2005 Granite Ridge 31SS leaking water

[PfarrJam]

I could really use some help please!

I bought our 2005 Granite used from a guy who told me nothing about the many issues involved with this camper. Been fixing everything I find but one issue looks to be more trouble than I can tackle on my own. I have a water leak under the coach that's been happening for a long time. All the OSB is rotted away and the protective aluminum sheet has worn or been torn away. I am still trying to figure out which tank is leaking, or if I have a leak in a water pipe. The drip is right over the transmission housing. Fortunately we tested the water system with clean water, put chlorine water into the fresh tank to sanitize it, and the black tank has a 4 gallon mix with a cup of Oxyclean - and it doesn't stink so far.

What does it take to get in there and find the leak? From what I see it appears the left side wheels have to be removed and the gas tank removed just to get close to the holding tanks. Is this correct? We're stuck until we figure out where the leak is coming from. I could really use some expert advice!

[JFlightRisk]

That's a tough one, mainly because of it's age, the schematics having been purged long ago, and the likelihood of anyone else having that same RV here.

I've looked at the Jayco website, and see your floorplan. If water is leaking way up by the transmission, it has to either be travelling a long way from your plumbing, or you have water intrusion from one or more coach seams leaking inside.

More than likely the tanks will be below floor grade, so while not impossible, it's unlikely they're the reason for the subfloor getting soaked.

I hope someone that has had experience with that model chimes in, otherwise you may have to dive into it for the cause.

Some questions. Is there any wetness in the carpeting (if it has it)/ can you notice any evidence of plumbing drips under cabinets, etc.? Does it drip from using water inside, or does it show up after a rain? Just some random thoughts.

[PfarrJam]

Thanks for the quick reply!

My apologies, I didn't make it clear what I see happening. Thankfully there are no leaks inside the coach, that much I have been able to ferret out and verify. What I see is leaking under the coach - the OSB that rotted away is on the underside of the tank exposed to the road. By process of elimination I have determined it is the grey tank that sits right above the rear axle.

No wetness inside the coach (that I've found), all dry under cabinets although there is evidence of previous leaks. No issues with rain, but again there is evidence of previous leaks.

We waited until this past week to check the plumbing, having gone through everything else in the coach to remodel and replace most everything inside. (It looks great btw) Now that I'm checking plumbing I found this drippy leak on the underside of the tank, but with none of the underside plumbing accessible for inspection or repair I am facing the prospect of removing the tank just to get at the parts I need to fix.

[pconroy]

You said transmission, did you mean the differential? I'm having a hard time thinking about what would be over the transmission.


So what you're saying is that through the hole in the OSB, you can see the grey tank?


If so - seems to me you have two options: tear in from the top, or tear into it from the bottom. I think I'd be going in from the bottom. One of the oscillating saws, and start cutting out squares of OSB around the hold until you get more clues on the source of the leak.


One thing to always remember - where the water comes out, is NOT always near the leak. Water can travel a long, long ways to find a low spot.

[PfarrJam]

Thanks for the reply, and yes you are correct about the rear differential (I misstated the appropriate automotive component). I don't own a lift, and there is damn little space under there for me as I barely get my nose under the exhaust and other fiddly bits when parked in my driveway. I don't own a lift, I could put it up on blocks I suppose to buy some space but it sure seems to be a tight fit. Most of the OSB has fallen off and I imagine the leak could be on top of the tank, thus my question about what's needed to pull the tank and see the pipes above.

The tank was about 50% full of chlorine/water to sanitize the system, thus I assume there's a leak in a low spot in the tank. I'd really like to get a good look at all the hoses and pipes in the back end at the same time just to make sure nothing else is leaking. The coach is 16 years old and apparently been mistreated and not maintained well during that time, so who knows what problems lurk in the hidden nooks and crannies back there! Also an abundance of rust all over the underside, so this effort to inspect underside plumbing will be a challenge.

