2011 Explorer Water Leak

Stanley

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We found water in the back of my wife's Explorer and doing some internetting it doesn't seem to be all that isolated. Has anyone seen this? I know we have some Ford techs on here. If anyone has experience with this post where you found the leak coming from and what the fix was. From what I found online the dealers were telling customers it was a body seam issue, but then I saw where the roof rack mounts were the source.

Just looking for more info before we tear into it.

Thanks.
 

65x2

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There is a clear seam sealer that can be purchased. Unbolt the roof rack and apply if you're wanting to fix it yourself
 

Stanley

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65x2

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Yup. When I've seen leaks from a roof, they're either from the sunroof being clogged or where the seam of the roof panel meets the quarters.


To apply from the inside you'd be dropping the headliner, which you may have to do anyway to remove the roof rack. Not sure on that body style
 
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FISHTAIL

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Reviving an old thread because I just found out we have this same issue. My wife called me on the way home to complain that the entire rear of her 2011 explorer is saturated. What's worse, is her lap got soaked as well. Given that her moonroof also quit working somewhat recently, and water infiltration being a now obvious problem, and I think we have a winner.

I poked around the explorer forum as suggested here, and it seems this is not an uncommon issue, but other than it was a "seam seal failure" nobody seemed to provide any details. At least nothing beyond the, "I got it fixed under warranty" response. Since we have 156k miles on ours, that isn't going to help me.

A little additional poking, and someone on Reddit had what appears to be the answer. The leak looks to occur on the rear of the vehicle, at the top corners of the hatch, where the 3 body panels come together (hatch, roof, rear 1/4), and at least in his case, water got clear up to the second row from there. Given that we usually park with the nose of the truck facing slightly downhill, getting water the rest of the way up doesn't seem like a stretch for us.

What I don't know, but am currently trying to find out is what product Ford uses to repair that seal. I intend to inspect the truck tonight to see if we have the same failure as the fellow on reddit, then clean/fix the seal with whatever sealant is usually applied, followed up with some spray on bed liner for good measure, and because I have one spot under the drivers roof rail where the paint failed and I had to seal up earlier this year. Might as well remove the rails and paint the valley below them black on both sides with the bed liner stuff to avoid any more future problems.

Hopefully someone searching google finds this useful. If I'm able to successfully locate and repair this issue, I'll report back so future google searches that dig this thread up can find information about the repair.
 

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