reilig Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 Well it's done. The side vents were tight and appeared well sealed, but the 2 larger rear seals were loose and grimey when checked. Once removed, both cavities had water in them. So he cleaned it all out, dried it up, and sealed all 4 vents back up with sealer. He checked the light seals and they were all good. Finally, he washed and valeted all of the carpet in the car. So its like new. Hopefully it will keep the water out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dezwez Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 49 minutes ago, reilig said: Well it's done. The side vents were tight and appeared well sealed, but the 2 larger rear seals were loose and grimey when checked. Once removed, both cavities had water in them. So he cleaned it all out, dried it up, and sealed all 4 vents back up with sealer. He checked the light seals and they were all good. Finally, he washed and valeted all of the carpet in the car. So its like new. Hopefully it will keep the water out. hopefully that should sort it out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WES180 Posted February 5, 2019 Author Share Posted February 5, 2019 2 hours ago, reilig said: Well it's done. The side vents were tight and appeared well sealed, but the 2 larger rear seals were loose and grimey when checked. Once removed, both cavities had water in them. So he cleaned it all out, dried it up, and sealed all 4 vents back up with sealer. He checked the light seals and they were all good. Finally, he washed and valeted all of the carpet in the car. So its like new. Hopefully it will keep the water out. I'm glad he had the common sense to seal all 4 while it was stripped down, it's amazing how many people would've only sealed the one that showed signs of leaking! Hopefully that's the problem sorted for you now!🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reilig Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 4 minutes ago, WES180 said: I'm glad he had the common sense to seal all 4 while it was stripped down, it's amazing how many people would've only sealed the one that showed signs of leaking! Hopefully that's the problem sorted for you now!🙂 Do you know what? He didn't have the common sense to seal all 4. I just per chance arrived back as he was about to put the bumper back on and I asked if he sealed all 4 and he said that he only did 2 because the 2 smaller ones had a good seal. He wasn't too impressed when I demanded that he take out the 2 smaller vents and seal them too before putting back on the bumper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WES180 Posted February 5, 2019 Author Share Posted February 5, 2019 1 hour ago, reilig said: Do you know what? He didn't have the common sense to seal all 4. I just per chance arrived back as he was about to put the bumper back on and I asked if he sealed all 4 and he said that he only did 2 because the 2 smaller ones had a good seal. He wasn't too impressed when I demanded that he take out the 2 smaller vents and seal them too before putting back on the bumper. Typical, good job you got there then! It would probably have been a matter of time before the others leaked too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Billing Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 Can I also add my thanks to the OP for this thread. All of the signs on my Mk3 2011 Focus were the same as others already described here, heavy condensation, water in the spare wheel bay etc. After opening the grommet on the near side about half a litre of water poured through. Although there was no obvious damp on the driver side inside, I opened the grommet on that side and promptly got a soaking from another 200-300ml of water. The issue as others already said is in the build up of water in the cavity through the seals, which while the car is in motion or under braking shifts the water into the adjoining spare wheel bay and forward compartments through holes 2-3cm up from the bottom of the cavity. In this case then the driver side was building up water but not yet enough to run into the body elsewhere, but over time it would have done so. I found it necessary to disconnect the light cluster housing (but not the cable) before the bumper as it allows you to see the bracket. Parking sensors definitely do not need to be disconnected, the retaining clips for the bracket pull through with some subtle persuasion and the cable is just long enough to rest the bumper on the floor. As a novice it did take most of the day, but it is perfectly doable. Having done it once it could be done in 1-2 hours. A surprisingly rubbish piece of engineering by Ford. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Binksy Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 My mk3 focus Estate is leaking rainwater in from the roof somewhere. It's coming out of the vent on the rear offside pillar and dripping onto the parcel shelf. Has anyone seen this before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gar123 Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 Hi guys I’ve read the this thread as I also have water coming into my mk3 Ford Focus I’ve done what you’ve said and pulled the gromits out on both sides but no water came out I’ve checked the spare wheel well and it’s full of water now I’m stumped to be honest as to where the water could be coming in do I still pull the bumper off and seal the vents or is there no point if there’s no water in the cavity pockets behind them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WES180 Posted March 12, 2019 Author Share Posted March 12, 2019 10 hours ago, Gar123 said: Hi guys I’ve read the this thread as I also have water coming into my mk3 Ford Focus I’ve done what