Leaky two-way sidewall vent

[xaugievike]

Hi all

During the recent monsoons here in Chicago I've found a tiny leak in one of the sidewall mounted two way vents in the garage of my cougar 325srx. It's kind of dark when I found it....so I haven't really inspected this repair in great detail yet. Any knowledge on how it's mounted and sealed? Looks like simply some screws and an inner trim piece that sandwich some butyl putty? Appreciate my guidance and tips?

[SteveC7010]

Originally Posted by xaugievike

Hi all

During the recent monsoons here in Chicago I've found a tiny leak in one of the sidewall mounted two way vents in the garage of my cougar 325srx. It's kind of dark when I found it....so I haven't really inspected this repair in great detail yet. Any knowledge on how it's mounted and sealed? Looks like simply some screws and an inner trim piece that sandwich some butyl putty? Appreciate my guidance and tips?

Is the vent or the seal between the wall and the vent leaking? You may have to wait for daylight and use a garden hose to figure out which.

If it's the seal between the vent and the wall, then remove it and recaulk it, either with butyl putty tape or butyl caulk. And yes, it should just be the screws and the caulk. Warm the caulk with mama's hair dryer on low to soften it enough to remove it.

If it is the vent itself, is it poor design or is there physical damage? It's even possible that it is improperly installed.

[xaugievike]

Thanks - I believe it to be the actual seal between the wall and the vent. I had orginally suspected the vent itself thinking perhaps i didnt close it all the way, but after checking that I think i can see where the water is actually coming in from behind the trim ring inside the garage area. looks like a reasonably straight-forward fix, but didnt want any surprises.

[xaugievike]

Thought I'd follow up with the repair (pics mostly) - just in case someone down the road runs into a similar issue...easy as it could be to address this:

First off, I removed the inside trim ring. It didnt take long to figure out where the leak was coming from! As a rule, daylight in a wall penetration is a bad thing:


On to the outside where i removed the vent assembly and scraped off the original butyl tape


After cleaning the area around the vent with rubbing alcohol to remove any wax residue/schmutz/whatever I put some fresh butyl tape around the opening...of note, my version i put the "meeting point" of my new tape in a LOWER corner, and not in an upper corner as was done at the factory.


And back goes the vent assembly. the white goo around the screw heads is from caulk i added to the screws about a 1/4" from setting them home...belt and suspenders.


After that i put the trim ring back on the inside (which i have a picture of, but I'm limited to 4(?).


See...easy as pie. Hope this helps someone else down the road.