Water sloshing inside door!

[Greg Lee]

Hi all, so it's been raining a lot and for a few days I've noticed the sound of water sloshing when I drive--i thought it was the antifreeze bottle I keep in the back until I opened the back side-door, drivers side. The water is inside the door... So I pull on the trim piece at bottom of door and water starts draining out... a lot of water. So anyone seen this before and can tell me what's happening? Thanks.

 

[1955moose]

Seal around the windows must be bad. Dumb question but is the window rolled up tight? Their should be a small drain hole in the bottom of door, if not drill a small hole at bottom of door, for water removal. If their is an existing hole, get a pick, or something small in their, and make sure it's clear.


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[Greg Lee]

Thanks Moose. Yep windows have been up good and tight. I found a small rectangular plastic tab at bottom of door which, when I removed, water was able to drain out. There was quite a bit of buildup of debris clogging hole, although I'm not sure it is able to drain at all with the plastic tab in anyways..Well see, Hopefully now it will drain proper. Should I be worried about any water damage to electrical wiring or anything like that?

 

[1955moose]

I would, water and electrics never mix. You've got a power window motor, speaker, and all kinds of wiring in there. Drain all the water out of the door, and fix the leak now, or it will cost more down the road. If you have a drill and small drill bits, I'd drill a real small hole, if theirs not already one there. Most older vehicles already have one from manufacturer. They also have removable rubber plugs under floors, to drain water, in the event of flooding inside vehicle. You might want to remove door panel, and lightly spray door, to find leak. Keep us posted.


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[stamp11127]

I'm going through the same crap with a vw tdi project I'm working on. First the sunroof drain lines were out of the door jam nipples - fixed that. After a good rain the carpet is wet again, WTH. Checked passenger door and it is filling up as yours is. All 3 drain holes are open but the amount of crap that is in the door they just keep clogging up. Only remedy is to clean the crap out by taking the door panel off and wiping it clean.

 

[Greg Lee]

Thanks for the tip stamp--i'll find some time to do that this weekend. Let ya'll know if i find anything of note.

 

[1955moose]

Must be something going around. My roof is still leaking from the overhead console. I've sealed inside and out, but we got a whopper of a storm in the Bay Area today. I'll have to pull the overhead console tomorrow when the storm passes. It really kills me that Ford put dimples in the roof. It allows water to gather, and rot. Well could be worse, could have a sunroof or convertible. Those leaks are real hard to stop.


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[tcwaltz]

Moose I fixed the exact same problem in this expedition. If you want to permanently fix it I can tell you how I did mine. I still need to do the final body work to make it pretty but what I did is a great fix, no welding. Used a flanging kit, body adhesive and rivets. I probably should have documented it. Before the fix I was filling both cup holders and the tray over night.

 

[jeff kushner]

FWIW guys, my '03 EB sunroof leaked and I was told that there were two front and two rear drains. I only found the front and I squirted some WD-40 into the drain holes then a SMALL amount of compressed air followed by very hot water using a turkey baster. I managed to get the front drains clear but be very careful not to blow the hoses off the nipples or you will have to remove the headliner. I used my car truck compressor and "regulated" how much air was forced in by setting it to 4-5PSI and left some leak-space when pointing it to the drain hole, just enough to get the wd-40& water to begin flowing out. You will see the water on the ground but it comes out between frame members so you can't see the actual outlet.

What I don't get is why my '99 never leaked anywhere in 228K miles it never leaked but my '03 leaked like a sieve from everywhere. The sunroof, the windshield....it was literally raining INSIDE my truck one bad storm. That thing leaked somewhere at the firewall too soaking the front carpet all the way at the top! I was worried that something was going to short out and I was going to get zapped!

I had to drill holes under the rocker panels to give the water a way to drain, otherwise all those wires would have remained under water! I found THAT after I bought the truck! Both rocker panels were full of water with no telling how long they had been full of water!

What did they change between the two Gens that made it so leaky?

jeff

 

[tcwaltz]

I had a problem with my Mazda 6s drains plugging and leaking. What I found to be the best method for clearing it was to get the drain that came through the firewall and attach my vacuum pump with the brake fluid resivior. I was able to apply vacuum and draw the crap through. Adding warm water.

