Water Leak

[reserved50]

The Explorers are known to leak around the hatch hinges, body and wire grommets, the roof corner seams where it joins the lower hatch panel (about a 5" area to the very back at the top corner) and where the roof dips down at the back where the hinge area is. I'm sure theres more I forgot but mine was leaking from every one, including the roof rack bolts. I'm just saying it'll get expensive really quick if they have to mix up paint every time a new leak appears.

I just need the body shop to fix it. I'm a mechanic (not a ford mechanic) pretty much I point to what needs to be repaired and they fix it up. i send all my found water leaks to the body shop. They are pretty good. Haven't had any come backs from them on water leaks in the past couple years I have been using them.

 

[Wheels1950]

2011 explorer fixed

The area when u open the gate where the rubber seal sits that's where it's leaking ! Had mine back 7 times the last guy fixed it .
It doesn't look pretty but is finally not leaking .
Frank

 

[tmg19103]

Don't forget the rear seat-belt leak could be as simple as the rear roof rack leaking where it attaches to the roof. Not enough sealant put in during production. This is a cheap, quick and easy fix for any shop that has done it. Just take off the rear part of the roof rack and insert sealant. 25 minute to have my leak fixed due to this.

I'd rule this out first. Years back my GMC Jimmy would not go into 4-whell drive. Quoted $1.400 by the dealer for some reason I can't remember. Just out of warranty and was living in Charlotte at the time. Hardly any snow so I figured I'd leave it be. Well, got a couple of inches of snow. Out of curiosity I took the button console that puts it into 4-wheel off. Low and behold the connector to the 4-wheel button had come off. Easy fix. Like doctors, sometimes you may want a second opinion.

 

[greg0920]

After much sealant the leak is fixed. What they found is the grommet for the rear windshield washer was not sealing. Once they put sealant around that no more leak. Now this might not be the case for everyone but it did fix my problem. Thanks for all the help.

 

[peterk9]

After much sealant the leak is fixed. What they found is the grommet for the rear windshield washer was not sealing. Once they put sealant around that no more leak. Now this might not be the case for everyone but it did fix my problem. Thanks for all the help.

I believe this is the first one like it.

Peter

 

[greg0920]

Don't get me wrong there is sealant all over the inside tailgate of my Ex. When the water doctors came out they ran water looked for the leak, sealed where they saw it coming in and that happen to be one of the MANY spots. I have to say ford really let me down with this model year. My 95 XLT was great. Now I am having issues with hesitation when accelerating.

 

[reserved50]

my rear wiper arm grommet was leaking, it was puddling at the bottom of the rear window inside (traces of dirt). Most people wouldn't notice because the water ran behind the panel and out the hatch drains.

 

[greg0920]

Wow! I guess each one had a different spot on it. There is really no way to narrow down the problem areas.

 

[MikeCallery]

Just picked up my 2011 XLT from the dealer with, amongst other issues, a leak. I was told by the mechanic that there have been issues with the rear hatch support, passenger side, where it is welded to the roof and roof support. There are cracks starting up there and have been for some time on a lot of Explorers. It allows the water to run inside the vehicle and come out either at the far back 3rd row passenger seat belt or down the side into the area where the subwoofer resides and then into the truck well. According to the mechanic Ford knows about this, has known about it, but is not doing anything about it. He had to go to the inside of the vehicle and reseal it. Cost, $300. which I got down to $200. --- Ludicrous!

 

[Brandon Arnold]

New to the page but I have been searching around for possible leak causes. I have a 2011 Explorer with a sunroof/moonroof and when left in the rain water seams to drip around the front center overhead light. I felt around the sunroof and found water had collected in the headliner around the sunroof and moonroof. There is like plastic framing glued the the headliner and water had collected in in.

Today I dropped the headliner down far enough to look around while spraying the top of the car with water. During this time I saw no water dripping anywhere but into the water catches and out the drain. I camemailed back to the car about an hour later after dinner to finish it up and found water leaked out into the headliner. What I noticed what looked to be water leaking at the left rear corner of the moonroof frame around some rivets.

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum Brandon Arnold.
Did you by any chance also check the spare tire well for signs of water?

Peter

 

[Brandon Arnold]

No I did not check around the spare tire.

 

[MikeCallery]

New to the page but I have been searching around for possible leak causes. I have a 2011 Explorer with a sunroof/moonroof and when left in the rain water seams to drip around the front center overhead light. I felt around the sunroof and found water had collected in the headliner around the sunroof and moonroof. There is like plastic framing glued the the headliner and water had collected in in.

Today I dropped the headliner down far enough to look around while spraying the top of the car with water. During this time I saw no water dripping anywhere but into the water catches and out the drain. I camemailed back to the car about an hour later after dinner to finish it up and found water leaked out into the headliner. What I noticed what looked to be water leaking at the left rear corner of the moonroof frame around some rivets.

I have had this happen to me twice and both times the problem was the same, the drain holes from the sunroof were clogged up. I would take a turn and have water come out from the overhead light in front of the sun roof.

Open the sunroof and look at the front corners and you will see the drain holes. LIkely one is clogged. I poured some vinegar down into them, use a very soft wire to insert and ran water gently. It was obvious when they became unclogged the water would simply flow very quickly. This solved my issue both times.

