Door Gaskets / Molding / Weatherstripping

[DeLeSaAZ]

For a car 9 months old when I bought it, all the inside door frame gaskets for the drivers door were not only totally flattened out, but cracked and ripped as well. I had my '13 Edge for almost 4 years before getting this Explorer and the only issue I ever had was the sunroof track (twice - hence I didn't do the sunroof in this car). I can say that this Explorer started out in Colorado - but it would have spent the tail end of one winter in the cold, snow, ice - hardly long enough to destroy door gaskets. Anyone else have this issue?

 

[idahobobb]

our 2015 Ex is showing signs of that starting on the passenger front door gasket...starting a small tear

 

[Odrapnew]

For a car 9 months old when I bought it, all the inside door frame gaskets for the drivers door were not only totally flattened out, but cracked and ripped as well. I had my '13 Edge for almost 4 years before getting this Explorer and the only issue I ever had was the sunroof track (twice - hence I didn't do the sunroof in this car). I can say that this Explorer started out in Colorado - but it would have spent the tail end of one winter in the cold, snow, ice - hardly long enough to destroy door gaskets. Anyone else have this issue?

Not sure about the flattened out part, but it's possible the gaskets froze to the door and ripped when the door was opened.

 

[DeLeSaAZ]

First off, I'm calling it door moulding while the dealer report calls it Weather Stripping and breaks it into "door side weather stripping" and "body side weather stripping".

Personally, weather stripping and moulding and gaskets can be extremely interchangeable so it's difficult to call it the official name and I hate sounding stupid! I've always purchased the Workshop Manual for each car I've owned, they're SO worth their weight and I really prefer the actual book to the CD. Books are easy to just flip through and see what catches your interest. Only problem is, on a 2016, the books would be super expensive (just a guess). I totally forgot, I still have the books for my 2006 Explorer and 2008 Expedition. I'm not mechanical BUT what I like them best for is it shows the best way of opening panels, access doors and the like without destroying the panel or clip. They come in handy in SO many ways. So after this posting, I need to put my service manuals for the '06 Explorer and '08 Expedition on eBay.

Anyway, call it what you will - I'm talking about the spongy strip that goes around the inside of each door to seal against the body whilst closed as well as the spongy thing that goes around the door entry of the car itself to seal against the door whilst closed which, to me anyway, is more like moulding. At the bottom of the car-body with the door open, there is another seal - and this one is more like the type in your house on the floor part of outdoor door jambs, just a "hump" of raised rubber to press against the bottom of the door when closed. To me, that's more like weather stripping - but hey, I'm not mechanic, no carpenter, I just buy the stuff at Home Depot to reseal windows!!

My car is under warranty for awhile so I don't need to worry just yet. But, aside from one of the door mouldings they replaced, I totally forgot the passenger front door moulding (spongy one!) was pulling apart where it comes together right in the middle of the door entry point - where it will get kicked and stepped on (both ends meet and terminate by slipping around a small "tube" to keep them in place - this is the one on the car itself, not the door. Really bad placement for a starting and terminating point for the moulding. It did pull apart and I've tried to slide one end back around the tube but the moulding/gasket/weather stripping/whatever you wish to call it has shrunk a bit so it's a tight fit.

My original plan, which I desperately need to start, was to have pen/paper in the car at all times and write ALL the little (or not so little) quirks and issues so that next time I go into the dealer for service I can just go through and get it all done in one shot. This current time around threw me for a loop because I wasn't planning on going in - when my Low Charge warning started, it went directly from work to San Tan Ford where I promptly forgot most of the things in my head!

As much as I love the Explorer - and I've wanted to upgrade from the Edge for a very long time - I've got to say that of the now 5 Fords in a row I've purchased, this definitely is the most disappointing. Don't get me wrong, I love the features, love the way it drives and handles - but as for Quality Control....can't say I'm thrilled for such a new-ish car.

 

[Macnerd]

For a car 9 months old when I bought it, all the inside door frame gaskets for the drivers door were not only totally flattened out, but cracked and ripped as well. I had my '13 Edge for almost 4 years before getting this Explorer and the only issue I ever had was the sunroof track (twice - hence I didn't do the sunroof in this car). I can say that this Explorer started out in Colorado - but it would have spent the tail end of one winter in the cold, snow, ice - hardly long enough to destroy door gaskets. Anyone else have this issue?

The weather stripping on my 16 XLT is all wavy and weird and the wind noise out of my driver's door has become unbearable.

 

[DeLeSaAZ]

The weather stripping on my 16 XLT is all wavy and weird and the wind noise out of my driver's door has become unbearable.

My Ford Service Tech said the twisting is normal and SOME flattening is normal - but mine was actually cracked in some spots, totally flattened out in others. They replaced the drivers side stripping and they have some testing method to check to make sure it's within the tolerance guideline. Probably if they can insert a playing card it's okay - if they can insert TWO stacked playing cards, it's not okay - something really technical like that!

