Water between the front seats and the fix!

[Tim the Terrible]

I own a 2009 California ocean, but this fix should work with newer and older vans.

As the title suggests, I’ve suffered from a leaking California for the past three months. The early signs were severe condensation and a musty smell. About a month later, after we had two bad storms a wet patch appeared between the front seats. This was puzzling because the footwells and the rear of the van were completely dry. Also the van hadn’t been driven in wet conditions for months.

I spent many hours trawling these forums trying everything suggested and weeks searching for the source of the leak without success. As a last resort I decided to take my van to a motorhome/caravan serrvice centre and have them look at it. But before booking it in I remembered having the front passenger side wishbone replaced, 2 or three weeks before I noticed the condensation. It didn’t seem conceivable that work done on the suspension would cause a leak, but I decided to investigate. There’s a video on Youtube showing how to remove and replace the coil springs and wishbone. That’s how I found the source of the leak!

The rubber seal that runs across the the engine compartment, just below the wipers hadn’t been seated correctly by the mechanic. It’s not immediately visible, but on close inspection the rubber seal hadn’t been pressed down above the seam in the on the bulkhead. It was sloppy work by the garage, which I’m sadly getting used to.

The van is now water tight and drying out with a de-humidifier. While all this was going on, the passenger airbag error light came on, probably due to water ingress.

You can see in the photos theres a gap in the seam where water draining off the windscreen entered the vehicle.

I hope this is useful for other owners.

 

[66tim99]

I own a 2009 California ocean, but this fix should work with newer and older vans.

As the title suggests, I’ve suffered from a leaking California for the past three months. The early signs were severe condensation and a musty smell. About a month later, after we had two bad storms a wet patch appeared between the front seats. This was puzzling because the footwells and the rear of the van were completely dry. Also the van hadn’t been driven in wet conditions for months.

I spent many hours trawling these forums trying everything suggested and weeks searching for the source of the leak without success. As a last resort I decided to take my van to a motorhome/caravan serrvice centre and have them look at it. But before booking it in I remembered having the front passenger side wishbone replaced, 2 or three weeks before I noticed the condensation. It didn’t seem conceivable that work done on the suspension would cause a leak, but I decided to investigate. There’s a video on Youtube showing how to remove and replace the coil springs and wishbone. That’s how I found the source of the leak!

The rubber seal that runs across the the engine compartment, just below the wipers hadn’t been seated correctly by the mechanic. It’s not immediately visible, but on close inspection the rubber seal hadn’t been pressed down above the seam in the on the bulkhead. It was sloppy work by the garage, which I’m sadly getting used to.

The van is now water tight and drying out with a de-humidifier. While all this was going on, the passenger airbag error light came on, probably due to water ingress.

You can see in the photos theres a gap in the seam where water draining off the windscreen entered the vehicle.

View attachment 90138View attachment 90139I hope this is useful for other owners.

Well done.
What did the garage have to say?

 

[ArunAlec]

I own a 2009 California ocean, but this fix should work with newer and older vans.

As the title suggests, I’ve suffered from a leaking California for the past three months. The early signs were severe condensation and a musty smell. About a month later, after we had two bad storms a wet patch appeared between the front seats. This was puzzling because the footwells and the rear of the van were completely dry. Also the van hadn’t been driven in wet conditions for months.

I spent many hours trawling these forums trying everything suggested and weeks searching for the source of the leak without success. As a last resort I decided to take my van to a motorhome/caravan serrvice centre and have them look at it. But before booking it in I remembered having the front passenger side wishbone replaced, 2 or three weeks before I noticed the condensation. It didn’t seem conceivable that work done on the suspension would cause a leak, but I decided to investigate. There’s a video on Youtube showing how to remove and replace the coil springs and wishbone. That’s how I found the source of the leak!

The rubber seal that runs across the the engine compartment, just below the wipers hadn’t been seated correctly by the mechanic. It’s not immediately visible, but on close inspection the rubber seal hadn’t been pressed down above the seam in the on the bulkhead. It was sloppy work by the garage, which I’m sadly getting used to.

The van is now water tight and drying out with a de-humidifier. While all this was going on, the passenger airbag error light came on, probably due to water ingress.

You can see in the photos theres a gap in the seam where water draining off the windscreen entered the vehicle.

View attachment 90138View attachment 90139I hope this is useful for other owners.

Glad you have sorted the leak but I don’t think the gap you identified would be the source (happy to be corrected!).
That gap is just where the black access panel (allows access to top of suspension struts and to clear crud from the drains) and the bodywork overlap. This is mine..