My back window is leaking when it rains. I want to take the trim off from around the window and try to seal it up. I want to get the trim off without breaking it. Does anybody know the secret to getting the trim off without breaking it? Its a 1997 F150 extended cab with sliding rear window.

 

Remove rear seat, remove interior trim from the back of the cab. Once the trim is removed you'll find several nuts that need to be removed, once the nuts are removed you should be able to pull the window while in the pickup box. Have a roll of butyl handy for sealing it back up.

 

fold the rear seat down, and pop the trim off around the rear window on the inside. may be a couple screws visible. pull the head liner down 2-3 inches and feel up inside and down the posts. there are two rows of screws/ nuts. one holds the plastic trim on the outside, the second row holds the window in. as mentioned, you can buy a roll of buytle seal made to redo the groove in the window unit. the window pushes out into the bed area. use a screw driver to go around the inner edge and pop the old seal loose. look in the archives and you will find photos somewhere.

 

This might help, notice the green circled bolts:

 

i think the green would be the window screws and the yellow are the outer trim ring. thats the photo all right.

 

Seems like I went through the leaky rear window thing a few years ago on my 2000 f150 supercab. The forum I was on and I believe it was this one pretty much all said there is no seal behind the outer trim ring and the butyl seal won't fix it. The window has some type of plastic rain gutter that cracks or breaks and rain that comes down around the outside trim goes into the window gutter and leaks inside. The butyl seal on the cab between the window frame isn't the problem.

I checked with some glass shops and was told the same thing that replacing the seal or trying to caulk it somewhere won't fix it. I found a mobile glass shop who works out of his home that was a cheaper in replacing it and he said the same thing. I helped him replace it and it didn't appear to me that replacing the seal alone would be the problem. As I recall, we removed the window from the inside and didn't even mess with the outside trim bolts or removing the headliner.

Maybe someone can clarify all this and correct me if any of the this we did before is wrong. Thanks.

 

I did some investigating and found that Ford has put out a TSB on this problem. I just got this truck and the first time I drove it in the rain my kids about got downed. I never would have thought to remove the inside trim. I was trying to pry it off from the outside. Its a good thing I quit before I tore it up. Thanks guys!

 

bc, you got it backward. the trim just sets on the surface. you can try to put rtv or caulk between the trim and roof metal to deflect the water. that works for some. worked for me for 2 years. eventually it leaked again. the only real fix is to remove the bolts on the inside of the cab, pull off the trim, then pull off the window (intot the bed). the window has a butyl caulk ring around it in a groove. you can buy one at Auto Zone for $15. scrape it off and install a new one. your right, the factory did not get the caulk into the groove correctly, normally behind the drivers head, at the top of the window. its easy to see once you pop the window out. it must go toward the bed of the truck.

 

You're probably right Steve. I just remember pulling the interior trim and there was room to get behind the headliner with a wrench or ratchet. I just remember the kid standing in the bed holding the window with suction cups while his dad tightened the bolts.

Mine did leak behind the driver's head at the top somewhere.

However the consensus they were telling me was that there was a hidden crack or defect in the window frame so it had to be replaced. I'll google for that TSB and see if I can find it.

At the same time, we replaced a cracked windshield on my daughter's 04 malibu which by the way is cracked again. Is there a primer somewhere on fixing that myself. I don't remember any trim having to be removed but I forget how the old one came out unless he just cut around it with a utility knife. Seems like then, they removed the old caulk and then went around with a tube of butyl caulk, let it set up, and then set the windowshield on with suction cups (I happen to have some). Then let it set for part of a day before slamming the doors.