you’ve said and pulled the gromits out on both sides but no water came out I’ve checked the spare wheel well and it’s full of water now I’m stumped to be honest as to where the water could be coming in do I still pull the bumper off and seal the vents or is there no point if there’s no water in the cavity pockets behind them Was the insulation dry in the cavity too? Grease the foam on the rear of the light clusters to rule those out. If it's still leaking the remove the interior trim in the boot and sit a running hosepipe on the roof and wait to see where the water is getting in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gar123 Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 15 hours ago, WES180 said: Was the insulation dry in the cavity too? Grease the foam on the rear of the light clusters to rule those out. If it's still leaking the remove the interior trim in the boot and sit a running hosepipe on the roof and wait to see where the water is getting in. Insulation was a little bit damp but not soaking but I will take on board your advice and give it a go many thanks for replying I’ll let you know how it goes 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deckmonkey Posted March 14, 2019 Share Posted March 14, 2019 Another 2013 Mk3 with this problem I suspect - noticed damp rear seats recently as they've been down a lot for carting stuff to the tip and this morning before going for MoT I noticed the wheel well full of water. Unfortunately I no longer have a driveway to work on and it's chuffing it down at the moment, but I'm going to have to address this as I suspect it's been like this for a while so I'll try and borrow a mates drive or garage for the day. I quickly stuck my hand under the bumper looking for the grommets this morning but no joy - can't seem to find them or any holes. Am I missing something? I assume they'll be near the back of the compartment and I should be feeling around for a flat base since that's how it looks in all the photos, am I correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WES180 Posted March 14, 2019 Author Share Posted March 14, 2019 30 minutes ago, deckmonkey said: Another 2013 Mk3 with this problem I suspect - noticed damp rear seats recently as they've been down a lot for carting stuff to the tip and this morning before going for MoT I noticed the wheel well full of water. Unfortunately I no longer have a driveway to work on and it's chuffing it down at the moment, but I'm going to have to address this as I suspect it's been like this for a while so I'll try and borrow a mates drive or garage for the day. I quickly stuck my hand under the bumper looking for the grommets this morning but no joy - can't seem to find them or any holes. Am I missing something? I assume they'll be near the back of the compartment and I should be feeling around for a flat base since that's how it looks in all the photos, am I correct? The grommet is just inside here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gar123 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 On 3/12/2019 at 11:18 PM, Gar123 said: Insulation was a little bit damp but not soaking but I will take on board your advice and give it a go many thanks for replying I’ll let you know how it goes Greased the rear of my lights went out the day after to check as it hammered down with rain all night and the spare wheel well was dry as a bone so with a bit of luck that’s solved the problem but will keep checking thanks for your help Wes 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Passmoresk4 Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 On 5/30/2015 at 4:40 PM, WES180 said: Right, here we go again! Went out this morning and the boot was dry but when i pulled the grommet out underneath the car it was full of water again!!! This called for some more investigation so off came the back bumper. Turns out the vents fitted behind the bumper were a poor fit so they were not sealed properly. You could see where water had tracked down from the roof past the lights etc and then onto the top edge of the vent. Once the vent was removed it was obvious that was where the water was getting into the cavity as it was full of dirty rain water residue between the clips highlighting that the seal had failed. I cleaned all the surrounding area and dried the cavity and insulation out with a hair drier, this took some time as the insulation was saturated. You can see through the body cut out in the pic above where the underside grommet is removed to let the water out. This was replaced when everything was reassembled. Once that was all clean and dry I siliconed around the open edge of the body and also the back of the vents for good measure before clipping it back into place and smoothing the silicone around the edges. I did this to both side vents and both rear vents to be on the safe side. Basically what was happening was the water was tracking down behind the light cluster and getting into the body of the car via the poor seal on the vent. This caused the cavity to fill with water and then when driving the car and going around corners the water was spilling over into the boot floor area through a hole about 20mm up from the bottom of the cavity. I hope this helps somebody as I couldnt find any information regarding boot leaks on mk3's anywhere and Ford were useless as seals are only guaranteed for 12 months! I will remove the grommet again next weekend to make sure it is finally 100% sorted but all the signs were there to suggest it is. Im just hoping there is no secondary leak point! On 5/30/2015 at 4:40 PM, WES180 said: Right, here we go again! Went out this morning and the boot was dry but when i pulled the grommet out underneath the car it was full of water again!!! This called