Trident roof leak

Hi all,
We've had a Trident Hightop for 3 years or so and it's been great for festivals and holidays.
Last year we noticed that the carpet near the fridge was getting damp. At first we thought it was the fridge leaking but I think I've ruled that out as the damp get worse when it rains and over the winter with the fridge empty/not running the carpet was wet.

I'm assuming it's getting in from the gutter that covers the join between the hightop and the van body but can't see where.

The van went for it's MOT today and we asked the garage if they could have a look for the leak at the same time but they didn't feel qualified to start removing cupboards etc.

Does anyone have any suggestions of how I can go about diagnosing the problem and fixing it? Is this something that anyone else has encountered?

Thanks!!

Leaks between van and high top are relatively rare - leaks around windows are not on high top vans of that age. Are you sure there are no signs of leakage around yours? Water often tracks down the back of headlining/trim panels so may not be directly visible...

Thanks mojo. I'll have a look at the windows again when I get home from work.

You say that leaks between the high top and the van are relatively rare. I want to rule that out. I want to take off the plastic/rubber strip that covers the high top/van join on the offside so that I can expose the join and check it. Is this easy to take off and put back on?

Thanks

It seems to vary a lot from model to model and by year. On my last hightop (on a Flair) it was almost trivial as there were screws holding it on, with bonded-on stainless steel brackets, but IIRC on the VWs the strip is often bonded directly over the joint.

I personally would want a very good reason (i.e. evidence of the source of the leak from inside) before disturbing that join... Even if you do expose it on the outside, I'm not sure that you will ~see~ any clear conclusive proof as to whether it is leaking or not. You generally only see that from the inside.

Hi.   



Like mojo I’d suggest leaving the gutters until you are sure that is where the problem is (it probably isn't).

I suspect that removing the gutters will be a fairly major operation. When I got my van there was some tidying up to do and I was going to remove the gutters to clean and rustproof behind them. I soon discovered that they were screwed, fibreglassed and sealed.  I decided to leave them as they were.

There is a really good post by DaveSedge that shows how difficult it is to remove gutters on a Trouper. I doubt that the Trident will be much different.

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Brod.

Thanks folks. Brodco - that post was really helpful - I definitely don't want to start taking those gutters off!!! 
It's a different model but the gutter looks identical. 
This weekend I will start looking more carefully at the inside to see where the leak might be coming from.

Really glad I joined the forum now    

Probably coming through the top fridge vent, take the cover off then unscrew the vent and reseal with good quality mastic, might as well do both vents, but that,s were it usually comes in

Hi Wilbo, I have just collected my Trident from a bodywork repair this afternoon.  Mine was suffering from damp carpet just infront of the fridge, particularly when it was laid up during the winter. I eventually traced this to corrosion around the windscreen allowing water to run down the 'A' pillar emerging near to the driver's side interior wheelarch (near the accelerator pedal), and then somehow under the cab carpet to the carpet about 6" infront of the fridge. This has been reported before on the forum with damp patches seemingly commonplace around the fridge.
Fortunately, mine wasn't too badly corroded but still needed the windscreen to be removed, corrosion ground back and made good and the windscreen sealed in correctly.  The biggest problem area seems to be between the high top and the windscreen where there is ample opportunity for water to get trapped and cause corrosion unseen under the thick Autosleeper rubber seal and black mastic. One of the causes could also be an improper windscreen replacement where the fitter takes chunks out of the windscreen surround promoting rust, or fails to seal off the whole screen allowing water ingress.
Regards, Mark

Thanks for your comments folks. I taped over the fridge grilles during the week - no dampness after rain.
So I've just taken off both fridge grills & the mastic on 1 side of the bottom 1 seems to be the problem -it wasn't well attached & there's surface rust on the bodywork. I hope this is the problem.

What sort of mastic product can I use to reseal it? We are using the van next week so need something I can get from b&q or Halfords rather than mail order.

Thanks!

The best sealant will be one for boats, but any good one from B+Q or Halfords will do the job, get the rust off and treat with rust killer from Halfords, make sure you do both vents the sealant on the top vent may have gone as well but may not show any signs 
 Regards, Mac