Found a hole in my roof, from bad Manufacturing? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Found a hole in my roof, from bad Manufacturing?

double_take

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Joined
January 14, 2004
Messages
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City, State
Chicago, IL
Year, Model & Trim Level
'98 Sport & '00 E.B.
I went to change the seal in my rear drivers side window, thinking it was leaking. Well after I got the side panel off I followed the water path and found the real problem. I HAD AN F'ING HOLE IN MY ROOF!!!!!!

The hole was just shy of an 1/8" in diameter. It was located at the end of the channel that runs along the side of the roof. From the look of it, it's not damage or rust, but bad manufacturing. It appears then the channel was stamped in the sheetmetal for the roof there was a defect in the metal that created this hole. That means this leak has been there since it was made, but I've only owned it since January.

Has anyone else ever found something like this on their X?

I fixed it with a little 50 Year Exterior grade Clear Silicone Caulk. I hope it holds.
 



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That is bizare.
So the hole is on the ROOF section ?
Under the seam sealer ?
Can you see the hole from the out side ?
 






the hole is located at the end of the channel that is right between the side of the roof rack and where the roof starts to round over for the side of the truck. All the way at the end of it right in front of the tailgate.

There is no seam or anything that I can see it all appears to be metal. But yes the hole is visable from the outside.
 






Hmmmmmmm that is very strange.
Possibly vandalism ?
 






No I don't think vandalism, everything I see points to a defect in the sheetmetal during manufacturing. The hole has factory paint on it.
 






Is it possible that somebody had a wing mounted on it? Did you check the other side?
 






How about a pic ?
 






If it helps*Technically ford does have a rust perforation and defect against manufacturing* warentee thats supposed to last for 10 year 100K miles so if its a defective piece of sheet metal you may want to give ford corporate a call and see what they say.( i say corprate b/c the ahole at the dealer will look at you like your on crack and not the one in a sidewalk)..Hope this helps- Nick
 






NaplesBill said:
Is it possible that somebody had a wing mounted on it? Did you check the other side?

No hole on the other side.

As for the request for a pic I can give you one but I've already sealed it with clear silicone so you can't really see the hole anymore. As long as the silicone holds I guess I'm not going to worry about it.

I guess I'm the only person to have this issue. Good I would hate to think Ford lets this happen alot.
 






I just had the roof fixed on my '01 Sport in the same area about a month ago.

My cargo area had been getting soaked for over a year, but I couldn't find a hole anywhere. I finally took out the whole interior from behind the front doors, and sealed every crack I could see. Still didn't stop the leak, so I took my gutted truck to a dealership. They found a separation hidden under the rear edge of the roof rack right in the seam area. They charged me $100 to basically put silicone sealer in there. They didn't even have to do any assembly or disassembly other than the roof rack.:fire:

BTW-I asked the service advisor at the dealership about the paint warranty, because my the bottom of my hatch is rusting out, and he said it's only covered for 3 years/36K miles. Guess I'll have to ask someone a little higher up.

My X is actually back in the shop right now (different dealership) for trans repair, front diff leak, and an annoying squeal from the front of the engine. I'll ask them about the paint when I go to pick up my truck.

-Mike
 






Very strange...

The perforation warranty is DEFINATELY longer than 3yrs 36k. It has to be PERFORATED though, it doesn't cover surface rust. Meaning you have to wait until the rust eats a hole in the metal.
 












I also have a leak from currently known source(s)...

What would you guys recommend?
Removing the roof rack entirely and sealing the whole thing (anywhere is connects to the truck?

In addition to the roof rack, I seem to have metal 'strips' that travel the length of the roof - but don't seem to serve any particular purpose.

I guess I should seal these to.

Anyone have this problem? When it rains I get water on my passanger seat - but its not the sunroof - it seems to leak in from around the sun visor (I think the water travels forward until if finds a path into the interior)...
 






What would you guys recommend?
Removing the roof rack entirely and sealing the whole thing (anywhere is connects to the truck?

In addition to the roof rack, I seem to have metal 'strips' that travel the length of the roof - but don't seem to serve any particular purpose.

I have those strips too, they're part of the roof rack option. They do have a purpose, it's to keep any luggage from scraping your roof paint when you have it tied to the rack.

As for finding the leak, trace it from the inside to its source, it's much easier than looking from the outside with all that molding attatched to the top.
 






My truck has visible rust in several places. The hatch has rust along the whole bottom edge and its even visible from the outside. I'll have to see what they can do about it.

-Mike
 






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