Water leak issue-pictures
07-30-2010, 10:16 PM
#11
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Acworth, GA
Posts: 12,260
I used a OTC 4676. Available at most auto parts stores.
==>http://www.tooldiscounter.com/ItemDi...gle&kw=OTC4676
==>http://www.tooldiscounter.com/ItemDi...gle&kw=OTC4676
08-05-2010, 09:58 PM
#17
I live in new mexico where we rarely get heavy rain or any rain at all for that matter, but recently we had a couple of days of hard rain which was fine till i realized i had "the leak" i am out of warranty so i decided to try and tackle this issue myself till i have the funds for someone else to have a more in depth look at it.
The day i realized i had the leak me and my girlfriend were at a get together at one of my friends, i had a few drinks so my girlfriend was going to drive, i got in the passenger side and noticed a puddle, i have rubber floor mats which have a lip making it kind of like a bowl so all the water had collected in there. The actual carpet was wet as well but the mats took most of the damage luckily. As soon as my girlfriend started to take off more water just started pouring out from under the dash, it was like it was coming out of a faucet! luckily i had a bucket in the trunk which i placed under the dash while she drove the rest of the way. While she was driving water would come out only when she made turns, stopped or pressed on the gas, i could also hear water sloshing back in forth behind the dash.
When we got to my house i immediately began drying out the lake from the passenger side. When i finished doing as much as i could i got on here and began looking at other incidents, a lot of people were talking about the grommets and such so i decided to have a look the next day.
I am going to post some steps to help others who might want to do this
Step 1-Remove the cap from the wiper blade arms, they reveal a nut that you need to remove which will allow the arm to come off, once the nut is off the arm should come off with a good pull up, mine came off easily but others might have trouble, a gear puller is what others recommended to get them off.
Step 2-Once the wipers are off you can then take off the little circular pieces which hold the cowl on (see image below). To remove these just push up the little screw till it pops out, you can then take out the whole assembly.
Step 3-Once the circular pieces are removed you can then pull the cowl pieces off, start with driver side, be careful when pulling up on the pieces as to not break any of the pieces holding it on, once both pieces are off it will reveal something like this
Once i got the cowl off i began looking over things and everything seemed normal, but then i took a look into the little pocket where the air filter is located and noticed that there was a bunch of leaves and water in there and began pulling them out. I then looked on the other side where the battery and everything is located to find where the water was supposed to drain, i located the piece that the water drains from and it was CLOGGED! i began pulling stuff from the little piece and all the water just came rushing out. The piece is located to the right of the battery, its a little rubber piece that looks like the one below.
There is one on the driver side as well so make sure to clear that one. When its clear and your looking down into the firewall area it should look like this
This is about a third of what was in that little piece
What was happening was that when it rained enough or for long periods of time the water that was collecting in this area would have no place to drain so it would just fill up until it reached the level of the air filter and began draining there into the car, this is why when my girlfriend was driving the water sloshing back and forth would get high enough to come out and when she was at a complete stop it was to low so it would just sit in there. My air filter was wet and filthy!
I bought a new filter and put everything back together praying this was the only leak i had, it ended up raining the next day and i had no leak so hopefully this is the end of this, i have spent that past few days drying out the car and doing my best to prevent any rust, smell etc. Unfortunately i have a gremlin from the SJB getting wet, my caution flashers have been coming on by themselves so if anyone has any solutions to this problem or input is greatly appreciated.
What pist me off the most is that i believe ford knows this clogging/leaking is a possibility so they put their engineering heads together and came up with the best defense known to water, i give you exhibit A
Ya this will protect the SJB!
Good luck to anyone else who faces this issue and hope this info helps
The day i realized i had the leak me and my girlfriend were at a get together at one of my friends, i had a few drinks so my girlfriend was going to drive, i got in the passenger side and noticed a puddle, i have rubber floor mats which have a lip making it kind of like a bowl so all the water had collected in there. The actual carpet was wet as well but the mats took most of the damage luckily. As soon as my girlfriend started to take off more water just started pouring out from under the dash, it was like it was coming out of a faucet! luckily i had a bucket in the trunk which i placed under the dash while she drove the rest of the way. While she was driving water would come out only when she made turns, stopped or pressed on the gas, i could also hear water sloshing back in forth behind the dash.
When we got to my house i immediately began drying out the lake from the passenger side. When i finished doing as much as i could i got on here and began looking at other incidents, a lot of people were talking about the grommets and such so i decided to have a look the next day.
I am going to post some steps to help others who might want to do this
Step 1-Remove the cap from the wiper blade arms, they reveal a nut that you need to remove which will allow the arm to come off, once the nut is off the arm should come off with a good pull up, mine came off easily but others might have trouble, a gear puller is what others recommended to get them off.
Step 2-Once the wipers are off you can then take off the little circular pieces which hold the cowl on (see image below). To remove these just push up the little screw till it pops out, you can then take out the whole assembly.
Step 3-Once the circular pieces are removed you can then pull the cowl pieces off, start with driver side, be careful when pulling up on the pieces as to not break any of the pieces holding it on, once both pieces are off it will reveal something like this
Once i got the cowl off i began looking over things and everything seemed normal, but then i took a look into the little pocket where the air filter is located and noticed that there was a bunch of leaves and water in there and began pulling them out. I then looked on the other side where the battery and everything is located to find where the water was supposed to drain, i located the piece that the water drains from and it was CLOGGED! i began pulling stuff from the little piece and all the water just came rushing out. The piece is located to the right of the battery, its a little rubber piece that looks like the one below.
There is one on the driver side as well so make sure to clear that one. When its clear and your looking down into the firewall area it should look like this
This is about a third of what was in that little piece
What was happening was that when it rained enough or for long periods of time the water that was collecting in this area would have no place to drain so it would just fill up until it reached the level of the air filter and began draining there into the car, this is why when my girlfriend was driving the water sloshing back and forth would get high enough to come out and when she was at a complete stop it was to low so it would just sit in there. My air filter was wet and filthy!
I bought a new filter and put everything back together praying this was the only leak i had, it ended up raining the next day and i had no leak so hopefully this is the end of this, i have spent that past few days drying out the car and doing my best to prevent any rust, smell etc. Unfortunately i have a gremlin from the SJB getting wet, my caution flashers have been coming on by themselves so if anyone has any solutions to this problem or input is greatly appreciated.
What pist me off the most is that i believe ford knows this clogging/leaking is a possibility so they put their engineering heads together and came up with the best defense known to water, i give you exhibit A
Ya this will protect the SJB!
Good luck to anyone else who faces this issue and hope this info helps
08-05-2010, 10:07 PM
#18
I think they thought they had all the problems solved mid 2008 when they started using hot glued clips that hold the prongs of the cowl cover on. My 08 has this mod but half of the are loose already. Regular maintance of the rubber drains is the best idea. They can be checked from the engine bay by pulling them out without removing cowl cover. Cover can be removed if debris can't be addressed from drain holes.
08-06-2010, 12:52 AM
#19
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Washington
Posts: 1,768
I think they thought they had all the problems solved mid 2008 when they started using hot glued clips that hold the prongs of the cowl cover on. My 08 has this mod but half of the are loose already. Regular maintance of the rubber drains is the best idea. They can be checked from the engine bay by pulling them out without removing cowl cover. Cover can be removed if debris can't be addressed from drain holes.
