Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Hunt
To that point, I had water pooling in the floor of a car once to the point of rotting the carpet and when i finally figured out what was happening it turned out to be water traveling on a single strand of wire that was not OEM, it was part of a aftermarket alarm system. It was shocking how much water could "ride" that wire and find its way to the floor.
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My 2000 E-350 XLT EB with hightop, has the usual aluminum trim strip with sheet metal screws holding it on. I know the previous owner had a shop apply some type of sealant all around to fix what I can only imagine was a persistent moisture problem.
I got a much clearer picture of what was going on after removing the entire headlines including in the cab area. There were no obvious signs of Butyl, silicone, or any other sealant between the fiberglass top and the steel body.
And although it did not seem to have been a big issue with water intrusion, there was not only a surprising amount of rust at the screw holes, but in a couple of instances quarter-sized holes of roof rot. This was caused by the persistent dribble of water that found an entry under the heads of the screws and dribbled its way along the length to rot the roof out. Bear in mind that this is an Arizona vehicle spending its whole life between Tuscon, Pheonix, and Yuma, an area not known for rain except in the intermittent monsoonal season. We have some rat rods that drive around with no paint just bare metal.
If you rewatch the video where the butal rubber is being installed be specifically mentioned the screw holes.