I Gots The Curse! (Passenger Floor Wet)

[silversn95]

So.... seems my 2003 has this common condition. I noticed the damp padding on the front passenger side only after hearing a squishy sound when I pressed down on it while adjusting the mat. So I pulled the carpet up and sure enough the padding was wet like a spong. I could see where the water seems to come from the firewall on the passenger side, near the center console. (I have a fan on it right now to dry it all up).



Reading about the cabin filter issues I decide to take a look this morning and this is what I found:

1. It appears that the car has already been serviced for this issue before I got it. It looks like the rain hot extention has already been installed. I did however notice that there isn't the two screws holding the upper cabin filter cover as shown in picture #2 (from a previous thread). The cover wasn't held well at all and now I'm wondering if that has something to do with a rattle I hear on occasion coming from the upper passenger side dash area.


from the other thread - I don't have the two screws olding the cover on as shown below



2. Here is a closer look at what is a rather messy silcone seal job on the bottom side of the filter housing. I'm going to redo this as it seems more like a water collector than seal!!! Notice the leaves and debri trapped around there as well. I pulled the filter, a black ugly mess that will be replaced.


Nothing was wet up here except for a few damp leaves on top of the filter. We also had a hard rain yesterday. Could it dry out that fast?

I also noticed this tube down low on the firewall. Is this the AC drain? There was water on the floor of this tube!!! Could this potentially be another source?



Anybody have any other suggestions or advise on fixing this?

[00tec-satx]

That is the A/C drain. The only way it would cause problems would be if it was clogged.

[silversn95]

It is a pretty big tube, hard to imagine it getting blocked with anything.

I bought some flowing silicone and redid the job at the cabin filter housing. This stuff is for windowshields, windows and sunroofs so it should work. It states that it will flow into cracks to seal any leak. I'll see in a few days if it rains as forcasted.

[ParagonXL]

Garden hose

[fishx65]

I just had my 04 wagon in for this last week. I got them to cover it under warranty even though it was a few months out. The floor on mine was really soaked! The blower was still working but they gave me a new one anyway, installed a 14 inch weatherstrip along the cowl and put a 1 inch bead of silicone along the left edge. The silicone job on yours looks a lot different then what the dealership did on mine.

[silversn95]

I think whatever dealer did mine didn't do a good job. I'm going to test my repair in a day or two. I want all the silcone to be well and truely cured before I take a hose to it. I redid the silicone that was originally put down, added silicone to the rubber strip and filter cover as well as a bead along the left side next to the inner fender. Hopefully it will work.

[03se]

>> <<
THAT (image above) has got to be the UGLIEST silicone job of ALL TIMES. I truly doubt that any dealer would do such a thing...it'd be worth contacting FORD and inquiring about 'if' this repair was ever made at a dealership. I'm sure there is a paper trail if this was performed. I say 'if' because it looks like somehting someone did on their own to try and stop the leak (i.e. the previous owner) with a tube of silicone they bought at Home Depot. But then again it could have been the used car dealer who tried their own inhouse repair as well. Did you buy it from a FORD dealer, another dealer, or a private party? Well just my opinion.

>> I just had my 04 wagon in for this last week. I got them to cover it under warranty even though it was a few months out. The floor on mine was really soaked! The blower was still working but they gave me a new one anyway, installed a 14 inch weatherstrip along the cowl and put a 1 inch bead of silicone along the left edge. The silicone job on yours looks a lot different then what the dealership did on mine. <<

Can ya post some pix the next time you have the chance to show what a proper repair is suppose to look like. I'd really like to have some comparison when I finally get up the nerve to take a look at mine and see what possible nightmare I have waiting for me.

>> I think whatever dealer did mine didn't do a good job. I'm going to test my repair in a day or two. I want all the silcone to be well and truely cured before I take a hose to it. I redid the silicone that was originally put down, added silicone to the rubber strip and filter cover as well as a bead along the left side next to the inner fender. Hopefully it will work. <<

Let us know how it all turns out. And post some 'after' pics of your repair job so that those of us who attempt this ourselves can use as a possible guide.

<----too scared to check

[ParagonXL]

Still surprised they changed the design from the Gen3. Apparently they didn't do a good enough test.

[lp13]

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but does anyone have a link on how to fix this problem from beginning to end? I just had my blower replaced a few weeks ago because of this, but Ford wanted around $400 to fix the problem. I don't want to have to replace the blower motor a second time! Thanks in advance!

[dougyfd]

Still surprised they changed the design from the Gen3. Apparently they didn't do a good enough test.
[/b]

I had a similar leak on passenger side of a 99 sable wagon. I could see water coming in at firewall dripping right into blower motor. It even froze once to where blower wouldn't spin til it thawed out. I removed blower motor so I could look up from inside & see water dripping in. Then from the outside I removed cabin filter to see where water was getting in from above. I then took a piece of very thin sheet metal and made a covering over the cabin filter. That was finally the fix. It was one of the toughest problems on a car that I ever came up against. Hope this helps!