roof leak - 94
 

Hello All -

My 94 Explorer (4dr) has developed a leak (when parked) that shows at the liner from the rear door on the drivers side back to the rear, sometimes dripping onto the plastic trim over the rear wheels. I sealed the rain gutters which ?helped? but I live in the west with little rain. I now think it may be leaking from the roof rack attachment/rider bars.

Any thoughts on how to figure where the leak is actually coming from? I am thinking:

- pull the liner and look for rust (please!! no!! difficult!!)
- unscrew the bars and look from the top

I would like to find the actual leak rather than coat the whole top with sealent.

thanks, pitney

I'd take a garden hose and slowly carefully work from the gutter/s in trying to reproduce the leak.

Hose one spot at a time and give it time to come through before moving to the next spot using care not to get water all over so you can't tell where it came from.

Once you find the spot then decide what to do about it.

Thanks, Dan. A reasonable approach rather than taking it all apart first. :)

On my 99 I had one rivet that was holding one of the roof rack bars (run front to back in the middle, not one of the side rails that actually has the rack attached) that was missing the center. Basicallay the rivet was like a small straw allowing water to get in and get the liner wet. I put a little dab of silicone in it and it has held for over a year.

my 94 did this too. and my step dad cleared the drains? i guess there are drains or something

Thanks 1081.

I probed my rivet holes and some went 1/2 inch deep and some 1 inch. So I filled them all with RTV and this seems to have stopped the leak(s).

pitney

No problem. It took me a while to find it myself, mainly because I would forget about it until it rained or I washed the car. Hope it stays dry!

leak finally located, fixed??
 

Hello All -

Wanted to provide further feedback on my leak.

After sealing the rivet holes in the roof, I still had a leak. After carefully inspecting the truck (again) I noticed that the exterior window molding on the rear sealed window had a gap and was not touching the truck. I used the garden hose method after spreading light blue paper towels like you get from petrol stations around the lower window (interior) and found that it leaked like the proverbial sieve, turning the towels dark blue. Black RTV has now been applied and cannot be noticed. Let's hope this fixes the problem.

pitney