Possible Mk3 Boot Leak?

[FatHead1979]

36 minutes ago, William087 said:

Hi

 

I have a focus 2013 registration. It is still under the 5 year warranty. Spare tyre is in an inch of water and front and rear footwell are soaking. 

Rang Ford dealership and was told it's not covered under warranty but am gonna show them this week. 

Surely this is a manufacturing defect that ford have to stand over if it's so common. 

I wouldn't hold your breath mate, Ford have a history of sticking their fingers in their ears even when faced with significant evidence of a design/manufacturing fault.  By all means get stuck into them, and good luck.

[garyhadfield01]

Hi guys, well I managed to get this done over the weekend. Pretty proud of myself as I'm defo not a mechanic! If it wasn't for this thread there is no way I'd have attempted this. Thanks again for all the tips and info!

I watched a video on Youtube on how to remove the bumper and the one thing that was different on mine was the amount of screws under each wheel arch. On the vid online it only had one screw under each wheel arch but mine had three under each wheel arch. I was scratching my head there for a while! This may help somebody else out.

The one thing I need to sort now is drying out the caroet and soundproofing in the footwells. Has anyone had any joy with this? I've done a quick google search and it doesn't sound great. A lot of people reccommend taking the carpet out and replacing the soundproofing. I really don't fancy this at all! Will a hair dryer do the trick or is that wishfull thinking?!

[pcaouolte]

The soundproofing went in the tumble dryer on a low heat setting. The carpet just dried in the sun with the tailgate open but that's unlikely to be an option for you in November. 

[garyhadfield01]

45 minutes ago, pcaouolte said:

The soundproofing went in the tumble dryer on a low heat setting. The carpet just dried in the sun with the tailgate open but that's unlikely to be an option for you in November. 

Thanks for the reply, how easy was it to remove the carpet and soundproofing? Did you have to take the seats out etc or was it a bit easier than that?

[pcaouolte]

Mine was only wet in the back so easy to remove. I see that yours has got wet all the way to the front foot wells, I haven't had the main carpet out. It will probably need the seats removing and the centre console and several bits of trim. You might be better cleaning it in place with a wet & dry vacuum and drying it with a hair dryer. 

[beanoil]

I'm a new member from the USA. I own a USA-spec 2016 Ford Focus Electric (FFE). I joined so that I could let you know that FFEs suffer from the same problem. Unfortunately, the consequences of boot leaks are far greater for the FFE. Instead of a spare tire and jack, FFEs store a compressor and charger in the lowest well of the boot. When I discovered the leak, my factory tire inflation compressor and Level 1 charger were both submerged in ~6 inches of water. I'm afraid to plug either in since they were almost completely waterlogged.

This problem needs to result in a recall. I hope representatives from Ford read this thread and do the right thing.

[Flatfour]

I’m afraid I am going to add my name to the long list of owners who have water ingress problems on the Mk3 Focus! 

Ours is a bit unusual in that we have wet carpet in the front passenger and rear passenger foot wells.  The drivers side ( front and rear are both dry )  

I have checked the boot and the spare wheel well and these areas are also bone dry! I have also checked the rubber grommets behind the rear wheels and this area is also dry.

From this I am ruling out a water leak from the rear tailgate hinges, rear lights and the vents behind the rear bumper.

It has the original front screen and has never been in any accidents so I am at a bit of a loss as to where the water may be coming in from. Do any of you guys have any other ideas? The car doesn’t have a sunroof so my only other thoughts are that the roof rails may be leaking but how can I check and are they removable? There are no water marks or stains on the headlining and all the grommets in the floor are intact.

What next🤔

[madmole]

This will be from around the pollen filter or the bulkhead gromit, Check that the pollen filter is fitted correctly and pop the bonnet and check that there isnt a build up of leaves or gunk by the windscreen so the rin is not draining down the wings but filling up and going into the air intake

Another possible source would be blocked air con vents, so the condensate cant escape and is flooding back into car

I've also seen on other makes sunroof or the black roof strips having drains through the interior under the roof liner and this leaking

Also the focus has wet doors, check the holes at the bottom are not blocked up and forcing the door water to leak in rather than drain

 

 

[Flatfour]

Thanks for your comments madmole.

I forgot to mention that I have also checked the aircon drain pipe ( this drains on the drivers side and as said the drivers side  of the car is dry ) 

The pollen filter is inside the car and has very recently been changed and was completely dry, albeit very full of fine particles!

The door drain holes are all clear and the door rubbers are all sound and there has never been a sign of water breaching the door openings.

I have removed the wiper arms and the plastic scuttle and again all is clear. However at the weekend I am going to remove the passenger side wiper motor and have a good look at the sealant bond / strip between the A pillar and the bulkhead as it seems to leak more when the car is parked with the front facing slightly uphill ! If this has a slight crack in it then I believe it would make its way into the car up behind the top of the dash somewhere behind the glovebox and it would be behind the carpet before it even reaches the floor.

