Leaky window or windows - How to reseal it? EC39

JDWWW

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I have a 1987 Searay (sea ray)39' Express Cruiser with water leaking in to the rear port side cabin. It's leaking into the the area where the air conditioning controls are located.... inside the cabinet. I believe it's coming in the cabin through the side windows. (maybe the windshield deck area but unlikely)...
Is there some way or method to determine where the leak is coming from????.... and if it is the side windows how do you reseal the window????
ALL ...suggestions, experiences and solutions are appreciated.... I'm sure I'm not the first with this problem.
Thanx in advance for your replys.
JD in RI
 
Hi JD. I will be watching this thread with much interest. We have a '90 310 Sundancer with what sounds like the same problem. The project for the weekend is to have her put on a service rack and trying to find where the water is coming in. It's just enough to make a soggy spot on the carpet.

Aleetha & Todd
 
Well last night it started raining and I decided to remove the upholstery around the side window and find the leak. After removing approx 7 screws from the upholstered piece above the window, which held the blinds, I carefully removed the side upholstery which was basically an upholstered board glued to the wooden cabinet substructure. At this point the inside of the fiberglass deck and hull is apparent and the frame that holds the window.

BINGO!!!!! The water was coming through a gap between the aluminum window frame and the fiberglass. The water was running approx 7 feet down the top of the cabinet frame to the rear of the cabinet and down to the back of the cushion area. I called a Searay dealer, Bassett Boat, parts department today to see if there was a gasket. They will check but the manager said he thought it was just sealed with silicone. (Which is what it appeared to be sealed with.) However I asked about the rubber strip that covers the srews on the outside of the frame and he thought he had some of those left and would have his man check for me.

NEXT: In the next few days when the weather looks good I plan on removing the black rubber that covers the screws, then the window frame and resealing it with some clear Boat Life Caulk.

The following articles by Pescoe are excellent.

Read this:

http://www.yachtsurvey.com/Windows.htm

And this:

http://www.yachtsurvey.com/WindowRepair.htm

I'll let you know how I make out.
 
Rebedding the windows on my '87 340 da is on my short to do list. I don't think it will be hard to do, just take them out, clean thoroughtly,, and re bed with a good bedding compound. This actually needs to be done every few years to prevent water intrusion, either fresh or sea.
 
I had the same problem in my head port window. Was leaking into the mirrored storage cabinet where I keep all my toiletries. I had thought it was when I took a shower, but then it was happening all the time. I thought it was coming in from a stanchion, and then I thought it was from the rubber seal on the port window. Finally this ex Sea Ray dealer mechanic was working on a friend’s boat and I explained my issue. Told me it was very common to happen between the seal of the actual port window and the boat hull, but I could not see any break in the seal. I gave him the job to pull out the port and reseal… No more leak!!! May need now to look at others, however I see no leaks yet.
 
This is very common on on 1986 thru 1990 390's. I have a 1989 and the starboard window was leaking where the front half meets the rear half in the bunk stateroom. it was a easy fix from the outside once I removed the blinds and I could see wher it was comming from. I started to remove the frame like someone side I would have to let me tell you this isn't all that easy. thats why I'am glad I did what you did remove things till I could see where it was comming from. good luck.
 
FOLLOW UP:
Tuesday night a friend of mine and I pulled the window. To take the window out you have to pull the rubber screw cover gasket that hides the screws. Take out the screws and gently pull the metal frame from the hull. We then cleaned all of the old sealant from the hull and metal frame. We then cleaned both the gelcoat around the window and the metal frame with Acetone. Make sure there is no sealant remaining. We then applied some 3M 4000 sealant around the metal frame with a small bead on the on the gelcoat where we were placing the window. We spread the sealant around the frame evenly with a putty knife and put the window back in and screwed it down. We cleaned the extra sealant from the frame and gelcoat with acetone on a rag. It worked pretty well.
RESULT: It rained heavily on Saturday and NO LEAKS.
Now I just have to put the interior liner back in. Remember if you know the window is leaking between the metal frame and the boat you don't even have to remove the interior liner.
 
I've had good luck rebedding windows with plumber's putty tape. Works great and doesn't leave the mess that silicone does if you need to take out the window again.
 
How many screws did you have to remove and was the selant on the base or the "inside" of the lip on the window. One last question, how long did it take you to complete?
quote:

Originally posted by JDWWW

FOLLOW UP:
Tuesday night a friend of mine and I pulled the window. To take the window out you have to pull the rubber screw cover gasket that hides the screws. Take out the screws and gently pull the metal frame from the hull. We then cleaned all of the old sealant from the hull and metal frame. We then cleaned both the gelcoat around the window and the metal frame with Acetone. Make sure there is no sealant remaining. We then applied some 3M 4000 sealant around the metal frame with a small bead on the on the gelcoat where we were placing the window. We spread the sealant around the frame evenly with a putty knife and put the window back in and screwed it down. We cleaned the extra sealant from the frame and gelcoat with acetone on a rag. It worked pretty well.
RESULT: It rained heavily on Saturday and NO LEAKS.
Now I just have to put the interior liner back in. Remember if you know the window is leaking between the metal frame and the boat you don't even have to remove the interior liner.




 
I think my window pools up on my 340 EC in the rubber slide track where the window actually seats fills it up and makes its way inside. Anyone know where to obtain this weather strip, and how hard is it to replace??

Also may be a place for one of your leaky windows to let water in too!!

So dried out
 
There are probably drains on the bottom outside of tracks, these must be clean or track will fill up and leak inside. I purchased drain covers directly from Taylor Made. They may have complete track system if yours are shot. 518-773-0306 the girl I talked to was very helpful.
 
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