front roof seal leak?

[Argyle]

Hi all,

Newish to the forum - new to the world of Californias, but having fun on here and on the road! Thanks for all the tips and contributions - the forum is great!

I have an 18month old ocean and have noticed some evidence of dirt (and water i guess) getting in around the front roof seal - its just by the bend in the front panel (on both sides) and, as you can see from the pic there is some dirt getting in and some of the protective clear sticker/ seal has started to lift. No water getting into the canvas as far as i can tell, but wondered if this level of stuff getting in is normal? Would imagine any seal gonna struggle into 70mph winds, but it doesn't look quite right to me. Any thoughts? I have a bungee and am always careful when closing.

Just after a bit of advice before I head to the dealer for a warranty fix on something else (i'm going anyway - but be great to have opinions on this specific issue)

[Couldn't find anything on this specifically on other threads, so apolos if i missed it.]
Thanks in advance.
A

 

[paradise city]

It looks cleaner than mine!

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

 

[westfalia]

Are you familiar with the way the roof drains at the front end?

If not then have a search on this site -roof drains- there is loads of stuff
about them, they easily get blocked up.

I make sure mine are always clear and as an extra i always wax that painted
area under the roof, whether it helps or not i don't know but i like to keep
it all clean.

 

[Eber123]

Good evening,

Couldn't this be from the last time the roof was up?

Mine looks a wee bit like this if the roof was up over night(s). As part of the regular cleaning intervals I lift up the roof a wee bit and clean the edge and the rubber. There could be all sorts in there (leaves, dirt, wet, etc.).

Happy California.
Eberhard

 

[Hotel California]

The roof seal can never be 100% waterproof looking at the point where the awning brackets are.
Sand , dirt, ... gets in the roof channel when the roof is up while camping .
As said above , check you drains frequent and clean the channels when cleaning the Cali . I put my roof up almost every time i cleaned my Cali and do a check looking in the channels from up a step.

It could be yours has a issue , maybe you need to check things out and do water test
When you have driven in rain , raise the roof and see if there's water , thats where to start.

 

[Meoncoast]

Looks worse due to being a white van.

 

[TripleBee]

This is ok.
Mine does it too. The water gets away through the water outlets anyway (if not blocked).

And it looks like the paint protection sticker is not glued that well, as the dirt is already over halfway under the sticker?
Was that glued by the recall or factory fitted?

 

[Hotel California]

@TripleBee , it's a T6 so no roof recall (yet ) and they started adding that sticker from the T6 on just in case.

 

[TripleBee]

@TripleBee , it's a T6 so no roof recall (yet ) and they started adding that sticker from the T6 on just in case.

Yes, they started adding that tape on the T6, but only from late 2019, when the recall was released.

 

[Jabberwocky]

I have a feeling that most Cali's if not all have this "leak path" and if left dirty will accumulate dust, grit and sand and eventually block the corner drains.
Personally I consider this area to be part of my normal cleaning ritual. Keep it nice and clean and it is much less likely that your corner drains will be become blocked.
P.S. The amount of accumulation I see in your photo makes me think this area has never been cleaned since new.

 

[KGCali]

Water is meant to drain under the front inner rubber seal, there is a slight gap under it at the lower bend so water can pass under it and through to the drain holes in the front and rear grommet in each corner of the roof. Both the gap under the rubber and the drain holes should kept clear. Plenty of posts on here on how to clean the drain holes.

 

[Argyle]

thanks for comments and advice all. I'm gonna ask about the sticker and hopefully get them to replace. No idea if factory fitted or dealer - only had the van a couple of months! other than that i had best get cleaning (not a normal practice for me!)

 

[Perfectos]

The sticker was introduced on the T6, my 2018 reg has this from factory, so they would having been fitting from 2017 during manufacturing

 

[WelshGas]

The sticker was introduced on the T6, my 2018 reg has this from factory, so they would having been fitting from 2017 during manufacturing

I think it was My 2018 it was first fitted to, so from July 2017 onwards.