What / where is the bulkhead grommet that you mentioned?

I have done a bit of research and it looks like the plastic roof rails that form part of the roof gutter are just clipped on ( so hopefully not susceptible to leaking ) and whilst a bit grimy they are not blocked.

 

 

[madmole]

Behind and to left of battery frim engine bay. Aboce ghe fuse oandl to right from footwell

[Flatfour]

Well it looks like my suspicion of the area behind the passenger side wiper motor was correct. At the weekend I removed the wiper arms and then the plastic scuttle. I then removed the passenger side wiper motor ( two 10mm bolts and a multi plug ) and inspected the area behind where the motor is fixed. From there I could see the seam of body sealant between the panels and it looked very much like there was a crack in one of them.  Once cleaned from the grime tha5 had gathered over the years I got some automotive body sealant and added a new thick layer over the existing seal lines.

We have had plenty of rain since doing this and the floor on the passenger side is still bone dry👍 Here are a couple of pictures detailing the area in question.

 

[BDT]

Hi
I am now here
I have just taken my 2013 Focus to my local NON-FORD garage as the floor of my car was drenched and smelly.
Amazed so many others have this issue and Ford turn a blind eye

[FatHead1979]

10 minutes ago, BDT said:

Hi
I am now here
I have just taken my 2013 Focus to my local NON-FORD garage as the floor of my car was drenched and smelly.
Amazed so many others have this issue and Ford turn a blind eye

THATS the Ford promise "good to drive, crap customer service" i.e. why bother with a recall unless forced to by the authorities.

Fortunately Ford UK customers have people on this forum to help them out!

[TomsFocus]

I've just bought a Mk3 after looking round a few...  Every single one I looked at had a wet boot...do any of them NOT leak as standard!?   

Anyway, I've pulled the bumper off this morning and, as expected, found both rear 'holes' full of water...and ice as it's freezing lol...  Have left it to 'dry' (it's snowing and 1c so that'll go well...) and will finish the job on Tuesday weather permitting.  Will need to get some sealant tomorrow though and wondered which to get?  Needs to be as cheap as possible but I want to know it'll work.  I also don't have a trigger thing so has anyone tried the squeezy bottle style ones?

[FatHead1979]

8 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

I've just bought a Mk3 after looking round a few...  Every single one I looked at had a wet boot...do any of them NOT leak as standard!?   

Anyway, I've pulled the bumper off this morning and, as expected, found both rear 'holes' full of water...and ice as it's freezing lol...  Have left it to 'dry' (it's snowing and 1c so that'll go well...) and will finish the job on Tuesday weather permitting.  Will need to get some sealant tomorrow though and wondered which to get?  Needs to be as cheap as possible but I want to know it'll work.  I also don't have a trigger thing so has anyone tried the squeezy bottle style ones?

You'll be better off using a standard type tube with a cheap mastic gun, you can usually get a good enough one for about £5 from B&Q/Screwfix etc.  The squeezy bottle ones tend to be more expensive and don't give you the same level of control.

Regarding what silicon to use, I've not used it personally but I'd suggest taking a look at EVO Stick gutter sealant as it's description states it design to cope with movement, extremes of temperature and can be applied to both plastics and painted metals.

[TomsFocus]

2 minutes ago, 1979Damian said:

You'll be better off using a standard type tube with a cheap mastic gun, you can usually get a good enough one for about £5 from B&Q/Screwfix etc.  The squeezy bottle ones tend to be more expensive and don't give you the same level of control.

Regarding what silicon to use, I've not used it personally but I'd suggest taking a look at EVO Stick gutter sealant as it's description states it design to cope with movement, extremes of temperature and can be applied to both plastics and painted metals.

Fair enough, I'll stick to a triggered one.  Didn't want to spend more than a fiver on the lot ideally though.  Reckon this Poundland gun would work?  http://www.poundland.co.uk/tommy-walsh-caulking-gun-9

 

[FatHead1979]

Just now, TomsFocus said:

Fair enough, I'll stick to a triggered one.  Didn't want to spend more than a fiver on the lot ideally though.  Reckon this Poundland gun would work?  http://www.poundland.co.uk/tommy-walsh-caulking-gun-9

Should be fine for what you need it for mate, just be careful not to try and force out the silicon too quickly, that's pretty much the only thing that might break the gun.

[Beatjunkie98]

Its 10.30pm on a sunday night I've been trying to work out all day why my boot carpet was soaked and found that the water was coming in on the side of the car where the parking sensor module is mounted, therefore just been outside and pulled the grommet out and watched my car wee all over my drive!!

Therefore I need to take the bumper off which looks easy, the vents unclip remove mastic up then install correct?

Thank god i found this forum, its a fantastic post! I spent 10 years on Cliosport.net with my 172 and these forums get things done!!

