r1alvin Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 (edited) 2016 Transit Connect LWB Wagon For a few weeks I would notice drops of water on my dash as I would leave my home of residence. I thought nothing of it as if it were maybe condensation or something minor. Well, today we had heavy downpour rain in our area and when I got in my van and put it in reverse, water literally poured out from between my headliner and windshield INSIDE my van (Above the rearview mirror). Must have been at least 4-6 ounces all spilled down onto my dash and all over my center dash controls. The headliner is also soaking wet. Has anyone had a similar problem? I saw some stuff online talking about the sirius fm antenna or radio pod on the roof leaking on older f150's and ford escapes. I dont see any official recalls online. Has anyone experienced similar issues? My vehicle was manufactured in 2/16 and I am under 36K so literally my warranty expires this month. I have to get over to the dealer asap, hopefully they will help me out. Edited February 20, 2019 by r1alvin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidparker Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 If its not a leaking roof rail (or plug if you do not have the rails), or the radio antenna, it may be the windshield.... In this post: https://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/7409-water-on-passenger-footwell/ On 1/21/2019 at 6:58 PM, Thom said: My 2016 cargo van XL just had the windshield removed and resealed. The dealership’s “glass guy”, I think Safelight, said there were as many gaps as there were sealed areas along the top and that he has done others with the same problem. Mine has les than 30k miles. I had previously changed the roof mounted antenna base with no success. The dome light area would fill up with water then spill out onto the dash when I drove and hit the brakes. Maybe yours leaks in the same area but finds a different path to the floor? Mine wouldn’t leak while driving in the rain because of airflow over the windshield/roof, only when parked. Pop the dome light out before the next rain, stuff a rag in there and see if it’s wet afterwards. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herb Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 Man thats terrible , let us know how they handle it . Lets hope it's not a " Let me get some rags to help you dry it up" kind of response and then sending you on your way . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windguy Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 @r1alvin - where have you been stranger? Miss seeing your build and adventure videos. Sorry to hear about your water leak. Crap! I believe the clock on your warranty starts when you take delivery at the dealer, not when the vehicle was made. You should have a few extra months wiggle room but obviously you want to get this problem correctly quickly. Please keep us posted and good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fifty150 Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 3 hours ago, r1alvin said: 2016 Transit Connect LWB Wagon I saw some stuff online talking about the sirius fm antenna or radio pod on the roof leaking on older f150's and ford escapes. A common roof leak with F-150's, for the last few generations, was the 3rd brake light, or high mount stop lamp. The fix for that was a revised part with a better gasket. On mine, there were stress fractures where the lamp's mounting screws were. That could have been me with a heavy hand torquing down on the screws, or simply heat expansion against the screws. We will never know. My solution was to replace the lamp. There are aftermarket gaskets for those lamps. Sponsored MOFORKIT 3rd Third Brake Light Seal Gasket Compatible with Ford F150 2004 to 2008, Explorer Sport Trac 2007 to 2010 by MOFORKIT 4.5 out of 5 stars 12 $15.99$15.99 Save 10% with coupon FREE delivery by Fri, Feb 22 Sponsored MOFORKIT 3rd Third Brake Light Seal Gasket Compatible with Ford F150 2009 to 2014 by MOFORKIT 4.3 out of 5 stars 20 $15.99$15.99 Save 10% with coupon FREE delivery by Thu, Feb 21 Sponsored MOFORKIT 3rd Third Brake Light Seal Gasket Compatible with Ford F150 1997 to 2003, F250 1997 to 1999 by MOFORKIT 4.3 out of 5 stars 6 $15.99$15.99 | FREE One-Day. FREE delivery by Tomorrow, Feb 20 on qualifying orders over $35 Ford has a cleaner to be used for the headliner which removes those water stains left behind from roof leaks. The Transit Connect may leak from the antenna, the holes used for mounting roof rails, and the 3rd brake light. On my lift gate wagon, there are also 2 rubber wire looms. You, or your dealer, may have to remove the headliner to look for the leak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtn Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 My rain groove rack plugs leaked after removing them once for vinyl wrapping. Put some silicone under the plugs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1alvin Posted February 20, 2019 Author Share Posted February 20, 2019 Thanks for all the input guys! I just dropped my Van off at Ford. They will have it for several days to investigate the leak. I had them check my warranty and I lucked out because it expires this coming July. I'll keep you guys updated on the findings. I do not have any roof rails on my van and everything on the roof is completely stock. When I bought it, it had 10k miles on it so I'm not sure if the windshield had been previously replaced or not. Hopefully its nothing major! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtn Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 I don't have the roof rack either, just the plugs for the bolt holes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1alvin Posted February 26, 2019 Author Share Posted February 26, 2019 Quick update- just got off the phone with the service manager-They water intrusion was determined to be coming from the body plugs in the roof. He said that the replacement plugs fit with a better seal to prevent this from happening (Hopefully). Unfortunately, they could only fulfill a partial order of plugs as they are now on back order so they are installing the front 2 and taping off the remaining until the back order comes in at which point I'll have to return for a second visit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1alvin Posted February 26, 2019 Author Share Posted February 26, 2019 Edit/ I am not getting my vehicle back today. This is kind of ridiculous. All of the plugs are claimed to be in the end of this week. Ford should have at least provided me a rental when I dropped the van off but they did not even bother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herb Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Did you ask for a rental , if not thats probably why they didn't offer it . I ordered a part a while back , they told me it was on backorder , it took 6 weeks to come in . