Water Leak

[Ott23]

I purchase a 2011 Limited 4WD Explorer in July. I was recently on vacation this past weekend and encountered a lot of rain. When my 8 year old sat in the 3rd row and buckled the seatbelt, water started streaming down the webbing and I also noticed water on the speaker grill. This has happened twice so far.

This was the on the Right Rear 3rd Row. Any idea where the water is entering?

[Screwdriver]

I am having the exact same problem on my 2011 XLT. I brought it to the dealer and put a hose on the roof pointing towards the back and the water was leaking in. He sent it to a water guy who had it in a booth simulating a rain storm and the guy said he can't find the problem. He said he has the entire rear interior off. NOT what I wanted to hear.

Did you find your leak?

[jrmexplorer]

Originally Posted by Screwdriver

I am having the exact same problem on my 2011 XLT. I brought it to the dealer and put a hose on the roof pointing towards the back and the water was leaking in. He sent it to a water guy who had it in a booth simulating a rain storm and the guy said he can't find the problem. He said he has the entire rear interior off. NOT what I wanted to hear.

Did you find your leak?

I'm no expert on auto dealerships and dealer-mechanics, but based on your description it sounds like the mechanic put it in some sort of special rain simulator booth? I doubt dealerships have such things. My guess is that is code for - "the mechanic is in a paint booth with a hose." Sounds to me like you need to offer to show the mechanic the leak yourself as you apparantely can reproduce it.

While your at it, show him the rain noise problem. If they have half your headliner down, they may as well fix that too. Search the forum and you'll know what I'm talking about.

[Screwdriver]

I showed the dealer the problem and he acknowledged it. He said he has it at a place that has 8 water jets that hit the car like a rain storm.

I'll check out the noise problem.

Thanks!

[Screwdriver]

My dealer got back to me today. He said they found the leak. Not only did they find the one I told them about, but found another one the drivers side. He said it was the seams. The sealant they use, he said it was some goo or something, seemed to fail. He said I should have it back in a few days.

[gdecamp]

Originally Posted by Ott23

This was the on the Right Rear 3rd Row. Any idea where the water is entering?

My wife has a Saab 93 Aero. She was getting water on the carpet and they could not find the source of the problem for over a year. Finally someone figured out that there is a hose that drains the sunroof somewhere that is suppose to take the water and I guess shoot it down to the road....well it was clogged and split and leaked water into the front passenger carpet. Not only did they fix it but they removed all the carpeting in the car, front and back, and replaced it with new factory carpeting. They did the right thing, mold can be nasty!!

Hope yours is quicker and easier to find....do you have a sunroof??

[Screwdriver]

Originally Posted by gdecamp

My wife has a Saab 93 Aero. She was getting water on the carpet and they could not find the source of the problem for over a year. Finally someone figured out that there is a hose that drains the sunroof somewhere that is suppose to take the water and I guess shoot it down to the road....well it was clogged and split and leaked water into the front passenger carpet. Not only did they fix it but they removed all the carpeting in the car, front and back, and replaced it with new factory carpeting. They did the right thing, mold can be nasty!!

Hope yours is quicker and easier to find....do you have a sunroof??

No I don't have a sunroof, they found the leak it was the seams. Should have it back Friday.

[Ott23]

The dealer had my vehicle for a week and could not find the problem. They tried hosing it with water and taking it to a car wash and still could not find the leak. When it did finally rain, they left the car out but had it parked facing down hill. The water drained off the front of the vehicle even though they knew the leak was in the 3rd row compartment - not too smart. Still they could not find the leak.

Regardless that it has now happened on 3 separate rain days and I have photographic evidence, the dealer can not fix it until they actually see the leak and source themselves

It rains on average 138 days in the Detroit area. $48,000 for a vehicle that I can only drive 2/3 of the year.

Not too happy right now.....

[Ott23]

Originally Posted by Screwdriver

My dealer got back to me today. He said they found the leak. Not only did they find the one I told them about, but found another one the drivers side. He said it was the seams. The sealant they use, he said it was some goo or something, seemed to fail. He said I should have it back in a few days.

Thanks for letting me know they found your leak. I'll share this with the Dealer.

[Screwdriver]

You're welcome. I was supposed to get it back today, but they said they found a third leak!! This one was by the tailgate. That's 3 leaks in a brand new car.

But at least they found them. I was worried they were going to tell me the same thing they told you.

[Spengracin]

Great another issue with the ex, maybe the extra robots quality control is not so good, hire a humans!

[Ott23]

Originally Posted by Screwdriver

You're welcome. I was supposed to get it back today, but they said they found a third leak!! This one was by the tailgate. That's 3 leaks in a brand new car.

But at least they found them. I was worried they were going to tell me the same thing they told you.

My car was leaking again and I just returned it back to the Dealer. They saw the same leak. Where were your leaks located? Who was your Dealer so they can communicate the process to fix it?

Thanks Again

[FordCustSrvc]

Originally Posted by Ott23

My car was leaking again and I just returned it back to the Dealer...

Ott23,
I’m happy to help get the leak taken care of by sending an escalation to the Customer Service Manager in your region. For me to do this, send me a PM with your dealer information, VIN, approximate mileage, and contact info. I’m confident they will lend a hand to fix the problem once and for all.

Cory

[Ott23]

After 2 weeks in the shop, they finally located and fixed the water leak. It was a cracked seal between the roof and rear quarter panel.

It rained all last week and no water came in.

[chimoman]

XLT= X tra L eaky T hirdrow.

Just a joke, no need for some jackass response. This was jackass enough

[toddp]

Originally Posted by Ott23

I purchase a 2011 Limited 4WD Explorer in July. I was recently on vacation this past weekend and encountered a lot of rain. When my 8 year old sat in the 3rd row and buckled the seatbelt, water started streaming down the webbing and I also noticed water on the speaker grill. This has happened twice so far.

This was the on the Right Rear 3rd Row. Any idea where the water is entering?

I had the same problem with water running down the rear driver side seatbelt when it rained in my one month old 2011 Explorer. I saw some threads where it could be the roof seams and when I contacted Ford they said there is no TSB for this and there was not a known fix. After leaving it at the dealer for them to check out I get a call saying it is fixed and they had a water guy come in and find the leak and he re-sealed the roof and quarter panel. The dealer couldn't tell me what they used and I am now concerned with how long this product will last. I am pretty sure the seam was welded at the factory and now I have some goop sealing it. not good

[scotty7676]

Add me to the list of leaky right rear seatbelt leaks! In my used 2011 Limited, went to open the hatch today in the rain to load groceries and noticed water running down the 3rd row seatbelt. I only noticed it when the rear hatch was opened. Drove home into the garage, opened the rear hatch and it was dry, no water....so I'm guessing it only does it when the rear hatch is open. In any case, I'm going to call the local dealer and ask if he knows of the problem, otherwise I'm not going to waste my time and rental car money for them to have it for 2 weeks and tell me they don't find anything.

[scotty7676]

Well, just realized it leaks all the time, not only when the rear hatch is open.

[harlenm]

Mine leaks too. Had it fixed last week, was at the dealer for 5 days. Has only rained once, so not enough to tell if it still leaks as it is an intermittent problem.

[lbcharger]

Mine was leaking too. Dealer tried to fix it but failed. I narrowed it down to a body seam about 6 in long right in front of rear hatch hinges. I sealed these and also around hinges.No more leak. It's hard to get the leak to show when hatch is closed because weatherstrip channels roof water to the sides of the hinge channel.