 

[1955moose]

My truck is not a sunroof model. The previous owner had someone weld a piece of metal inside of roof, under overhead console. The paint had bubbled earlier from water gathering in those damned dimples Ford put on the roof. I've sealed the roof with bondo, and even put layers of black rtv silicone. Black rtv is what I used to seal windshield with great results. I'm going to pull the overhead console and reseal the inside again, this weekend. The heavy rain left last night, so the weather is fine for working.


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[juan214]

Everyone has given good info here. I have to give mine now. One do not drill hole in the door to drain the water out. Reason, if you have water build up now you think it will rot out the door if you don't do it right. The door already has drain holes. If the holes are clogged unclog them. I recommend taking the door pad off and start there. Figure out the clog clean out the door vacuum it. If glass was broken before some shops spray undercoating in the door to keep loose glass from rattling. Use a flat head scrape out any debris and vac it out. Clear out drain holes you should be good after that. Spend the time vacuuming it out.

 

[darmahsd]

Same problem here on my '05 with the passenger door.
Occasionally I have to pop the bottom drain plug to let at least a quart of water out and nothing appears wrong with
the window seals or the window not rolling up all the way.
Like Jeff Kushner, my first gen ('97) never had these issues. It seems that Ford skimped on alot of niggling
little items on the second gen's to make up for the
expensive upgrades in technology they gave it compared to first gen's. Wimpy window winding motors, leaks, cheaper rear wiper motor design, more galvanic corrosion,
no bridge to fold down to span the gap left when folding down middle seats, etc.
Stephen

 

[Jb14]

This is more of an FYI. I have not had the leaking issue (though my rear window will get water dropplets when washing) But to elaborate a bit on cutting corners and for those who may get wet carpet in the cargo area this may be the culprit. Little background, during the summer I had A/C work done front and rear. The top notch mechanic did not fully tighten the radiator cooling lines to the rear unit so I ended up with coolant soaking the back half of carpet. After getting it fixed, I ended up taking out all seat and carpet to clean. Now to the FYI part. I removed the plastic storage that houses the tire jack and found on each side a square piece of 2in material (both were soaked from fluid so I removed) and underneath were gaps (I literally could see the ground when I looked through) where the sheet metal ties together. I was really surprise and disappointed to see this oversight in build quality. Being that they covered it up with a material they knew the flaw.

 

[pegsuewho]

We own 5 Fords. The window issues extend to 2 expeditions and 1 Ford F-150. Been dealing with window seal leaks for years. The first expedition I purchased started this problem with 1 window and has since moved to all 4 doors and windows. You can let the water out but that’s not going to solve the issue of damaging and rusting out the window motors. Which is not cheap to replace. I passed this vehicle down to my daughter 2 years when she desperately needed it for her new growing family and None of the windows work at all to roll down. When I passed this vehicle down to her I bought my mothers 2017 Platinum expedition. It was barely 3 years old. Within 6 months, same issue, started with one door and now is in 3. Unless you know how to repair the rusted, damaged window motor, you are looking at over 300.00 each window with parts and labor. Not only that, but it is a major safety hazard. Locks have failed as well, so now no windows roll down in an emergency. Many many more issues , too many to list. My husbands F-150 driver window also fills with water and damaged the motor. This can short out all the electrical in your vehicle. In addition we have a Ford focus that came from the plant all the lawsuits were based on. After a year dealing with The dealership, not repairing the vehicle, and clearing out recalls not done. The car has not been driven since. Failed repairs, lemon car. Our daughter had less the. 36,000 miles and we still have the broken vehicle. Presently, my newer expedition is sitting for another recall through the weekend and taking off work to pick the vehicle up today. We didn’t hear from them. Well, I called and whom ever is assigned to repair is out on a personal day so my vehicle won’t be picked up today nor do I know when. Why is only one person responsible for the repairs and no contact? My mom bought the newest Ford Expedition and it is 2 years old all the bells and whistles. If she is not parked under her covered carport, her door is now filling with water. This is insanity. It’s an obvious large issue to own this many Fords that have this problem. Also the older Fords blower fan in 17 expedition models are recalled, but unfortunately the older models fan just broke with same issue and fire hazard, as well and there isn’t a campaign. On top of that, I have received 4 FedEx packages for Ford Safety recall campaigns and when I check all of our VINs, it states their are no recalls for these parts for 4 different Ford vehicles. We are beyond done with Ford. We have owned a total of 7 Ford Vehicles. Our local Ford service center is awful. Customer service has been terrible for the last 10 years. And trying to call the recall support line is also a joke. Nothing resolved with 2 of the affected ‘lemon car’s’