Leak at Upper Windshield Corners

[JWA]

Thanks for posting these photos SScott---they're helpful, it's no huge deal copying and rotating them.

I'll be under my hood sometime today and will look in the areas you describe, looking for signs of where a leak might develop.

Even on my raggedy 2003 E250 extended body I've not dealt with any body leaks as we're discussing here. I did replace the original windshield myself about 2 years ago, another on a friend's '99 E250 regular body and both are still water tight. I'm lucky because I would think the '03 would be prone to leaks, the bodies of that year seem to be lower quality at least in my climate.

Thanks again for the photos!

[Drizzt]

So I think mine might be fixed. Took it to a shop here that does some servicing of van fleets and while they said they'd seen this before, they said it usually happened sooner rather than later. Apparently what they'd seen if more of a manufacturing defect than a crack from age and movement. On the other hand, not sure how many 300K mile vans they've seen either...

I can't figure out how to rotate the picture, but the shot is from the e-brake pedal when it is applied and looking up at the firewall. They had to remove the e-brake, fuse block, and brake pedal and applied two layers of epoxy. I'm not a painter, but the epoxy I've used is brittle so I'm a little concern about using it here but they say they've used this in the past with success.

I have the floormat torn out because it was rotted from however long this was happening, but I'm hesitant to put a new one in for one because I'm not sure it's really fixed (only testing has been with a garden hose) and also because Ford wants about $550 for a new one! Anybody know a good aftermarket source?

[JWA]

I hope your fix is indeed a fix, sounds like this shop works hard to fix problems.

As for your floor mat I've never seen an OEM rot due water leaks---those things are pretty robust. If it's the standard rubber-like material backed with a spun-fabric pad once they're completely dried out they can be re-used.

When my new-to-me cargo only van was bought the rear mat was absolutely saturated from the van "sweating". It took almost a week laying padding-side up in the sun for it to dry out--five years laying outside the padding is still dry, the rest of the mat very usable.

You could also check on eBay or a well-equipped salvage yard for a nice newer OEM front pad---should be plenty of choices either place.

HTH

[tbrasher]

Originally Posted by arctictraveller

I had that issue on my old Ford van and tried several times to seal it from the outside and inside with no luck until I had the windshield removed. The rust hadn't gotten very bad, so some quick grinding and wire wheeling got back to good metal, then some POR, and a proper amount of windshield sealant cured the problem for good (I think, I sold it a year later) As I remember, it only cost a couple hundred dollars, but the rust had not gotten structural yet. Good luck.

Hey, arctictraveller, who do you take the van to for this type of repair? Glass installer, body shop, Ford dealership?


Thanks,


Todd

[JWA]

Originally Posted by tbrasher

Hey, arctictraveller, who do you take the van to for this type of repair? Glass installer, body shop, Ford dealership?

Thanks,

Todd

I hope to not interrupt AT's reply but as a glass installer definitely NOT the dealership---they're not really prepared or all that experienced finding leaks like those found around windshields.

A body shop would be one avenue but they'll eventually want the windshield removed if they can't quickly find a leak NOT of the windshield's cause.

A glass installer might do this for cost if they didn't install the windshield originally.

Once you know where its leaking that'll pretty dictate whether this would be a body shop or glass installer job.

Not sure how helpful that is but I hope somewhat.

[tbrasher]

Thanks for that info, JWA

[arctictraveller]

JWA is spot on, best of luck