for some more investigation so off came the back bumper. Turns out the vents fitted behind the bumper were a poor fit so they were not sealed properly. You could see where water had tracked down from the roof past the lights etc and then onto the top edge of the vent. Once the vent was removed it was obvious that was where the water was getting into the cavity as it was full of dirty rain water residue between the clips highlighting that the seal had failed. I cleaned all the surrounding area and dried the cavity and insulation out with a hair drier, this took some time as the insulation was saturated. You can see through the body cut out in the pic above where the underside grommet is removed to let the water out. This was replaced when everything was reassembled. Once that was all clean and dry I siliconed around the open edge of the body and also the back of the vents for good measure before clipping it back into place and smoothing the silicone around the edges. I did this to both side vents and both rear vents to be on the safe side. Basically what was happening was the water was tracking down behind the light cluster and getting into the body of the car via the poor seal on the vent. This caused the cavity to fill with water and then when driving the car and going around corners the water was spilling over into the boot floor area through a hole about 20mm up from the bottom of the cavity. I hope this helps somebody as I couldnt find any information regarding boot leaks on mk3's anywhere and Ford were useless as seals are only guaranteed for 12 months! I will remove the grommet again next weekend to make sure it is finally 100% sorted but all the signs were there to suggest it is. Im just hoping there is no secondary leak point! Hi mate i am having the same problem with my 2012 focus but the water is in the boot and also the front and back passenger side floor is soaking could this be the same issue or more than one problem? Its really getting me down only had the car a year thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WES180 Posted March 25, 2019 Author Share Posted March 25, 2019 If the water in the spare wheel well gets high enough then yes it could spill over into the footwells too. Best thing to do is pull the bungs out from underneath and see if the side cavities are full of water then follow the advice above if it is. The side cavities fill first and then spill into the spare wheel well. I always grease the foam on the rear light clusters to ensure a water tight seal on those too. The bungs are located where the red arrow is on either side. Stick your head under the car and you should spot them easy enough. Mine only leaked on the passenger side but I sealed around all the vent edges whilst the bumper was off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoggschleife Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 On 4/16/2018 at 7:18 PM, Orbinspector said: No water was coming through those grommets as I was able to feel underneath them when it was raining and the metal surrounding them was dry. It seems the issue is water entering the weld line somewhere under the roof rails and running to the back of the car. The sealant sandwiched between the two panels is no longer sealing properly. Am taking the car back to the dealer tomorrow to have the roof rails removed and the weld resealed. Did you get anywhere with this Orbinspector? I have the same problem. I sealed the boot struts (62 ST3 estate) thinking that was the source of the problem but nada. No obvious water ingress around the loom grommets etc. Wish I'd kept my Golf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mannish Boy Posted June 14, 2019 Share Posted June 14, 2019 Thanks for all the instructions everyone. I only bought my Focus a week ago! I found water in the spare wheel well at the time and the seller thought that something must have been spilt in there as we couldn't find any damp on the carpet / lining. Today I found some more water in the wheel well and the carpet under the passenger side light, searched on here and found the cause. I didn't go so far as to putting sealant around the vents etc., I just pulled the wadding out, cleaned everything up and just drilled a couple of small drain holes in the lowest corners of the cavity. Fortunately for me it doesn't look like the water has ever gone past the wheel well. I'm just going to keep an eye on it for now, but at some point later this summer I'm going to Tetroseal the subframe etc. so I'll have the bumper off again and see if I need to go further. Cheers, Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reilig Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 On 6/14/2019 at 8:32 PM, Mannish Boy said: Thanks for all the instructions everyone. I only bought my Focus a week ago! I found water in the spare wheel well at the time and the seller thought that something must have been spilt in there as we couldn't find any damp on the carpet / lining. Today I found some more water in the wheel well and the carpet under the passenger side light, searched on here and found the cause. I didn't go so far as to putting sealant around the vents etc., I just pulled the wadding out, cleaned everything up and just drilled a couple of small drain holes in the lowest corners of the cavity. Fortunately for me it doesn't look like the water has ever gone past the wheel well. I'm just going to keep an eye on it for now, but at some point later this summer I'm going to Tetroseal the subframe etc. so I'll have the bumper off again and see if I need to go further. Cheers, Patrick If you are taking off the bumper, it only takes seconds to put sealant around the vents. The bumper is very easy to take off