[pconroy]

You could take a tip from the plumbers and just pressurize the lines. Put 40psi in there and a gauge and see if you lose pressure over 24 hours. If not, then I think you can be assured the lines are ok.


Fill the grey tank with water and a lot of ?red? food coloring? Use different colors for other tanks, drains. See what color dribbles out?


Just spit-balling some ideas.


If you want to go in from the top, maybe start someplace easy. Like under the bathroom sink. See if you can follow the lines with minimal demolition.

[Charles & Vicky]

Is it leaking when on water pump or on city water?

[PfarrJam]

Problem solved last summer, sorry this is a late update.

Working with a super handy buddy of mine we discovered there's a junction box under the back side of the slide out for the 110 power that goes to the slideout. The junction box is attached to the big C-channel cross member that supports the coach right above the differential. Lo and behold but when we pulled off the junction box we found the two screws used to attach the junction box to the steel cross member had gone completely through the steel and penetrated the water tank on the other side. The coach had been leaking water since day 1 from the factory (over 15 years)!!

The solution was to use a 1" hole saw and cut through the steel right at the two holes so we could expose enough of the water tank to find the holes. A couple of pointy traingular plugs from Ace Hardware (with a generous application of E6000 silicone adhesive) plugged the holes nicely and stopped the leak. Just another example of the fine craftsmanship at the factory.

Thanks for the help, I hope this may come in handy for someone else in the future.

[SmokeyBear]

I too have a freshwater leak but I'm certain it's not like yours as no slides. How you fixed it is what I am interested. I've used E6000 for many applications. Great stuff. Can you give me a little more description of the pointy triangular plugs from Ace Hardware. Hopefully a picture. In which department did you find it? Thanks.

[Onyrlef]

Originally Posted by PfarrJam

Problem solved last summer, sorry this is a late update.

Working with a super handy buddy of mine we discovered there's a junction box under the back side of the slide out for the 110 power that goes to the slideout. The junction box is attached to the big C-channel cross member that supports the coach right above the differential. Lo and behold but when we pulled off the junction box we found the two screws used to attach the junction box to the steel cross member had gone completely through the steel and penetrated the water tank on the other side. The coach had been leaking water since day 1 from the factory (over 15 years)!!

The solution was to use a 1" hole saw and cut through the steel right at the two holes so we could expose enough of the water tank to find the holes. A couple of pointy traingular plugs from Ace Hardware (with a generous application of E6000 silicone adhesive) plugged the holes nicely and stopped the leak. Just another example of the fine craftsmanship at the factory.

Thanks for the help, I hope this may come in handy for someone else in the future.

That was indeed some bit of sleuthing and a handy fix. Ordinarily a factory will try to build a batch of identical units to streamline efficiency, makes you wonder how many others have screws penetrating the fw tank?

[PfarrJam]

I'll do my best to describe the rubber plugs from Ace. About 3/8 inch long, cone shape on one end with a narrow middle (the size of the hole, like a rubber grommet) and a flat circular end piece. It has a small hole in the flat circular part so that you could stick a rod (like a 6 inch piece of coat hangar) into the hole and push the cone shaped end into the hole to be plugged.

I smeared a generous amount of E6000 around the plug before pushing it into the hole then applied even more over the whole outside to ensure an absolutely positively good seal. So far so good.

[PfarrJam]

Update on the leak:. It came back. ☹️.

Picture attached of the rubber plugs I used, I don't think the thickness of the gap was wide enough for the thickness of the water tank and the seal (with E6000) was enough to really work.

You can see in the next two photos where I opened up larger holes in the steel beam to get at the water tank holes.


I tried to plastic weld with some zip ties to seal up the holes, the bottom one looks to be pretty good but the top hole continues to leak a bit. My solution (sorry no pic yet) was to buy a 3/8" nylon bolt and some all purpose plumber's adhesive, drill the hole about to about 3/32" smaller than the bolt, goop up the bolt thoroughly with adhesive, and screw it into the hole. Leak test is in progress but it looks good so far. If the bottom hole leaks again I'll repeat the process there.