 

[Macnerd]

Do you think this is something they'll consider helping with under the 3/36 warranty or should I run down and make a stink before my 12 mo / 12k is up next week?

 

[peterk9]

Do you think this is something they'll consider helping with under the 3/36 warranty or should I run down and make a stink before my 12 mo / 12k is up next week?

If it is "unbearable" as you stated, why not take it to the dealer ASAP so that they at least have a record of the complaint/issue on file if nothing else.

Peter

 

[Macnerd]

If it is "unbearable" as you stated, why not take it to the dealer ASAP so that they at least have a record of the complaint/issue on file if nothing else.

Peter

My local dealer is extremely difficult to get an appointment with right now because most of their technicians quit, so I have to go to a dealer that's pretty far away.

Edit: DeLaSaAZ, do you have any photos of what your weather stripping looks like? the point you made about it being a little warped/waved being normal has me wondering which of mine are the messed up ones and which are what it's supposed to look like on this car.

 

[peterk9]

My local dealer is extremely difficult to get an appointment with right now because most of their technicians quit, so I have to go to a dealer that's pretty far away.......
.

Perhaps you may be better off with the far away dealer depending on why the techs at the original dealer quit. I have one 2 miles up the road but do business with the one 20 miles away because of reputation.

Peter

 

[DeLeSaAZ]

Do you think this is something they'll consider helping with under the 3/36 warranty or should I run down and make a stink before my 12 mo / 12k is up next week?

Mine has 24k on it and I'm the 2nd owner. It was totally covered under the 3 year 36k mile warranty, as were all the other items I mentioned in the full post - weather stripping/door seals, front door power windows jumping, bad connector from alternator to battery, and the Electronic Throttle Body (as per recall). As someone else suggested, I'm going to have them look at my outer body chrome pieces which are spotted with rust that I've been unable to remove, as that should be covered under warranty as well. This being my 5th Ford in a row, it does have a lot of weird quirks and "gremlins" so I will for sure buy an Extended Warranty when mine is closer to finishing. (BTW, I discovered some time back that Extended Warranties are cheaper through the Ford site (for the actual, genuine Ford warranty - of course, cheaper generic ones can be found) than from the dealer by a lot! Anyway, they used to be years ago. Do your homework! I'm sure some don't think they're worth it but I'm not a mechanic and one major repair can pay for the warranty)

 

[DeLeSaAZ]

My local dealer is extremely difficult to get an appointment with right now because most of their technicians quit, so I have to go to a dealer that's pretty far away.

Edit: DeLaSaAZ, do you have any photos of what your weather stripping looks like? the point you made about it being a little warped/waved being normal has me wondering which of mine are the messed up ones and which are what it's supposed to look like on this car.

Macnerd, sorry, I don't have any pictures because first off, I didn't really have any twisting issues - he was just throwing it out there along with other issues that they consider "normal", plus the parts that were bad have already been fixed. But any wind noise should not be acceptable over a certain level. I would certainly complain about it if it's bothersome (I have noise from my front passenger window like turbulence - which is, of course, impossible to isolate when I'm driving! I need a wind tunnel!). I have heard about the techs test driving with a (thing that measures noise - sorry, I have a medical issue that keeps me from remembering certain words at times. But you know - a "noise-ometer!" must be what it's called, makes sense!!) and they'll tell you if it's out of limits and be able to isolate it better. It's super annoying though, driving along with tunes blasting - but you can still hear that air leak!!)

 

[Daheim111]

Both front door body-side weatherstrips come loose / they fit no more exactly...what can I do to fasten these strips ?

 

[dcyphert]

This is an old thread, but my 2013 XLT passenger side weather seal (attached to vehicle-not the door) has split (pretty good for 107K miles)....local dealership says he can get the replacement cost down to $108.....anyone else purchase anywhere besides Ford? If so, where?

 

[CAtoFLin1994]

Our 2017 Sport started showing cracks after about a year. I took it to the dealer and they replaced two different pillar pieces because they got "confused by the work order"? wth. I had even put blue tape on the pieces along with the part number taped to the radio. Rather than return again , I had them give me the 2 front door pieces to put in myself. It's a 5 minute job and you can get them off E-Bay for $35 each. They covered it all under my warranty, and I just returned the bad ones to the service technician.

 

[Jon M]

This is an old thread, but my 2013 XLT passenger side weather seal (attached to vehicle-not the door) has split (pretty good for 107K miles)....local dealership says he can get the replacement cost down to $108.....anyone else purchase anywhere besides Ford? If so, where?

View attachment 162876

Tasca parts. They're about $40 each. Easy to replace, just three plastic buttons that you break off on the old ones, and press in the new ones. Takes 5 minutes to do both.