Water leak in aft cabin

[Stacie]

I have a water leak in the aft cabin of my 1996 300ac. Both beds are soaked, there are no water stains on the walls or ceiling. Anyone had this issue? Also, do any of you have any idea how we can take the ceiling apart to hunt for the leaks?
Thanks.

[mjk1040]

Check the aft deck area, if both beds are wet, it would seem that it has to be coming from there. Also make sure the rode locker drain is clear. Ooops! wrong end of the boat on the rode locker. Me Bad!

[Stacie]

Where and what is the "lode locker drain"?
We've checked the aft deck and want to re-caulk all the hardware, but need to access it from the aft cabin ceiling & don't want to wreck the ceiling in the process. The ceiling has panels, but we're not sure how to remove them.
Thanks for any suggestions.

[Viper]

Welcome to the forum.

Usually if there are no signs of fasteners on the face of the panels, they'll be secured in place with plastic christmass tree fasteners
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10x-for-Double-End-Xmas-Tree-Retainers-Clips-11-32-Stem-Diameter-for-Maring-Automotive-Trim/32323197719.html?spm=2114.40010308.4.13.506ktF

If that's the case, they need to be carefully pried off. I've rarely pulled panels off that are fastened this way and been able to re-use the same fasteners so chances are you'll need to get new ones. There are countless styles so you'd have to match them up but they're readily available on-line.
https://www.google.ca/search?q=christmas+tree+fasteners&espv=2&biw=1522&bih=732&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj888zxi_fPAhWp24MKHbJHBFUQ_AUICCgB

Before you take the ceiling apart, ensure that your side windows aren't leaking by the beds. Pretty common issue. If they are leaking, don't just caulk around the frame. The proper fix is to remove and re-bed them so you're not doing it every couple of years every time the caulking peels away.

The aft rail bases are of course suspect also. If you have valances that run along the sides to hide curtain hardware, check there for access to rail base fasteners otherwise panels will have to be removed. Also consider that if you have a transom shower or shore water inlet that is high (close to the top deck), you may have plumbing running along the ceiling that may be leaking either through a line, fitting, or one of those fixtures.

Keep us posted.

[Stacie]

Viper, thank you for the suggestions. We're going to start narrowing things down this weekend.

[Lyndon670]

Also, check the seals on your sliding aft cabin windows. The oval seals on my aft 506 were shot as the windows had rarely been opened by the previous owner. We had the same issue with pillows and bed soaked. I repalced the seals and the problem was instantly solved.

[Stacie]

Thanks Lyndon670, that's our next thing to work on. Did the water from your windows run down the corners of the aft cabin? (The aft corners of the mattresses on the wall sides were soaked the worst.) I think we're going to take the windows completely out and reset them.

[Lyndon670]

Stacie,

Our bed is a walkaround, and there is a shelf at the head of the bed....the water was leaking down the inside of the wall and pooling onto the shelf, then onto the mattress/pillows.

[Stacie]

Lyndon670,
We're looking into replacing or resetting the windows because the water appears to be coming from the windows, running down the shelves under the windows and running down the corner onto the beds.
Did you have to remove your windows to fix the seals? Ours have clearly been re-caulked in the past, but it's not working.

[tomschauer]

When we purchased our 1998 355 in the spring, the first thing I did (after a celebratory beer) was to remove, clean, paint, re bed and reinstall the aft cabin windows. The 18 year old sealant was shot, they were leaking for a few years before we purchased the boat. The wood backing strips were rotted to the point that the windows dam near fell out. there was mold and mildew in the foam behind the vinyl. We replaced the backing strips with treated plywood, replaced the foam and Vinyl, and build a new aft head cabinet, as the wood between the laminate was rotted and moldy.
I believe I have a post from April of May of this year with some pictures.