richmod

I know - another water leak thread.Since this onedetails somesteps I'm taking to fix it myself(hopefully), I thought it would be better to start a new thread rather than make people find it amidst the other huge threads on the issue.

I spent a few hours yesterday trying to isolate the leak. (I have 10,000 miles left on my warranty, so I figured I'd give it a shot myself before reluctantly handing it over to the dealer). First I removed the passenger side kick panel trim and glove box for easy access and viewing.I also pulled back the carpet and pad. Here's what and how I tested and the results.

1. Garden hose to the cowl cover for at least 10 minutes, making sure to get every possible area, as well as makng sure the water flowed over theedge of the cover in the corners by the A-pillar. Result: no leak
2. Removed passenger cowl cover and opened hood. Garden hose to the cowl area for 10 minutes, making sure to soak each cowl cover grommet and pinch weld for several minutes. During this time, I watched the excess water flow into the cowl channel and out the rubber drain plug at the bottom. Result: no leak, and at no time did the water build up in the cowl channel - it drained through the drain plug easily.
3. Garden hose on jet setting to the passenger floor board area under the car for several minutes. Result: no leak.
4. Removed passenger side fender splash guard trim (in wheel well). Here's a pic of the exposed area from another thread:



Garden hose jet to all exposed body seams for several minutes. Result: no leak.

5. Garden hose jet to rubber wire grommet in fire wall (now exposed after removing splash trim - see pic above). Result: LEAK. it only took a few seconds for it to start running around the grommet, running both over and under the firwall foam shield in the car. The grommet appeared to be in properly, with no gaps around it. The amount of water that entered was MUCH more than what I had found after a rain storm. So much so that i had to run a fan overnight on the carpert pad to dry it.
6. Removed rubber wire grommet above smart junction box in car. Here's a pic of it from another thread:



Garden hose to passenger side cowl area for several minutes. Result: no leak. I didn't even see any water running behind the wire bundle.

So here's the kicker: I get in to move my car back into the garage and notice my DRIVERS' side has a drop or two of water on the carpet. So I pull the kick panel trim and sure enough there are water droplets all around and above the fuel pump switch thingy and the electronic boxes there. So I contort myself to look up behind that stuff and see a wire grommet and wire bundle way up there, andit has water drops on the bottom of it. I feel and look up above it as best I can and it feels and looks dry. Nothing above that grommet is wet. This wire bundle runs through the A-pillar, so there is a rubber seal on the outside near the door hinge. Soak that thing for several minutes but could not reproduce the leak in the car. I believe the water had to have ran down the wire in the space between these two grommets.

So what to make of all this?:
- Although the passenger firewall grommet obviously lets water in, I'm not sure it's the sole source of my leak. I have had water dropletsspray all over the kick panel area, including above the SJB and ABOVE the wire grommet that is above the SJB. I can't see how water coming through the firewall grommet could get up there, particularly since I blasted it much harder and more directly than normal driving circumstances and still couldn't get water to spray up that far.
- The drivers side leak leads me to believe that the same thing is happening on the passenger side, I just wasn't lucky enough to reproduce it. The ONLY water that I sprayed on the drivers side was on and over the cowl cover (I didn't remove the cowl cover). That rules out the firewall grommet and a floorboard seam.Somehow watergot from the cowl areaand dripped from above into the drivers kick panel area.It's most likely path was down the wire bundle and through/around the grommet. The question is - how is it getting to the wire bundle? Is it the cowl cover grommets? A missed seam? Something else?

So here's my plan:
1. Keep passenger kick-panel trim and glove box off while driving for easy view.
2.Seal each firewall and kick panel wire grommet temporarily with either a rag or clear plastic and some duct tape. Next time it rains, look for leak. If there is no leak and the rag/plastic is substantially wet, than that's the sole source of the poblem.
3. IfI still get water spray type leak, then it aint the grommets. If that happens,I will spend some time soaking the A-pillar and door trim and watching for leaks.IfI can't find it that way...
4. Remove the fender and look for gaps in seam sealer.

I plan on sealing the grommets as mentioned this weekend, so I'll report back after the first rain after that point.

cavediver

It's most likely the 10 cowl cover grommets. Remove both cowl cover (you'll need a small gear puller / battery terminal puller to remove the wiper arms). Then remove the grommets and seal them and the gasket back in place with a good urethane sealer. I bought a tube of 3M urethane from Advance Auto parts for about $14.00 and it seal great. Let it cure for a 4-6 hours so it won't move when you install the cowl covers. Don't waste your money on silicon, it won't last. When you look at those grommets and the gasket they seal with you will quickly see where the water is coming in from.

richmod

I would have guessed it was them too, but drenching the grommets directly with water for 10 minutes produced no passenger side leak. Perhaps when the car is moving the water gets sloshed back and will then leak. Anyway, I figure I'll rule out all possible entry points before I start sealing stuff. I plan on buying and using the sealant noted in the TSB.

Beavis

I will be watching thisthread to see what you find out. I had the leak also and I'm not convinced its fixed. I never have enough time to tear everything apart to try to find the leak, so I guess I will have to take a day off to look for it.Thanks for posting your results, good luck finding it and keep us posted.

06blueovalblueGT

Thanks Richmond,
Great write-up,
Now I can spend time on the,
Front-end thunking noise,and the whine-ing noise while turning the wheel !!!
oh yea,
forgot about the dead battery................

cavediver

I think the grommets may leak very slowly and it takes a while for the water to work it's way through the bulkhead/firewall and that's why the leak doesn't show up for a while. I actually didn't have a leak but I checked everything per the TSB more as a preventative maintenance effort. When I saw those grommets and how they were sealed I decided to seal them up as detailed in the TSB except I went one step further and removed them and sealed them inside and out.

The TSB recommends urethane sealer which is a little tough to find but like I said in my reply, I found it at AAP in a caulking gun tube. It's used mostly for sealing windshields. It has incredible strength and stays flexible and waterproof. Good stuff!

richmod

Sounds alot like what Ford recommends in the TSB: Motorcraft Repair Urethane Adhesive/Seam Sealer

I'll see what they each cost and compare - may just go with the stuff you mentioned. Thanks for the tip.

157dB

Closer pic of the leak area under the grommet:

[IMG]local://upfiles/69445/5D01D42385514891A702E9A8D819E044.jpg[/IMG]

richmod

Okay, so I stuffed a rag into and under the lip of the firewall grommet inside the car:



I also stuffed a rag into the hole where the grommet used to be (I removed it) above the SJB:



There is no way any substantial amount of water will get past these rags. If they are the source of the leak, then I should have no more leaks and the rags should be wet. IfI still get a leak, then it will rule out these two areas and hopefully make it easier to see where the water did come in.

Now - just need some rain. I'm still gonna try a jet hose to the door trim when I get a chance, and maybe a jet hose to each cowl grommet (last time I just used a garden hose with no nozzle).

I'm gonna find this freakin' leak!

aircare84

That was mine in those pics, I've had a few good rains & a few washings since I sealed up the grommet & haven't noticed any more moisture yet, so hopefully it's cured. I also sealed up where the antenna runs through as well for good measure. The cowl drains are right above & most of the water runs down & around the grommet.
My dealer is a small town, & the 'water leak' guy is is only in every other Tuesday for 2 hrs, figured it would take more of my time going there than the hour or so I spent myself.

Will have to look into the drivers side as well, but I've not yet had even any dampness on the drivers side myself.

I used an aircraft sealer called Pro-Seal myself, it's usually good for about 20yrs. We use it for fuel cells, etc.