[TomsFocus]

9 hours ago, Beatjunkie98 said:

Its 10.30pm on a sunday night I've been trying to work out all day why my boot carpet was soaked and found that the water was coming in on the side of the car where the parking sensor module is mounted, therefore just been outside and pulled the grommet out and watched my car wee all over my drive!!

Therefore I need to take the bumper off which looks easy, the vents unclip remove mastic up then install correct?

Thank god i found this forum, its a fantastic post! I spent 10 years on Cliosport.net with my 172 and these forums get things done!!

Sounds correct.  I'm half way through the process myself, ie bumper off and vents out (snapped one due to the 'extreme' cold, they're only about £15 to buy new fortunately lol).

Going to buy some Wickes gutter and roof sealant (£3.99) and a poundland gun thing so should have it all sorted for a fiver.

I'm also going to grease around the rear light seals as was mentioned earlier in this thread.

 

Also tempted to drill a small hole in that grommet underneath - the grommet itself is large enough to let bugs or even mice in so don't want to totally leave it out, but a small hole should let any water out before it gets to the height of the holes into the boot space...anyone know of a reason not to do that?

[TomsFocus]

Hopefully sorted my leaks today thanks to this thread...it should probably be stickied?

Anyway, both sides were full of water like this when I got the car on Saturday, previous owner hadn't even realised but I knew it was a common issue to check before buying.

The black clips snapped off the vent and floated around lol, new vent cost £12 on eBay from Arnold Clark.

Sound deadening was left to dry for 2 days.

Today popped out the two small vents even though they hadn't leaked, fully dried everything both sides, put a small hole in the bottom grommets just in case water still makes it in, refitted the dry sound deadening and then sealed behind and around all 4 vents with wickes gutter sealant.  It's not pretty but should have cured the leaks...will have to wait for some rain now lol.

[Skoorb]

I am another victim of the leaking Mk 3 Focus ........ However luckily I found this thread quickly !

I spent five hours this weekend taking everything out, drying it out and fixing the leaks, I had leaking lights from the top gasket nearside and the leaking air vents on both sides at the rear. £10 at B&Q and a bit of handiwork and it seems the problem is fixed. Greased up the gasket on the lights, tumble dried all the sound proofing and insulation. 

Thank you so much for posting this you saved me time, money and heartache ..... Internet 1 - Ford 0 

I have a warranty on my car but didn't think it was even worth taking it in for diagnostics, the talcum powder in the boot worked a treat. To finish things off I have a dehumidifier in the car removing the last bit of moisture from the air.

I drilled small holes in the plastic lugs so any future leaks will be easier to trace and easier to get the lugs out to check.

Here's hoping it's sorted for good ! 

[Phil21185]

Seconded for stickying if any mods are watching? :)

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[FocusDave]

New to this forum I found by by having exactly the same problem with my Ford Focus 2012 reg that I have owned for just over 1 year.

Found the spare wheel area full of water and the verticle carpet in the boot soaked at the botom.

I though I originally tracked the problem down to one of the black wire pipes at the top of the boot door as water was getting in and trickling inside the pipe and onto the top of the roof carpet, down the driver’s side and following that path into the boot.

The day after with a lot of heavy rain, there were a lot of water trails from the boot corners, thankfully I left out that carpets etc to monitor my fix.

After reading this post and others like it I highly suspect the vents are the main culprit and will be taking the bumper off this weekend to fix it all.

I removed the rubber bung today and got two wet arms, one each side of the car.  I took am considering drilling a small hole in the gromit incase of build up of water again.   Is this a good idea as previously mentioned in this post?

It’s out of warrenty and I don’t want to spend £100’s repairing something that I can do myself for a few quid in my own spare time.

I’ll post back after the job is done and confirm my fix has worked or not.

Also, can anyone recommend the name of the plug for the wire that connects to the interior boot light?   I have broken one of them while removing the plastic side pannel to remove the vertical carpet.  It’s the small white female plug.  It looks like the wires to the plug originally clamped into the plug, so would just need a replacement for it.  Don’t know what it’s called to look for one though?

[Reamonnt]

Hi Lads,

Just finished reading this informative thread. I have the Mark 2 focus and am I ok to assume that this issue could affect mine too.

I have had it in the garage twice now sealing up the rear cluster but there is still water in the wheelwell and the rear passenger footwell. I dont have the cash to bring it to ford as they quoted me 300 quid just to look at it and try to id where the leak is. I also had a leak from the vanity mirror which my mechanic has hopefully fixed by silicone inside as the first fix on top didnt work. 

So please could someone confirm that I should go ahead and take off the bumper to check the vents on the Mark2? 

thanks

Ray 

[JW1982]

The problem described in this thread is MK3/MK3.5 specific. I have never seen or heard of this problem on a Focus Mk2/MK2.5.

Leaks from the tailgate hinges, rear lights, rear spoiler and body panel seams are quite common on the Focus Mk2/MK2.5. I would personally start investigating these known locations before removing the rear bumper.