Water in belly - Montana Owners Club

bikefever · 09-11-2012, 01:41 PM

I have noticed sometimes water drains from the rear of our 2009 model 3455 from the belly pan during the initial moving the RV. No leak when not moving. However, Today I went under the RV in front of axles and pushed up on the belly pan to have water drain out from any opening. There was plenty of water. does not appear to be from black or grey water tanks. Wate was clean and had no smell. IHas anyone experienced this? Possible leaks are from: rain water leaking and collecting in the belly; sink or shower drain pipe has a small crack ; water vent line leak; or ??

c214dick · 09-11-2012, 01:45 PM

How about your frsh water tank?

mhs4771 · 09-11-2012, 01:48 PM

Have you traveled recently in the Rain?? I have noticed this problem before, but only have travel in a good rain.

Bill-N-Donna · 09-11-2012, 01:58 PM

I suspect its water from your galley tank. If it gets full I’ve been told it can leak out into the underbelly through some of the fittings. We had this happen to our first Montana when we first got it. I started leaving the Galley and the grey tanks open and didn’t have any more trouble.

The galley tank valve seems to hide from a lot of people and they don’t even know about it. On some models it’s located in between the wheels. On other models it’s near the back of the camper under the slide.

There are opposing opinions on leaving the galley/grey tanks open.

pineranch · 09-11-2012, 02:00 PM

The first time we traveled in rain and parked for the night, I noticed water dripping at the break behind the steps. Of course I pulled the paneling down and looked for leaks and soon realized what the cause was and the only leak under the RV was me. Monty-1 Owner-0
Mike

**Carl n Susan** · 09-11-2012, 03:55 PM

I would put my money on a leaking black tank flush check valve. There have been lots of posts on those puppies. Do a "Search" and read all about them.

bighornram · 09-11-2012, 04:43 PM

I had this happen to me. After a 4 night stay, I dumped all tanks. Noticed the belly behind the axles sagging. When I pushed on it was noticeably full of water. When i moved the rig out of the spot out came all the water. Like a flood all over the road. Shot video. At this point it didn't seem that I would be hauling the water in the belly as it appeared to all be out. Took it into the dealer, was still on warranty. They kept it over night and called me and said they could find no sign of a leak and for that matter no sign that there had been a leak. WTF!!!! I had video of water running out of this thing drenching the whole roadway!! I went to pickup the rig and took the laptop with the video ready to show them. Service manager had no interest in watching it and was only concerned with the fact they found no leak and how to cover the 3 hours of shoptime spent looking for a leak. The tech who worked on it came over and was interested in the video. He was totally shocked. To this day it hasn't happed again. Video is on file with Keystone but is still a mystery. I had not driven in rain.

maximo · 09-11-2012, 05:00 PM

Last fall I had a heavy water drip from the bottom right side front of the RV right between the basement and the propane tank. The galley tank showed full and after I draind it the leak stopped. RV was still under waranty and when the dealer check for the leak they found where the galley pvc pipe went into the holding tank it was just stuck in the tank and not glued. Another factory screw up.

Frank

Ozz · 09-12-2012, 02:16 AM

My money is also the galley tank, probably a cracked outlet connection. To test, leave the galley valve open for a week, check for leaks.. shut the valve until the tank is full, then check for a leak under there. If so, get the tank repair kit and 2 band-aid rubber couplers and do the fix.

PatnRich · 09-12-2012, 02:47 AM

I had a similar situation and it was the fitting going into the gray tank...it would leak when the tank was full.

ols1932 · 09-12-2012, 09:48 AM

A few years back we experienced the same thing. Two RV repair shops inspected the gray water tank and said it wasn't leaking. One of the shops, $200 later said it was the outlet valve. Replaced the valve and the next time the tank was nearly full we had gray water in the belly of the beast. Finally took it to our dealer who diagnosed the problem without even looking at it. It seems that the tanks can crack right near the flange at the top of the tank. To the naked eye, the crack is almost impossible to be seen, unless you know what you're looking for. The only way it can be proved is by actually filling the tank with water. When full, the crack allows the water to seep out.