 

[Brandon Arnold]

Update on my leak. Today I pulled the headliner completely down and ran water over the top again. This time I found where the gutter across the rear of the moonroof dumps the water into the side rails was actually spilling water outside the rail and into the track of the shade then spewing out the back of the entire frame. I made some adjustments to the end of the gutter byou bending and tweaking it. Also loosened the 4 screws along the side of the moonroof and adjusted it to make a better seal.

 

[smashclash]

So we bought a 2013 Explorer with a moonroof (and the glass for the back seats) from Carmax a few weeks ago. Today was the first day we had a really strong rain. I backed the car out of the driveway (it's a slight incline) and then put in drive and started moving forward. That's when a bunch of water poured inside the car. Water came down the pillar on the passenger side behind the front seat out the seatbelt. Water also came out the light in the back seat passenger seat. I pulled over and took a look and also saw wet spots around the rear passenger side a/c vent, and on the glass inside the back rear passenger side by the tailgate.

I'm assuming I may have clogged drain lines (car only has 27K). I slid back the glass and see the two drain holes at the corners of the front. I poured water from a water bottle down them to see if they drain and they do. So I'm assuming it's one or both of the rear drain holes that seem to me to be inaccessible (from the top at least).

But what worries me is upon closer look of the glass when looking at the top of the vehicle. The back glass (section that's fixed above the middle row seats) weatherstripping is not flush with the body. I would assume it's expected for water to get in this seam and drain through the holes but I'm worried my seam gap is larger than normal and is bringing in more water than can be drained.

I plan to stop at another dealership to see how other explorers with the sunroof seam is from the rear weatherstrip to the body for comparison. But I'm worried this could be part of the issue.

Here's a pic. It might be hard to tell but you can see the weatherstrip is kind of warped.

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum smashclash.
Usually, according to previous posts, if the drain tubes are blocked the water puddles in either the front or second row foot wells. The diagram is courtesy of Jason, jmr061.
Good luck.

Peter

 

[smashclash]

Thanks. So after reading this entire thread I'm worried. I found evidence or witnessed water coming in the passenger side front seatbelt pillar, the passenger side 2nd row light in the roof, the passenger side a/c vent in the roof, and the glass in the very back by the third row. There was about a half inch of water in the cupholder on the driver side in the very back plastic cupholder comparment. I also found out the foam mat in the spare tire was completely soaked. So I have water coming in everywhere. I do dthink based on that amount of water, and from reading this thread, my problem is with the rear section of the seal on the moonroof. That's not to say the roof rails or the hatch in the back aren't problems too, but the moonroof seems to be what would have realistically let in the most amount of water.

I'm taking it back to Carmax to have them look at it on Wednesday. I'm in NJ so it's technically on a 90 day warranty. The factory warranty expired because the car was put in service 7/1/13 even though it has 27K on it.

 

[smashclash]

So here we are end of August and the issue is not resolved. Carmax has now had the car in their possession for 21 days.

Here's what they tell me they've done: Dropped the headliner and determined one of the rear drain hoses was either not hooked up correctly or kinked and they fixed that. I said we were also hearing excessive sound of air entering the car from the rear moonroof when traveling 50MPH+. I had put my hand in there to see if I could feel air entering but could not. However the air rush sounded like when you have the drivers side window cracked a little bit. They took a look at that and determined the rear glass was defective. They also contracted a national sunroof company that sublets to local installers and had them look at it. They determined that in addition to the rear glass being a problem the seal around the front glass (the one that slides) was also defective. Yesterday the 3rd party installer was on site to make the repairs which they did and Carmax took it through a carwash and it was dry. They called me and I went and picked up the car.

Immediately after getting it home I went at the roof with the hose and sprayed it down just like I had before we brought it in for service to confirm the leaks stopped and the roof was repaired. Well, after giving the roof a good soak it turns out not only is it not fixed but it might be leaking a little more now than ever before. My driveway is on a slight incline so the nose sits up higher than the rear. I think that helps allow water to get underneath the glass and go places it shouldn't vs going through the carwash. There was water dripping down both 3rd row seatbelts in the trunk area just like before. After getting in the car and driving it down the street to see if water came in anywhere else I could hear water rushing around in the roof and then water came pouring in the passenger side B pillar, out the light in the rear passenger seat, out the HVAC vent in the rear passenger seat and I noticed droplets of water along the rear of the rear glass on the inside.

I called Carmax and they told me to bring the car back and gave us back the loaner (an Escape). I called first thing this morning and spoke with the Service rep (since the service dept was closed when I picked up the car last night) and told her how frustrated we are and how I feel at this point we need to escalate this to be repaired at a dealership. Although I feel like bringing it to a dealer would be the best option to getting it repaired, based on the hassle people have had with this issue in this thread I'm very suspicious of the dealership being competent enough to repair it since it's such a difficult issue. Perhaps we just got a lemon.

 

[peterk9]

I believe that in most, if not all cases, the dealer will outsource the repair. That has been mentioned in this thread several times.

Peter

 

[smashclash]

True, outsourced to a "water guy."