too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMac Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 (edited) Have a 2014 focus and had soaked carpets in rear and right down under passenger seat. Water appeared to be entering boot area and originally blamed grommets for towbar wiring. After sealing them up leak continued. Checked forums, removed rear bumper and discovered rear air vents full of water. I made rubber covers for the two vents in each side, leaving the bottom open to allow air flow. These were pop rivited into the plastic air vent frames. Put all back together and no wet carpets since. I had taken out seats and got carpet cleaned. Edited June 21, 2019 by JMac Typing error Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMac Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 1 hour ago, JMac said: Have a 2014 focus and had soaked carpets in rear and right down under passenger seat. Water appeared to be entering boot area and originally blamed grommets for towbar wiring. After sealing them up leak continued. Checked forums, removed rear bumper and discovered rear air vents full of water. I made rubber covers for the two vents in each side, leaving the bottom open to allow air flow. These were pop rivited into the plastic air vent frames. Put all back together and no wet carpets since. I had taken out seats and got carpet cleaned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbgaz Posted July 12, 2019 Share Posted July 12, 2019 I found this site having googled this problem with my MK3 wondering how the hell it could be happening!! I then followed the instructions and look to have cured the problem. I've now registered and also having just put a deposit down on a facelift MK3...... you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be sealing that up too once I get the oppurtunity!! Thankyou Wes, you're a legend!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerT123 Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 Hi Guys, yes I am yet another victim of the Ford Focus mk3 swimming pool in the boot. As many owners have found from contacting their Ford Dealer "this problem does not exist" as far as Ford Motors are concerned. I have had my car from new and first experienced the problem about 3 years ago, unfortunately it is now a severe problem which needs attention. Many thanks to Wes and all other Ford owners who's have contributed to this fantastic resource of information on this problem. My Ford Dealer is not interested in the problem, after all he has had my £16500.00 plus annual servicing. Trust me I will never buy another Ford vehicle.... I will be in touch again, hopefully with some pictures of my efforts in resolving this water ingress problem. Many thanks to all. RogerT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexlark Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 Hi all, another owner of a Focus with boot en-suite. 2013 plate, owned since new. I resealed the vents 6 months ago but did not pay any attention to the bumper brackets. I've had another leak on the offside so this weekend just gone I drilled the rivets off the brackets, new vents, new sealant and riveted the brackets back on, with some sealant. The middle rivet on the bracket kept pulling though so I had to leave it but now I have water in the cavity again after heavy rain Monday night (I removed the carpet in the boot a few weeks ago so I can easily monitor it). I'm going to take the vents back off this weekend and use stainless nuts and bolts on the brackets, sealant on the inside and sh*t loads on the rear of the bracket. There are 2 locating lugs on the rear of the brackets that pass into the cavity and they are only sealed with foam washers, same material as on the rear of the lights. I'm sure this is the source of the water ingress. Plan B is to drill a hole at the lowest part of the cavity and be done with it! I NEVER EVER thought I'd be dealing with a problem like this with a 6 year old car! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexlark Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 I didn't get round to re-sealing the brackets this weekend, job for next weekend. Can I ask, how many of you drilled drain holes in the cavity also? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexlark Posted October 18, 2019 Share Posted October 18, 2019 Quick update, I re-did the bumper brackets using stainless nuts and bolts - much easier than re-riveting. Used plenty of sealant. I then drilled 2 8mm holes at opposite ends of the lowest part of the cavity, removed burrs and used plenty of hammerite paint. Let all that dry and refitted the bumper the day after, that was Sunday. After 2 days of intermittent rain, and not using the car, I checked the cavity - through the hole from inside the boot. I could feel a bit of water in there but not much, once I drove the car I checked again after an hour and I could not feel water in there. I'm sure it was water and not condensation but either way it's now sorted, for anyone else doing this I really recommend drilling some small drain holes as I've had to revisit this leak 3 times!! Either that or patch it up and part-ex! lol. To be honest I wouldn't rule out water getting in through the seal around the petrol cap as that is just push fit and clipped on, same as the vents, and is directly above the cavity also. Now I'm just going to re-seal those holes in the boot that go into the cavity and refit the boot carpet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Ford UK Shop
Sponsored Ad
Name: eBay
Ford Model: FordUK Shop
Ford Year: 2024
Latest Deals
Ford UK Shop for genuine Ford parts & accessoriesDisclaimer: As the club is an eBay Partner, The club may be compensated if you make a purchase via the club
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.