Orv

bikefever · 09-12-2012, 05:32 PM

Thanks for responding. Here is an update. Ran further tests and was able to duplicate the water in belly issue while laying on my back under the RV. We filled each grey tank until the sinks/bath stopped draining. Grey1 (shower and ath sink) had no indication of a leak when full. Grey 2 (kitchen sink) started leaking into the belly when the sink no longer drained and the tank was full. Immediately opened grey 2 drain valve and leak stopped while tank was emptying.

We are now keeping Grey 2 drain valve open at all times.

We wander if the over fill situation is a built in safety issue. What are your thoughts?

Bill-N-Donna · 09-12-2012, 11:23 PM

I don’t know but IMO, there shouldn’t be any leaks. As I posted earlier I had the same problem. To me it doesn’t seem normal that there would be an overflow at that location. My thinking is if it backs up it should come out a vent somewhere. I’m not sure of the size of the galley tank but I think they are fairly small. I’m thinking around 5 gals or so. I know in the past they seemed to fill up kind of fast.

ols1932 · 09-12-2012, 11:33 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Bill-N-Donna

I don’t know but IMO, there shouldn’t be any leaks. As I posted earlier I had the same problem. To me it doesn’t seem normal that there would be an overflow at that location. My thinking is if it backs up it should come out a vent somewhere. I’m not sure of the size of the galley tank but I think they are fairly small. I’m thinking around 5 gals or so. I know in the past they seemed to fill up kind of fast.

Our galley tank is the same size as the grey water tank -- 38 gallons.

Orv

HamRad · 09-13-2012, 01:10 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by bikefever

Thanks for responding. Here is an update. Ran further tests and was able to duplicate the water in belly issue while laying on my back under the RV. We filled each grey tank until the sinks/bath stopped draining. Grey1 (shower and ath sink) had no indication of a leak when full. Grey 2 (kitchen sink) started leaking into the belly when the sink no longer drained and the tank was full. Immediately opened grey 2 drain valve and leak stopped while tank was emptying.

We are now keeping Grey 2 drain valve open at all times.

We wander if the over fill situation is a built in safety issue. What are your thoughts?

Bikefever,
I'm sure Keystone would like for us to think that the leak is a built in safety feature but sadly ---- NO! The leak is not a built in safety feature. It is a defective tank or connector or inadequate support structure supporting the tank and drain pipes. Water should not leak from any tank! The only places water should show up is safely in the tank or backing up in the tub/shower or sinks and lastly water should come out the top of the vent pipe! But it never should leak at the tank and or connector pipes. At least that is what I've been told by plumber folks. Good luck. HamRad

Ozz · 09-13-2012, 02:44 AM

Here is my slide-show on the tank and repair:
https://picasaweb.google.com/Jimsue13/20120113HoldingTankRepairs?authuser=0&feat=directl ink

Bill-N-Donna · 09-14-2012, 02:52 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Ozz

Here is my slide-show on the tank and repair:
https://picasaweb.google.com/Jimsue13/20120113HoldingTankRepairs?authuser=0&feat=directl ink

Oz, is that holding up ok? I tried to repair a tank once and it just didn’t work; of course it didn’t look quite as good as what you did to yours.

Ozz · 09-14-2012, 03:14 PM

The key to sucess is the rubber couplings (strain relief) after the repair. When you patch the tank, and take the flexing and binding out of the mix, it will hold.

catskiner · 09-14-2012, 04:09 PM

I am pretty sure its illegal to spill grey water onto the ground most places.

stiles watson · 09-14-2012, 04:16 PM

After two years of trying to get dealer to find a leak I knew I had, a mobile service guy came to the park I was in and found that I had a leak at the seam of the galley tank and on the black water tank. He put in two new tanks and the leaks stopped. At the same time, he put three new dump valves in also. It was paid by the extended warranty less the deductible.

If you have a recurring intermittent belly full of water, my money is on a cracked seam. If you get water running out the bottom on a consistent basis, you got a leak in the water piping system.

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