Quote:
Originally Posted by Rhoadzie
We had REALLY heavy rains the last week. I found a huge puddle of water in the garage of my 2015 3970 Voltage. I got it all cleaned up and dried out. Then we had heavy rains again a few days later and I found the leak coming from the bottom of the window. The point in the picture is where it is coming in from. The frame is completely dry inside the window and I can find no moisture anywhere else except where indicated.
Attachment 4946
So, Can I fix this myself? Do I have to remove the window to fix it? What type of windows do I have? are there any videos to help me with the process or any instructiions? I saw some people are using Butyl tape to replace the seal. Is that the recommended fix? Any advice would be fine.
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You can remove the window by removing the screen, the crank handle if it has one and all the screws. Have a helper on the outside in case it wants to slip out.
You may have to use a putty knife to break it loose and then remove. There may be centering spacers on the sides or bottom of the window, take a photo or remember where they are.
The gray Butyl tape works very good. It's sticky and will stick to you so you'll want to unroll a short section at a time to place it in the channel. A cool day is a good day to mess with it because it's not as likely to tear. You might want to refrigerate the roll the night before to make it easier with which to work.
When you have the window out look for the serial number of it. That way you can find a replacement if necessary.
Align the window carefully in preparation to installation. It will stick where you put it so this is important.
Put the window back in the hole with the spacers if you have them. Lightly screw it down using a cross tightening pattern. Don't go around the frame screw by screw, but instead tighten the opposite corners first and then work towards the middle tightening from side to side.
You may want to go outside and trim any ooze from the tape. Go back in and tighten the screws again. Check for the ooze and trim if necessary, a putty knife will work or a carton knife. Be careful of knife slippage so you don't cut yourself or the gel coat.
Let the window set for a day and tighten the screws again, this time you can follow the the perimeter of the frame. Outside again to trim the tape.
You can use two layers of tape but since it will be sealing a nice flat surface one layer will work. A slight overlap is needed at the butt joints to ensure a closed loop of the tape.
Now for the hard part, that's cleaning the perimeter of the window on the outside. Alcohol will work for this.
It's not that hard to do if you go slow and feed the tape in the channel so you have a good seal.