38XX SS Front Windshield Leaking-gctid344679

[Guest]

Hello all

We are doing America's Great Loop in our 1988 3818

See our blog at www.ourtardis.net

Yesterday while transiting from Little Sabine Bay near Pensacola to Panama City we were running into a 20 mph headwinds & going through 2-3 foot chop at 16 mph with heavy spray all over the boat & up over the top of the bimini.

The boat and crew can handle it fine but that SS front window leaks like crazy.

In August 2009 we had a shipyard in Michigan do all of the window seals but they never really stopped the leaking in the SS front windshield. In October 2009 when we transited from Detroit to Clevland to Buffalo we had a fairly persistent leak on that windshield. Since then we have been treating this window with Captain Tolleys Creeping Crack Cure but it is not getting the job done for us

Yesterday was the last straw! I am getting ready to really go after the leak and that includes taking the window all of the way out and starting from scratch.

Before I do this does anyone have any advice about:

1. What else I should try before I pull out the window?
2. How do I take out this window?

Remember this is not the sliding window over the sink. This is the front windshield over the microwave & cabinet.

[Guest]

Make sure its actually the windows causing the leak and not comnig from somewhere else.

Though I dont have a boat like yours, mines windows were removed and fixed multiple times, but the leak was coming from a completely different locaton and leaking down to the windows making it look like a window leak.

[LTCret]

I finally found mine leaking around the shaft for the windshield wiper.It took really tough conditions like you describe to get the water up under the brow to that area.It took a water hose and two people to discover the leak.

Good Luck

[Guest]

The windsheild wiper studs warrant looking into, also the window frames themselves. The ss trim at the corners are another place as well as all of the salon frames all along the cabin. I have the same model as you. Three years ago I had the front frames removed and rebedded, this helped a lot but the installer left a couple of small voids. It is not serious but an annoyance in driving rain and seas. I also removed all of the old caulk around the ss trim pieces and the salon frames, cleaning it out as deep as I could reach using small blades and a sharpened "church key", carefully to avoid scratching the gelcoat. Then they were resealed with 4200 and the excess removed with a wet finger and smoothed over with acetone to clean up the smear. It was a lot of work but it did the trick. My interior teak had some slight stains that were lightly sanded and reoiled. Short of this process I don't see solving the problem. Working under the bridge overhang is a treat and using the black caulk can be a real mess, patience. If you have leaks on the port and stbd cabin aft sides where they meet the aft bulkhead you will need to remove the ss trim that covers the bridge and cabin joint. You will see large voids at that joint when you do. These were filled and the trim rebedded with 4200. A tedious job but the cabin is now dry.

Hope this helps

Richard in Wisconsin

[SuperiorDiver]

My 4087 leaked badly into the fwd v-berth and head from splash or rain. I finally resolved it by sealing the entire perimeter of the windshield-metal frame to the hull, and the gap between the centre, port and stbd windshield frames.

[Guest]

Can't remember the correct name, but there is a solution in a bottle sold by West Marine, among others, that works very well for that kind of problem. Just looked it up....It is called Captain Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure. You put it on and it finds the leaks and seals them. Works very well for me and lots of others I have talked with. It is worth a try befroe you get into taking the windows apart.

[SuperiorDiver]

Although I have not used the crack cure, I have heard of it and it wwwould be woerth a try. When I sealed the windshield frames on my boat, I did it on the exterior, did not disassemble anything.

[Guest]

I thought I had leaks in the windscreens but with reference to many threads I pulled the metal strip that covers the joining seam between the flybridge and the salon and re-sealed it. Most if not all leaks have ended.

[Guest]

To my fellow members who are touting Captain Tolley' Creeping Crack Cure.

As I wrote in my INITIAL post; We tried Captian Tolley's doing NUMEROUS applications & it has not worked.

Since then we have been treating this window with Captain Tolleys Creeping Crack Cure but it is not getting the job done for us

Thanks to all who want to offer advice and quickly fix our problem. BUT remember; to arrive at the correct diagnosis & prescribe the next treatment; we must ALWAYS read & understand ALL of the treatment (POSTS) that has gone on previously. In medicine caregivers are taught to carefully read the patient's chart, before ordering treatment or prescribing drugs.

