Weatherstriping/leak issue with 03 F150
12-23-2010, 06:50 PM
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Weatherstriping/leak issue with 03 F150
Hey all,
We don't normally get much, if any, rain here in Las Vegas, but we got hit hard with a storm this week. I just found out last night that my truck is leaking water from somewhere onto the rear seat & seat back (driver's side). Is this a common problem with 03 Ford F-150s? I just bought the truck a couple of months ago and this is the first rain it's encountered since I got it.
When I bought the truck, I noticed the rear door weatherstriping (goes between the front & rear doors) was coming off of both rear doors, so I asked the dealer to glue it back on before buying the truck, which they did, but I didn't check any other weatherstriping at that time.
There are a couple of tears in the upper door weatherstriping on the driver's side, but I'm not sure if that's causing the leak or not because it's up near the middle of the driver's front door, not the rear one where it's all wet. The driver's seat doesn't get wet at all, it's just the whole back seat on the driver's side. So much so that it's causing the entire inside of the truck to fog up!
However, when I got to work today, I tried checking the weatherstriping near that rear driver's door and it's not glued on at all. I could pull it off with my fingers fairly easily (with both doors open, of course). Would that be my cause most likely or does it really matter than it's not glued on when the doors are closed? For now I pushed it more securely back in place though.
I'm probably going to go to an auto parts store and pick up some weatherstriping adhesive to try and glue it back on, but I'm taking a trip soon to Utah for the holidays and it's pouring rain there. I don't really want to take the truck if it's going to leak, so I'm wondering if the weatherstriping not being glued to the metal body would cause it to leak or if it's leaking from somewhere else.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
We don't normally get much, if any, rain here in Las Vegas, but we got hit hard with a storm this week. I just found out last night that my truck is leaking water from somewhere onto the rear seat & seat back (driver's side). Is this a common problem with 03 Ford F-150s? I just bought the truck a couple of months ago and this is the first rain it's encountered since I got it.
When I bought the truck, I noticed the rear door weatherstriping (goes between the front & rear doors) was coming off of both rear doors, so I asked the dealer to glue it back on before buying the truck, which they did, but I didn't check any other weatherstriping at that time.
There are a couple of tears in the upper door weatherstriping on the driver's side, but I'm not sure if that's causing the leak or not because it's up near the middle of the driver's front door, not the rear one where it's all wet. The driver's seat doesn't get wet at all, it's just the whole back seat on the driver's side. So much so that it's causing the entire inside of the truck to fog up!
However, when I got to work today, I tried checking the weatherstriping near that rear driver's door and it's not glued on at all. I could pull it off with my fingers fairly easily (with both doors open, of course). Would that be my cause most likely or does it really matter than it's not glued on when the doors are closed? For now I pushed it more securely back in place though.
I'm probably going to go to an auto parts store and pick up some weatherstriping adhesive to try and glue it back on, but I'm taking a trip soon to Utah for the holidays and it's pouring rain there. I don't really want to take the truck if it's going to leak, so I'm wondering if the weatherstriping not being glued to the metal body would cause it to leak or if it's leaking from somewhere else.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
12-24-2010, 10:58 PM
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Well, I kind of checked out the truck today and found out that BOTH rear sides are getting wet. Both rear seats are wet on the 60/40 seat (along with the seat back as well) and the rear floor of the pass side was even more wet than the driver's side. It even had standing water near the rear front seat bracket. I had to use a towel to soak up some water. Not good!
So, now I'm not sure where the leak(s) is/are coming from. It doesn't feel like the headliner is wet at all, so I'm at a loss. However, with my moonroof closed, if I push up on the back of the glass, I can lift it above the roofline and actually see outside (maybe 1/16" to 1/8"), but if I let it go, it sits on the seal. I have no clue if that's normal or not. Maybe it's supposed to be able to do that.