[MDO1265]

Originally Posted by PfarrJam

Update on the leak:. It came back. ☹️.

Picture attached of the rubber plugs I used, I don't think the thickness of the gap was wide enough for the thickness of the water tank and the seal (with E6000) was enough to really work.

You can see in the next two photos where I opened up larger holes in the steel beam to get at the water tank holes.


I tried to plastic weld with some zip ties to seal up the holes, the bottom one looks to be pretty good but the top hole continues to leak a bit. My solution (sorry no pic yet) was to buy a 3/8" nylon bolt and some all purpose plumber's adhesive, drill the hole about to about 3/32" smaller than the bolt, goop up the bolt thoroughly with adhesive, and screw it into the hole. Leak test is in progress but it looks good so far. If the bottom hole leaks again I'll repeat the process there.

Thanks so much for this post Jim. I have the same exact RV. Purchased it last year. I also found the rotted OSB and sheet metal above the rear differential while sanitizing the FW tank today. It’s supposed to be a 44 G tank. I have a water flow gauge and water started pouring out at 31.4 gallons. Fortunately it was coming out of the plastic overflow pipes just above the left side of the rear axle. I’m going to look for that junction box and see if the mounting screws are also penetrating the tank. I’m scratching my head as to why it’s overflowing out of the pipes at 31 gallons though. I’ll have to go back and read your comments again but, based on the drain pipes and gate valves to dump the black and grey tanks, it’s the grey tank that’s sitting above the axle where the rotted OSB is. Still doesn’t explain why my FW tank is overflowing at 31 G. Thanks again for your post.

[TaftCoach]

@MD01265 Jam hasn't posted in a couple years, hopefully he's enjoying his well repaired RV.

There are a couple explanations for the lack of full usable space in the tank. Since you are very good a searching first (thank you) I would suggest searching fresh tank and overflow plus siphon. There are plenty of discussions on the cause and solutions. Spoiler alert, the solutions involve a potential problem if you aren't careful.

Another thought, inspection cameras that connect to your cell phone are crazy cheap, under $20 and probably deserve to be in every RV owners tool box.

[MDO1265]

Taftcoach, thanks for the reply. I do have one of those cell phone inspection cams. I'll search those threads.

Be well and thanks again.

[craigav]

Originally Posted by MDO1265

Thanks so much for this post Jim. I have the same exact RV. Purchased it last year. I also found the rotted OSB and sheet metal above the rear differential while sanitizing the FW tank today. It’s supposed to be a 44 G tank. I have a water flow gauge and water started pouring out at 31.4 gallons. Fortunately it was coming out of the plastic overflow pipes just above the left side of the rear axle. I’m going to look for that junction box and see if the mounting screws are also penetrating the tank. I’m scratching my head as to why it’s overflowing out of the pipes at 31 gallons though. I’ll have to go back and read your comments again but, based on the drain pipes and gate valves to dump the black and grey tanks, it’s the grey tank that’s sitting above the axle where the rotted OSB is. Still doesn’t explain why my FW tank is overflowing at 31 G. Thanks again for your post.

Not that my information accounts for all of the water, it is common for all RV manufactures to state the fresh water capacity to include the water heater's capacity. Most WH's I have seen are 6 gallon but there have been (still are I suppose) 10~12 gallon water heaters. So if you take your 44 and subtract the water heater capacity, you get closer to knowing why the tank overflowed at 31 gallons. ~CA

[MDO1265]

Hey Craigav,

You are correct. After I posted my comment I realized that I didnt figure in the WH ( which is 6 gal ) and the volume of water in the lines. I just assumed when they stated 44 gallons, that is was a 44 gal tank. I went back and looked at that spec and in micro small print, it says " Including water heater" Go figure.