[Ford Proxy]

Hi. I've spoken to a few Taurus owners with a similar issue. When it rains the rear doors fill with water. I can hear the water sloshing around when I drive after a storm and then pull out a bit of the rubber weather stripping and "drain the doors." We've taken it to the dealer and have been told it is not a fixable issue. My question is is this a normal occurrence and was it ever fixed by Ford? I tried searching to see if someone had devised a DIY fix here but don't see anything.

Also with the rear doors. I'll detail the car and within three days there is a reasonably thick layer of dirt covering the door jambs and I am not in dusty or dirty conditions. Rear passengers have to take care to climb in back or their clothes will be covered in it. Is this a known issue with other owners?

 

[Jeff K]

There should be drain holes at both ends of the bottom of the doors. I am not very familiar with your exact vehicle, so I cant say if your car has drain holes or not, but in 45+ years of owning lots of cars I have never seen doors without drain holes. These holes can get plugged up with debris, etc and the water cant drain. If there really arent any drain holes, drill a 1/4" hole at the lowest point on each end of the doors so water can drain.

 

[Marjammer]

When I lived in Washington State, and would get tree needles in the window seal. I believe these did 2 things. Helped enable water to enter the door and to clog up the drain hole. I would just gently give the low plastic a gentle kick until I saw water dripping out of the door. This would take a while. Since moving to Ohio, I haven't had this problem, even in extremely heavy rain.

 

[TollKeeper]

There is a fix for it, and it takes about 1 hour. Pull the door panel off. With the window in the up most position, Unbolt the metal inner insert, and only pull out enough to get your hand on the bottom end. Then take a shop vac hose, and run it back and forward along the bottom of the door from the inside. Any debris should get vacuumed out. If you dont want to do all that, Like @Jeff K said, drill a 1/4 inch hole on the lowest part of the door.

 

[Ford Proxy]

There is a fix for it, and it takes about 1 hour. Pull the door panel off. With the window in the up most position, Unbolt the metal inner insert, and only pull out enough to get your hand on the bottom end. Then take a shop vac hose, and run it back and forward along the bottom of the door from the inside. Any debris should get vacuumed out. If you dont want to do all that, Like @Jeff K said, drill a 1/4 inch hole on the lowest part of the door.

Thank you. I thought since it was garaged it would be debris free and when I pull the weatherstripping it looks clean in there but who knows what is in the panel. If I don't undertake removing the door panel or having it done and drill into the metal at lowest point do I then put a rubber gasket where I drilled to prevent rust? Or is @JeffK talking about drilling into the lowest point of the weatherstripping (apologies for the ignorance here)?

I don't get how my car sits outside all the time and has no issues with this or rapid accumulation of dirt in the panel. Same with the trunk area. That also will be caked in dirt after a few weeks of being completely cleaned out and garaged.

 

[TollKeeper]

The drilled hole you would leave uncovered and open, so it can drain the future. Twice a year, go to that hole with a screwdriver, and run it thru the hole to break up and debris that is in there, to allow it to drain better.

I dont think you need to pull any weatherstripping for this repair, I didnt on my 05, and I think the 09 runs off the same body, with just Lincoln accents. You leave all the weatherstripping on, and drill at the lowest, uncovered point. You need to drain the water to prevent rust. The hole is negligible. Maybe go back over the edges with some touch up paint to cover the exposed bare metal.

 

[Ford Proxy]

Yes they both look to be off the D3 platform. Thank you for the advice! I did not mean cover the hole but to maybe put a rubber gasket to protect the edges but touch-up paint we have and that works for me.

Do you recall how big the drill bit was? Do you have the same issue with the door jambs getting dirty quickly on the Montego?

 

[TollKeeper]

Cant answer the question on the Montego, havent driven it yet (its wrecked). Rear doors on most cars have this issue. Its caused by a low pressure area created by the car that the air circulates next to the rear doors, and over the trunk lid, and at the rear of the car. The circulating air picks up all the debris/water mist/snow, and deposits it where it wants.

 

[Ford Proxy]

Cant answer the question on the Montego, havent driven it yet (its wrecked). Rear doors on most cars have this issue. Its caused by a low pressure area created by the car that the air circulates next to the rear doors, and over the trunk lid, and at the rear of the car. The circulating air picks up all the debris/water mist/snow, and deposits it where it wants.

Montego bought wrecked and you are going to repair it? Yes, what you are saying makes sense concerning the air circulation in the low pressure area. I just don't get the intensely rapid build up compared to almost any other car I've seen. The rear jambs are already huge and tough to climb over as is. The motor and platform on the car are great but the little things like that have been irritating. Also the use of space. It is a large car but not that big inside with rather narrow foot wells.

 

[TollKeeper]

Yep, Bought it wrecked. It was originally deemed a light wreck. Then when I got it apart, it was a but more involved. Waiting to find the right body shop to pull out about 1 inch on a frame rail, than it goes back together.

 

[Ford Proxy]

Nice! (well not the "bit more involve part") Good luck with it, thanks for all your good advice, and have a good weekend.