So, I really don't know what's causing the leak. Tomorrow I'm going to pull the headliner out, then ask my wife to turn on the hose while I sit inside and hopefully I'll see where the leak(s) are coming from. I really don't know what else to do at this point to be honest. But I figure that with the headliner and inside upper trim out, then I should be able to see where the water is coming in from and then fix that area or what not.
I'm definitely open to suggestions.
Merry Christmas Eve!
Mat
So, now I'm not sure where the leak(s) is/are coming from. It doesn't feel like the headliner is wet at all, so I'm at a loss. However, with my moonroof closed, if I push up on the back of the glass, I can lift it above the roofline and actually see outside (maybe 1/16" to 1/8"), but if I let it go, it sits on the seal. I have no clue if that's normal or not. Maybe it's supposed to be able to do that.
So, I really don't know what's causing the leak. Tomorrow I'm going to pull the headliner out, then ask my wife to turn on the hose while I sit inside and hopefully I'll see where the leak(s) are coming from. I really don't know what else to do at this point to be honest. But I figure that with the headliner and inside upper trim out, then I should be able to see where the water is coming in from and then fix that area or what not.
I'm definitely open to suggestions.
Merry Christmas Eve!
Mat
12-27-2010, 12:35 PM
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Bingo on the side rear windows folks!
I found the leak the other day, but haven't had a chance to update the thread. I found out the top corner to both rear windows was leaking where the seal had moved itself out from under the plastic frame.
I removed the headliner and all the trim pieces (except for the rear door trim pieces) and asked my brother in law to use a hose on top of the truck while I stayed inside and looked for leaks. I didn't see anything leaking and it was ticking me off. Then all of a sudden I saw a bunch of water dripping out from under the passenger rear side window trim piece onto the door arm rest and splashing onto the seat & floor. Bingo! That's how it's all getting wet there.
So, I had him stop, I then pulled the upper plastic trim piece off the rear door, closed it and did it again. It leaked like a darn sieve!!!! The plastic trim was diverting it down along the door so you didn't notice it, but it was all wet on the seat and floor.
So, I pulled both rear side door windows, scraped the majority of the old butyl strip off with a putty knife, cleaned the rest up with lighter fluid and a paper towel (on both the door and the plastic frame) and then let it air dry.
I then replaced the butyl strip with a 3/8" x 15 ft roll (it didn't take all 15 ft though..probably about 5 ft or so per window). Ya, it may have been a little too thick of a butyl strip, but it seemed to flatten out nicely and leave a thick rope seal around the outer edge of the plastic window frame, as well as under it I'm sure.
So, it's all back together, but I finished around noon yesterday and didn't want to test it out right away. So, maybe I'll test it later or just let it go as is and hope it was fixed. However, that's definitely where my leaks were coming from. The upper corner of each of the rear side windows.
I didn't have any leaks in the rear window or the moonroof at all. I was suspecting the moonroof for a while, but apparently it works/seals just fine.
Oh, as a side note, I pulled up the plastic door sills while I was replacing the window seals and found about a 1/4" of water in the passenger side trough on the floor! Ya, not good; especially since there is a thick electrical wire that runs through there. So, I pulled the rubber plug in the front near the front kick panel and got the water to drain. I also pushed it along the rail towards the hole (you'll see it if you do it) with a wet paper towel and then replaced the rubber plug once all the water was out. I then did my best to dry the carpet and the trough with a regular towel and then let it air dry (along with the driver's side, but there was no water in that trough) while I was working on the windows.
So, with everything about as dry as I could get it, I put it all back together yesterday.
So, if anyone is getting their rear seats wet or just the floor near the rear doors, I would definitely check the rear side windows (both sides) because the butyl strip was hanging out of the upper corner on both windows.
Mat
I found the leak the other day, but haven't had a chance to update the thread. I found out the top corner to both rear windows was leaking where the seal had moved itself out from under the plastic frame.
I removed the headliner and all the trim pieces (except for the rear door trim pieces) and asked my brother in law to use a hose on top of the truck while I stayed inside and looked for leaks. I didn't see anything leaking and it was ticking me off. Then all of a sudden I saw a bunch of water dripping out from under the passenger rear side window trim piece onto the door arm rest and splashing onto the seat & floor. Bingo! That's how it's all getting wet there.
