hi all,

I had a 91 shorty 2wd with a 3.0, it leaked water up from the floor, so i took out the carpet to see where it was coming from, and the leak went away. I sold that van, and got a 95 aerostar long, 4wd, 4.0, fully loaded, everything but leather and cap. chairs. this one leaks from the passenger side rear window area. it drips from the side wall, along the top of where it almost meets the window. the headliner remains totally dry.

I figure its leaking from the roof seam on that side, or the window seal. i dunno! anyone else have this problem, or got a solution? I will probably have to strip the interior of the van on that side either way, unless you know of a fix I can do from the exterior.

thanks for your help!!

 

My 1989 was doing basically the same thing. I thought the roof was leaking as well. At the time I had the rear seats out and decided to "have a look". Poured water over the van starting from the bottom up and found that it was coming from the right rear window area. At that point I removed the entire trim panel from that side and found that all the nuts holding the window to the body was finger tight. I guess this being a southern states vehicle having been driven on lots of bumpy roads the dear old windows loosened up. Before it was over I found that both sides were loose and half a day later I had a leakproof Aerostar! I hope this helps!

Aaron

 

Have a -89 3.0 extended.
And I have the exactly same leak at back window. I will get to the fastening screws and check them.

 

fomoco, how did you get the trim off? was it the outside black stuff? i have the same leak, also tried the leak test. i decided it was the lip of the moulding,and calked it all with clear sealent,...of course it still leaks, a little...rick
91 aero xl ext
4.0 litre

 

You need to remove both rear seats to remove the interior panels. They are a pain in the behind because you have to remove the liftgate struts and about a dozen screws or so. The left hand panel is not as easily removed as the right side but I managed to get it back far enough to get to the nuts that hold the glass in. My van does not have rear air so the left panel did not have as much stuff to remove as one with rear air. The side sliding door has the same setup. I'm quite certain you will find the screws loose. Hope this helps..............

Aaron

 

I ran a thin bead of black RTV along the top of the side window trim on the outside. Had leaks on left and right sides of the van. Been a couple years now, no more leaks, and a quick fix.

I also had a leak in the back that would soak the carpet behind the rear seat in a good rain. Took me a long time to chase this one down. Turned out to be a hairline crack in the body weld on the top of the van at the back corner near the tailgate hinge. Sealed it with clear RTV.

John

 

window leak fixed.

it seems like either they never tightened the window nuts at the factory, or they vibrated loose. all 10 of them? yeah right.

seeing as there was black sealant in the threads of the bolts, I highly doubt they just shook themselves loose.

I first loosened the bolts to allow a gap on the outside of the van, and I added more sealer before tightening them back up.

no more leaks. hardest part of the job was getting the seat out, and not having any screws left over!

 

The only sure cure seems to be pulling all the interior trim loosening all the bolts, and using a small bead of some kind of sealant. I like the clear stuff, mistly because the cleanup is easier. Caulk and tighten the bolts, and no more damp carpets. Looks like a simple job, but it will eat up an entire weekend.

 

Oh god - NO! I have the same leak, but in the left mid-passenger window, right above the rear A/C control panel. But since this is the LEFt side, Plus I have rear a/c, it sounds like a heck of a job. Maybe I'll just try Black rtv from the outside I can see the slight gap in the trim from the top outside.

 

Make sure it isn't a plugged drain on the rear air unit. That will dampen the carpet also.

 

It definitely was the rain. I wasn't using the A/C most of the time.

But where is the rear A/C drain anyway?

 

i just did mine. pulled seats and carpet out. most all screws were loose on both sides. i didn't use sealant,maybe i'll go back and do that. how tight did you make the screws? mine seem to tighten forever, i don't want the window to crack though. maybe some loctite will help keep them from loosening?....van all apart rick

 

the best way to find out if its the window leaking, is to take a small bottle or pitcher of water and pour IT SLOWLY along the top edge of the "suspect" window trim. make sure someone is inside the van to report when they see water dripping inside.

mine went something like this...
"ok ready?" yeah, go.....

"nope, nope nope nope, keep going..... WHOAH, stop!!!"

Its all or nothing man. then ya gotta take the inside wall out to get to the window. no biggy with power tools. more time consuming without em, but with my van, a 95, I have those darn safety belt loops up by the ceiling, they gotta come out to take the wall panel out. I think you need a torx T50 bit to do this if i remember. it took us MAYBE 15 miniutes to get the whole thing apart.

OH about thightening. just snug! not tight. if you have someone watch from the out side as you slowly tighten the nuts, they can see the glass start to distort along the edge where you are tightening the nut. thats bad! dont over tighten them. you could probably crack, or break the glass!

I think thats why we all have loose rear windows, cause the factory dudes broke a few by overtightening them. so they left em all a little "on the safe side".

good luck to all leakers out there!

 

Thanks for the encouragement. After looking at the left side panel and seeing that it goes all the way from the back the front, and must have hunreds of screws and parts to disconnect, I all but gave up. I decided to seal it from the outside by squeezing sealant along the trim.

But when you say it only took 15 minutes or so (although I still assume it will take me hours, even with power tools,) at least I renewed hope! Maybe I'll still try it one day.

 

take seats out first. remove all screws. then you can pull it away from the window enough to get a look-see. may be able to caulk it and tighten with out actually removing it that way.. worth a try! rick