mooney water leaks

[Highflight]

water is getting into my  201

j. I caulked the windows and windshield door seals are tight what is left?

[RLCarter]

Where are you seeing water?

[N201MKTurbo]

The air vents, the nose wheel well. The overhead air vents. The firewall. The wing roots. 

The list is long.

[Yetti]

You would not think so with a really small hole, but water can even enter the static system when the rain blows sideways.

 

[rbridges]

The overhead vent?  Not sure if it changed much since my c model. 

[bradp]

Parked in or out?  If out a leak is a big deal   It will eventually cause big problems wrt tubular structure or even spar corrosion and needs to be corrected immediately.  

Pull your interior.  Do SB 208 if not previously done.  

With the entire interior pulled you will be able to see the origin of many of the common leakage areas.  Probably except the air vents unless you take down the ceiling plastic which is rather painful.  Check the drain hose from the air vent.  This can become detached or blocked. 

Have somone take a hose and soak the airframe while you inspect it for water entry.  

Did you think it was the windows and that's why you presumably bead caulked the exterior?  What was your indication that it was leaking water in the first place.  No fuel smells or stains on the carpet, correct...? 

Any recent work done?  Antennas installed, painting etc?  

Firewall leaks maybe less common.  Sometimes people use sealant below the windshield lower frame flashing and corrosion can occur on the back side.  This would be close to the firewall.  

More common are wing root leaks.  Our wing roots are sealed with duct tape and a bead of fuel tank sealant and then the fairings are screwerd down onto that.   I had mine leak after repaint and found that solvent had destroyed the sealant and duct tape.  It's a pretty easy fix, fortunately. The screws and tinnerman nuts on the other hand are quite painful to reinstall. 

If the windows are the culprit you'll not be able to apply caulk to fix reliably.  You'll need to remove the side windows and remove the old adhesive and then reapply new adhesive.  At that point it's better to just install a new side window.  You'll probably break or damage a window removing it.  

 

Hope this is helpful.  . B