Recommending courses of action or treatment without fully understanding the symptoms & prior treatment history is NOT helpful & can be harmful. In this case it just fills up the forum / thread with posts that do not help.

If this sounds a little cranky; it is meant to be. There have been too many posts on our forums where folks just weigh in with an opinion just for the sake of posting.

[Guest]

Just trying to help. Not perfect and never intended to be. Sorry I didn't read your entire post. This is for fun and information, not for work. I said what worked for me. If that doesn't suit you...good luck figuring it out.

[Incommunicado]

One year when it was raining in the PNW we also experienced a "river" of water flooding the dash over the mid cabin on numerous occasions. The final temporary cure was to place a piece of 3" tape on the glass & over the rubber gasket at the bottom of the port forward window. This cured the leak.

[mmichellich]

Buff wrote:
Can't remember the correct name, but there is a solution in a bottle sold by West Marine, among others, that works very well for that kind of problem. Just looked it up....It is called Captain Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure. You put it on and it finds the leaks and seals them. Works very well for me and lots of others I have talked with. It is worth a try befroe you get into taking the windows apart.

I agree, Capt Tullys Creeping Crack Cure has sealed a lot of fairly large leaks for me on our 47. I had to apply several coatings with it for larger leaks. To start trouble shooting put paper, even paper towels or toilet paper on inside of window that leaks and then start slowly spraying water on outside until leak appears (at least a two person job), then start sealing area where leak appears. Sometimes it is more difficult as actual leak can be several feet from the observed water.

[mmichellich]

kwjennings wrote:
To my fellow members who are touting Captain Tolley' Creeping Crack Cure.

As I wrote in my INITIAL post; We tried Captian Tolley's doing NUMEROUS applications & it has not worked.

[COLOR]"#FF0000" wrote:
[COLOR]"#FF0000" wrote:
Since then we have been treating this window with Captain Tolleys Creeping Crack Cure but it is not getting the job done for us[/COLOR][/COLOR]

Thanks to all who want to offer advice and quickly fix our problem. BUT remember; to arrive at the correct diagnosis & prescribe the next treatment; we must ALWAYS read & understand ALL of the treatment (POSTS) that has gone on previously. In medicine caregivers are taught to carefully read the patient's chart, before ordering treatment or prescribing drugs.

Recommending courses of action or treatment without fully understanding the symptoms & prior treatment history is NOT helpful & can be harmful. In this case it just fills up the forum / thread with posts that do not help.

If this sounds a little cranky; it is meant to be. There have been too many posts on our forums where folks just weigh in with an opinion just for the sake of posting.

So if I understand your post, you are bitching about folks taking time to give you free advise based on their experience?? If that sounds a bit cranky, it was meant to. There is an easy fix, we will stop helping.

Edit:

The more I think about this, it really upsets me. I view about 15 forums on a daily basis dealing with airliners, military airplanes, guns and shooting forums, motorhome/RV forums, fishing forums, forums for sports teams and others and I have never seen anyone bitch about free advise before. Maybe it is time to rethink your attitude!

[Guest]

kwjennings wrote:
To my fellow members who are touting Captain Tolley' Creeping Crack Cure.

As I wrote in my INITIAL post; We tried Captian Tolley's doing NUMEROUS applications & it has not worked.

[COLOR]"#FF0000" wrote:
[COLOR]"#FF0000" wrote:
Since then we have been treating this window with Captain Tolleys Creeping Crack Cure but it is not getting the job done for us[/COLOR][/COLOR]

Thanks to all who want to offer advice and quickly fix our problem. BUT remember; to arrive at the correct diagnosis & prescribe the next treatment; we must ALWAYS read & understand ALL of the treatment (POSTS) that has gone on previously. In medicine caregivers are taught to carefully read the patient's chart, before ordering treatment or prescribing drugs.

Recommending courses of action or treatment without fully understanding the symptoms & prior treatment history is NOT helpful & can be harmful. In this case it just fills up the forum / thread with posts that do not help.

If this sounds a little cranky; it is meant to be. There have been too many posts on our forums where folks just weigh in with an opinion just for the sake of posting.

I have had good luck with Tolley's but only on hairline cracks in gelcoat. It is not meant to nor reccommended for filling gaps. If it leaks alot the gap is probably too much for Captain Tolleys.