2007 Airstream Interstate with a Gray Water Tank Leak

[avid]

Originally Posted by Oregon2

I had your and Avid's exact problem on my 06 chassis 07 Sprinter. Cracks around the inlet to the tank on the top. George Sutton in Eugene, OR replaced the tank. They tell me the new tank has a better designed inlet. I slipped in just in time for warranty work and Sutton's techs did a great job.

+1 on the Guys at Sutton and let's hope the redesign does the job. I idly ponder what I will do if it fails again. Thanks for checking in with us. Are you aware Eugene Mercedes-Benz is now selling and servicing Sprinters? My first experience was a good one and I am looking forward to going back.

[AirstreamInterstate 07]

Thanks to all for the information concerning grey water leak -- I too have an 06 Sprinter/07 Interstate and it looks like I have exactly the same symptoms all have described. The leak is only seen when the tank is partially full and even when I crawl underneath I can't really see anything. Next step is to get a local RV service place lift it up and drop the shroud. I have no place o work on it except for my sloping driveway and am too chicken to jack it up there. I live in Anacortes WA and the nearest Airstream dealer is south of Seattle.

I just wanted to pass on my thanks to the group here for the information kindly shared. Will post later what we find.
If anyone has any more to add before I get started would sure appreciate it.

Bob P

[avid]

Filling the gray water tank and putting it on a lift should be all that is needed. Unless somehow you cracked the bottom of the tank removing the cowling won't show anything.

The few times I have really crawled around underneath my Airstream I was dreaming of how nice it would be to have a lift. Okay, or a pit or possibly even the perfect roadside dip I could straddle. Haven't found any of them yet.

I can recommend George Sutton in Eugene. They have experience with this. There is a county park nearby that is inexpensive but it doesn't have showers.

[interstate2007]

Thanks Avid for your comments.
Well I got my grey water leak fixed -- Actually it had 2 leaks. There is a great RV repair (JR's RV Repair)and service shop in Sedro-Woolley WA near where I live. They jacked up my '07 Interstate and found the sink drain line had completely sheared off where it enters the top of the grey water tank. This is a 1.5" dia threaded ABS nipple immediately glued to a 90 degree el which comes from the sink drain. The broken threaded part of the nipple was left in the opening on the tank top, but by using a broken off hacksaw blade and lots of patience (and bad language) they were able to carefully cut through the pipe in two places without damaging the threads in the tank top and unscrew the remains of the old nipple out of there. A new nipple, a new 90 deg el and this time a piece of flex pipe now connects the sink drain to the grey water tank and it no longer leaks. Just to be sure they over filled the tank and left it overnight only to find another but much smaller leak which was traced to the tank vent pipe connection also threaded into the tank top. This was fixed the same way as the main leak and now all is well. The shower drain connection was OK

If you are in Washington state or BC and need a good shop I can recommend JR's. They are just off I-5 about 80 miles north of Seattle (www.jrsrvrepair.com ).

The other job they did was to install a rear view camera (right above the roof mounted brake light) and 7" screen which fit right where the rear view mirror would fit if I had one. This works great and vastly improves rearward visibility.

Bob P

[mything2]

Can I ask u the make/model of your backup camera and cost for the unit and install cost? I need to get one but I wanted someone's first hand experience first.
Thanks

Dan Ferguson

Originally Posted by interstate2007

Thanks Avid for your comments.
Well I got my grey water leak fixed -- Actually it had 2 leaks. There is a great RV repair (JR's RV Repair)and service shop in Sedro-Woolley WA near where I live. They jacked up my '07 Interstate and found the sink drain line had completely sheared off where it enters the top of the grey water tank. This is a 1.5" dia threaded ABS nipple immediately glued to a 90 degree el which comes from the sink drain. The broken threaded part of the nipple was left in the opening on the tank top, but by using a broken off hacksaw blade and lots of patience (and bad language) they were able to carefully cut through the pipe in two places without damaging the threads in the tank top and unscrew the remains of the old nipple out of there. A new nipple, a new 90 deg el and this time a piece of flex pipe now connects the sink drain to the grey water tank and it no longer leaks. Just to be sure they over filled the tank and left it overnight only to find another but much smaller leak which was traced to the tank vent pipe connection also threaded into the tank top. This was fixed the same way as the main leak and now all is well. The shower drain connection was OK

If you are in Washington state or BC and need a good shop I can recommend JR's. They are just off I-5 about 80 miles north of Seattle (www.jrsrvrepair.com ).

The other job they did was to install a rear view camera (right above the roof mounted brake light) and 7" screen which fit right where the rear view mirror would fit if I had one. This works great and vastly improves rearward visibility.

Bob P

[interstate2007]

Ref back up camera question. What I got was a Rear View Camera system from Rear View Safety Inc located in Brooklyn NY Website is www.rearviewsafety.com. It cost about $220 as I recall. This is a hard wired system --I had heard from several folks the wireless systems are not all that good . The camera was mounted on a bracket directly over the brake light on the roof. There is a place for a hole to pass through the roof right there and so the wiring went through there and down the left door pillar behind the trim. A hole was drilled in the floor right at the back and all the wiring then went under the van to emerge through the firewall into the cab. Since this unit comes with all the wiring needed and is set up for vehicles up to at least 50' long there is a lot of extra wire. All this extra was coiled up and now is attached to the back of one of the cupboards and is not in the way at all and only visible when the cupboard door is opened. I do not have the cost for installation as other work was done at the same time and was not broken down. I would guess it was about $100 since the shop thought it would take about an hour to complete the installation. I'm very happy with how it all turned out and the large 7" screen mounted inside where the rear view mirror would be if I had one. This unit also has the added feature that when in "reverse" mode --ie when backing up -- there is a microphone which turns on and relays to the speaker inside the 7" monitor. Very useful.
Hope this helps

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[mything2]

Very helpful.
Thanks,
Dan