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1alvin Posted February 26, 2019 Author Share Posted February 26, 2019 (edited) Nope. If I would have known it was going to be a 2 week+ long affair I would have. I don't like to pester service people because I work in the service industry myself, so I trusted that Ford would make this a priority since its a warranty repair and a fairly major one considering the water damage being out in the open environment. Lesson learned. Edited February 26, 2019 by r1alvin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtn Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 The wrap shop removed mine and offered to order me a new set as they saw that the plugs will not be watertight when reinstalled. I said screw this, I'll fit them myself. Took me 10 minutes to fix the plugs with some silicone. Been fine since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fifty150 Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 4 hours ago, herb said: Did you ask for a rental , if not thats probably why they didn't offer it . My van is in the dealership at present. Service Writer offered a rental. I didn't need it, so I declined. I guess it depends on the level of customer service offered by the Service Writer standing in front of you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidparker Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 This thread has me thinking about pulling mine out and silicone them back in.... That way I know they won't leak... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackGrimshaw Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 When I installed roof rails in my 2016 the plugs did not come out easily.A few broke in half.I think they are one time use and would not remove them unless I had replacements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtn Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 7 hours ago, davidparker said: This thread has me thinking about pulling mine out and silicone them back in.... That way I know they won't leak... 7 hours ago, JackGrimshaw said: When I installed roof rails in my 2016 the plugs did not come out easily.A few broke in half.I think they are one time use and would not remove them unless I had replacements. Exactly. Dont remove them unless absolutely necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1alvin Posted April 19, 2019 Author Share Posted April 19, 2019 Okay parts FINALLY came in like a week or 2 ago (dealership completely forgot to call me). I had them install the plugs today. One of the plugs looks like it has some sort of grey sealant under it. The rest are just installed with no evidence of sealant. Well, okay. It has not rained yet, so that will be the big test. Hopefully the issue is resolved. I will be really upset if this doesn't work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1alvin Posted May 13, 2019 Author Share Posted May 13, 2019 Well, the leak is back. Roof Plugs did nothing. Water is dripping in from both driver and passenger side headliner near the top of the windshield. I'm taking the van back to a different Ford dealer in the area since the first one had no clue how to repair my van. My guess is that the windshield seal might be bad? Not sure how this would happen over 30k miles. The windshield has never been replaced it has the original Ford stamping on it. Has anybody had this happen before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zalienz Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 Water leaks are tricky, as where the leak begins and where they drop into the interior can be 2 different places. Windshields are held in place by urethane adhesive and it is entirely possible it could be leaking from the windshield urethane seal. If so, the windshield needs to be removed, the old urethane cut out and cleaned, urethane re-applied and re-installed. Hopefully the windshield doesn't get damaged or it's new windshield time. But first, the leak needs to be diagnosed by pouring water over the vehicle while a technician inside the vehicle can perform a visual inspection and see where the leak is coming from. Of course, it may not be coming from the windshield. I haven't seen it on this model vehicle, but I have on other vehicles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1alvin Posted May 22, 2019 Author Share Posted May 22, 2019 (edited) The 2 leaks on the driver and passenger side were found to be originating from the front windshield seal along the roof. Ford authorized the body shop to remove the current windshield, re-seal it and re-install the windshield. Dealer tried to get Ford to authorize a new windshield in case they damaged it on removal but they would not authorize it. The dealer managed to perform the whole process without damaging the windshield. Service showed me a crazy video of them pressing the windshield away from the seal at least a few inches by HAND from the inside of the van! I asked how this could have originated and they told me possibly a bad seal mix during manufacturing. There may be other TC’s out there with similar issues so it might be worth keeping an eye out for. This should be a final fix (fingers crossed). Edited May 22, 2019 by r1alvin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fifty150 Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 1 hour ago, r1alvin said: This should be a final fix (fingers crossed). From being in a position where I was getting 2 to 3 new windshields a year installed on my Econoline @ work, I can tell you that the stuff in a caulking tube which installers use is fantastic. I never bothered to ask about it, or ask to see the label on the tube. But I should have. They squirt that stuff into the channel, drop the windshield in place, and it sets perfectly. r1alvin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marquizzo Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 For future reference if anybody else is having this issue, you don't have to wait until the next rain to test your roof for leaks. Just grab a hose and try pouring a bit of water on different spots on the roof, a little at a time. That way you can pinpoint the source of the leak, and it won't be huge quantities of water damage. I guarantee you that you, the owner, will be more meticulous at finding the leak than a mechanic at the dealership whose only motivation is to get you out the door as soon as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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