I've had the Ex sitting for the last 2 weeks or so, and we've had epic rain, wind, and cold, and MAJOR temp flux. This morning, I found I had a sheet of ice, on the inside of the windshield! I noted the passenger footwell is damp. Most of the condensation/ice is on the driver's side, away from where the sun shines directly. Where should I be looking for leaks?

I just ran in the driveway high fan/high heat for about 30 minutes to dry things out. Hate to idle so long.

Thanks!

 

Most likely culprit is the windshield , they are notorious for leaking..

 

My '01 also leaked from the windshield. Didnt look too bad until they pulled the glass and started blasting the rust. Hasn't leaked since I had it repaired

 

Well, now I'm puzzled. We drove through a major downpour yesterday coming back from the beach, and today as I was cleaning out the truck, I found I had water under the floor mat in the passenger well. Not a lot, but enough that it will condense on the windows again if we have a moderately warm day. It was already condensed on the bottom of the floor mat. This is only under the mat, by the way; the top of the carpet is bone dry. Wouldn't that rule out the windshield, or am I reading too deep into this? I also found the carpet in the rear was damp, towards the second row seats. The middle section appears to be dry. As I park it, it's on a slope so that it does lean to the front right. I can't see any area, anywhere, that looks like it might be leaking.

Ideas?

 

...uh...if it's all the way at the back...maybe check the roof rack? If you aren't getting any sweet smell, I'd rule out the heater lines...that leaves door/window seals and the roof rack (for the back carpet, anyway).

Can you get the grab handles off, the B Pillar inside trim off, and get a light/inspection camera above the roof liner, between the inner and outer metal layers to see if any evidence of water leaks are present? Not sure if there are 2 layers of metal in there or one (I suspect they'll be two to support the roof rack).

Are you the original owner? Did the prior owner drill through the roof for any NMO antennas or anything? Mine leaked a couple of times until I put a 2nd plate to reinforce it.

...it could be coming down the inside then getting the carpet liner wet...that might cause condensation but no actual wet feeling carpet.

 

You had a windshield that lasted long enough to get rust in the weatherstripping!?

I've gone through three windshields since I've owned it (damn construction trucks dropping boulders all over the freeway).

 

I'm not the original owner. I bought it in July with 65K mis. No holes drilled. Haven't pulled the headliner, but wouldn't that show stains if that were the source?

I don't think I was clear on the carpet; what I meant to say is that the carpet in the bottom of the foot well is damp, but the carpet against the firewall is dry. I also pulled the glove box, and don't see any water tracks evident. I'm almost leaning towards a leak either around the rear passenger door or possibly the bottom of the wing window. I just don't know how to isolate it without major disassembly, which I'd love to avoid if I can, LOL! Seems I always end up with spare parts, and nothing ever fits together the same way again.

Thanks for the help and the ideas!

 

No, not always...when my NMO mount started leaking, I only noticed when looking in the rear view to make sure the garage door went down as I pulled out of the driveway...saw water dripping from my rear ac control housing. As it turned out, the water dripped right down and was caught by that plastic trim piece - never touched the liner.

Here is a shot of the roof liner removed...as it turns out, the rivets go in where there is a single layer of steel...you can see the bottom of the rivets in this pic...if Ford designed it with half a brain, they'd have made sure all of the rivets were accessible in case you need to pull the roof rack track and replace it. You can see that 2nd layer of steel I mentioned that runs along the length but just outboard of the roof rack:


What I was referring to is if you get a leak between those layers (look at the far back - you'll see the 2nd layer with holes it in that you can see the outer skin through - right where the wiring goes for the hatch)...it could run along that opening and never touch the roof liner - hence no visible signs of a leak.

You can also see on the rear wing window...if the seal were to leak and say it runs down the inside of the window, it would have to collect on the bottom seal and accumulate enough to overtop the weld that attaches the skin to the inner layer of metal, then run down the inner layer of steel to the floor and then flow forward (would only really work if you are parked with the rear end higher than the front end).

Any wet carpet in the 3rd row seat area?

Hmmm...do you park on the level or with the front end below/above the rear end? If you have water in the 2nd row foot area and you say back into an inclined driveway, the water could be running down and collecting in the passenger front foot well and leave the side carpet dry.

If you think its inside the door itself, that wouldn't make it to the carpet unless it filled the bottom of the door up pretty well, and you'd probably see evidence of the water on the sill plate.

To check the window itself isn't that hard if you can get hold of one of those inspection cameras (can find them cheap at Harbor Freight-the ones with a tiny camera on the flexible tube). The door trim panels come off easy (two or three screws and lift it up and away). You might see water down at the bottom of the door between the outer skin and the door frame itself...put some paper towels in your hand and stuff them as far down as you can get, pull them back and check for water.

Final question - and you'll only be able to tell this by pulling the carpet - are all of the rubber plugs in place on your floor? There are two up high on the firewall (one driver side, one passenger side if I remember right), not sure how many others there are.

You could check the b pillar area by just pulling up the sill plates (those plastic pieces between the seats and the door)...they pull straight up. You can see the carpet liner and possibly see where water would run down into the footwells. Minimal "exploratory surgery" to diagnose the bigger issue. It wouldn't rule out a leak but may help you identify one if the water is running down along the inner layer of steel vs. the outer layer.

 

That pic helps. I added a few answers in red after your questions/comments. I think what I may try is to dry it completely, then leave some paper towels stuffed in various locations next time it rains. At this point, I'm stumped because there is moisture in 2 locations that don't seem to be connected, logically, anyways.

Thanks again for the ideas!

 

...huh... I'm at a loss of how that would happen...I mean I guess it could leak in the rear, run down the right side then collect at the floor area of the passenger front seat, but that seems a little remote.

The paper towel idea is a good one - just need to keep an eye on the rain outlook I guess to see when a good day to "plant" your towels are.

Good luck with it! I've been lucky enough to only have one leak [knocking on wood right now]...so I'm hoping we can diagnose your issue and add it to the "usual suspects" list for those with future leaks!

 

If your only getting water in the front areas I would rule it the windshield. Usually the top corners and it runs down the pinch weld seams to the bottom corners and down behind the kick panels to the foot well areas.
I would remove the front pillar plastic that the grab handles are mounted on and look for water marks. Might even push up slightly on the windshield from inside and see if you get any kind of movement.

The door seals are made in such a way that you would have to go into deep water to get any water intrusion thru that area. The glass in doors is also the same way. Drain holes towards outside area of bottom of doors would drain any water to the outside of the door seals.
The B pillar plastic between the two doors is a little harder to remove, as you need to take off the seat belt mounts, so if you don't find evidence of windshield leaking that would be the other area to look.

I spent 8 years on the rainy north coast of BC with average 96" + of rainfall and had no leaks any where. I did install my own windshields tho, as I am a glass installer and know the inherent leaking areas on these ones and made sure there was not going to be any leaks.

 

I have been lucky so far......never had to replace the windshield until the body shop pulled it to repair the rust. I had a HUGE blister of rust at the top of the windshield that was leaking and running all the way down along the back of the dash. I would have never known but I would have a few electrical gremlins every time it would rain.

 

The only reason why there would be rust on the pinchweld around the windshield is because it has been replaced and the installer did not prime and cover the scratch marks he made during the removal of the glass.

 

Robert Ross....I am getting a little water coming out of my rear a/c vent ...I also am getting water in the rear map light... Where is this coming from?

 

have we 100% ruled out it being an issue with the washer fluid line?