So, I had him stop, I then pulled the upper plastic trim piece off the rear door, closed it and did it again. It leaked like a darn sieve!!!! The plastic trim was diverting it down along the door so you didn't notice it, but it was all wet on the seat and floor.
So, I pulled both rear side door windows, scraped the majority of the old butyl strip off with a putty knife, cleaned the rest up with lighter fluid and a paper towel (on both the door and the plastic frame) and then let it air dry.
I then replaced the butyl strip with a 3/8" x 15 ft roll (it didn't take all 15 ft though..probably about 5 ft or so per window). Ya, it may have been a little too thick of a butyl strip, but it seemed to flatten out nicely and leave a thick rope seal around the outer edge of the plastic window frame, as well as under it I'm sure.
So, it's all back together, but I finished around noon yesterday and didn't want to test it out right away. So, maybe I'll test it later or just let it go as is and hope it was fixed. However, that's definitely where my leaks were coming from. The upper corner of each of the rear side windows.
I didn't have any leaks in the rear window or the moonroof at all. I was suspecting the moonroof for a while, but apparently it works/seals just fine.
Oh, as a side note, I pulled up the plastic door sills while I was replacing the window seals and found about a 1/4" of water in the passenger side trough on the floor! Ya, not good; especially since there is a thick electrical wire that runs through there. So, I pulled the rubber plug in the front near the front kick panel and got the water to drain. I also pushed it along the rail towards the hole (you'll see it if you do it) with a wet paper towel and then replaced the rubber plug once all the water was out. I then did my best to dry the carpet and the trough with a regular towel and then let it air dry (along with the driver's side, but there was no water in that trough) while I was working on the windows.
So, with everything about as dry as I could get it, I put it all back together yesterday.
So, if anyone is getting their rear seats wet or just the floor near the rear doors, I would definitely check the rear side windows (both sides) because the butyl strip was hanging out of the upper corner on both windows.
Mat
12-27-2010, 05:35 PM
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Unfortunately it doesn't rain much out here, so I didn't know anything about it until it did. Plus, it probably did it when I washed the truck, but never noticed and by the time I would have looked at the side panels, it would have been dry; especially with the super low humidity out here.
The bad thing is, I went out to drive the truck just about 2 hrs ago and the damn battery is dead now. I don't know if it was due to me leaving the lights on while working on the truck or just that it's "its time" because it was purchased in Oct of 07, per the sticker that's on it. Batteries usually only last about 3 years out here. :-(
The bad thing is, I went out to drive the truck just about 2 hrs ago and the damn battery is dead now. I don't know if it was due to me leaving the lights on while working on the truck or just that it's "its time" because it was purchased in Oct of 07, per the sticker that's on it. Batteries usually only last about 3 years out here. :-(
12-28-2010, 12:20 PM
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I never thought about putting my battery charger on it while I had the doors open. Ooops.
Well, yesterday I charged my battery until it read that it was at 100%. Put the battery back in last night and it started right up without any issues. We'll see if it holds the charge now. If it doesn't, then it's time for a new battery. Hopefully it lasts a little while longer. :-)
Well, yesterday I charged my battery until it read that it was at 100%. Put the battery back in last night and it started right up without any issues. We'll see if it holds the charge now. If it doesn't, then it's time for a new battery. Hopefully it lasts a little while longer. :-)
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12-28-2010, 12:35 PM
#8
crush a little car today
I'm ready to put a second battery and bigger alternator in. I had a new Optima crap out on me. Truck sits for days at times. Love having a 100% charge all yr.
12-28-2010, 02:24 PM
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Good darn question. I don't know if auto parts places carry that or not. Of course you could get it from Ford directly, but it will be more expensive. However, you might be able to give NAPA a try. Seems like a lot of times they have more OEM orientated parts than places like Checker/Oreilly/Kragen/Autozone/etc...