation, per my post 8/25 we too were told to "retrain our seals" and that the problem would be solved. Sounded pretty bogus to us but believe it or not the advice is actually working! Now about actual causes of real leaks in the slides I could not say as ours have thus far remained bone dry--DV!!! Well good luck to you.

sgf · 09-12-2004, 10:57 AM

We have been trying this for awhile and the seals do seem to be coming out better, maybe this does really work, this leak is small as compared to the previous one and we are used to it, just seems every time we go out something else happens, at least the latest ones as small as compared to the earlier ones, we are convinced this unit was built on a monday or friday, but hopefully the dealer will get all fixed after the season and we can enjoy this fiver problem free for awile, i guess we got spoiled as our previous two tt's had no problems, oh well, we still love the layout and with the new a/c unit, that thing we freeze you out , which we love.

ols1932 · 09-12-2004, 04:08 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by vickster

We had Monty back to the Warranty Doctor for slide leakage repair. Apparently the "surgery" was not totally successful, for the dinette slide still leaks in the lower right corner.

I know that several of us have had this problem and some even have had a successful fix. For those of you who have had a successful fix, would you be willing to share the name of your dealer? I would then have our dealer contact your dealer to find out first hand the corrective measures taken. Seems to me this would save time in driving back and forth to the dealer, and the dealer scratching his head. Thanks for your help.

We had a similar problem that was repaired by our dealer, Ketelsen RV in Marion, IA. They used a leak detector (the unit had air pumped in through a roof vent at a low pressure) and found the leak to be at the outer edge of the roof on the slideout where the row of screws were. The leak was so bad that they had to install a new roof on it. Doesn't leak any more and hasn't for over a year. I'm sure that any reputable dealer can do the same thing. Ketelsen's RV has been my dealer for over 28 years -- I've purchased six rigs from them over that period of time. I'd be glad to give you their phone number if you so desire.

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