Water Leaking Through Sunroof Controls

[RLXXI]

This is why I'll never own another vehicle with a moon roof or T tops. Have had both leak on me and if you think about it, all it is is one huge hole in the roof, we shouldn't expect it to leak right?... wrong. They're designed to leak into a track just under the glass, then the water is channeled down and out thru those tubes connected to the tracks, mud daubers (Wasp cousin) like little holes like that to build their nests in from underneath.

Road vibration over time can also cause them to disconnect, perhaps not installed properly on the assembly line.

Sponsored

 

[TwentyTwentyThree]

Same issue of clogged drains happens with convertibles. My Boxster is prone to this issue. I purchased a trombone cleaner brush which does the trick of clearing blockages, and you get to answer the question "why do you have a trombone cleaner?"

The trombone cleaning kit looks too big to fit into the drain holes. It looks like weed wacker line might be best bet?

 

[TwentyTwentyThree]

This is why I'll never own another vehicle with a moon roof or T tops. Have had both leak on me and if you think about it, all it is is one huge hole in the roof, we shouldn't expect it to leak right?... wrong. They're designed to leak into a track just under the glass, then the water is channeled down and out thru those tubes connected to the tracks, mud daubers (Wasp cousin) like little holes like that to build their nests in from underneath.

Road vibration over time can also cause them to disconnect, perhaps not installed properly on the assembly line.

Lariat all came with sunroofs. I’m with you. If there was an option to opt out - I would.

 

[K6CCC]

Lariat all came with sunroofs. I’m with you. If there was an option to opt out - I would.

One of several reasons I did not want anything higher than a Flash.

 

[TwentyTwentyThree]

Since I always come through on my threads…

I did an extremely scientific experiment. Since yall like the metric system, I grabbed two ONE LITER bottles of water and poured each bottle directly into the sunroof drain area quarter. Just as expected, water poured out in the wheel well area very fast, let me reiterate — there is no clog on a brand new truck. It is nonsensical to even hypothesize this.

Now, since I parked the truck in the same exact location I then poured water into the center area and immediately saw the problem — the design of the gutter system. Running perpendicular to the sunroof are these gutters. In the way that a truck is parked, the water has nowhere to go. So it pools there.

Please observe the image below. I am all ears (eyes?) for solutions other than “don’t park there bro”

 

[TwentyTwentyThree]

Furthermore, I re angled the truck and poured another, entire LITER OF WATER into each respective drain area, and just as you suspected — it drained fine.

Recommendation from a guy on the internet: If you’re expecting a heavy rain, do not park on flat surface.

 

[TwentyTwentyThree]

Observe three

liters of water drain..

 

[Heliian]

I've parked my truck at many angles and never had a water problem.

It's possible your roof was ajar.

 

[chl]

Yes, well ideally no water should even get past the seals.
There was a recall on the sun/moon roofs on some Lightnings as I recall.

I was once drenched by my old 1968 Peugeot 404 "sun roof" clogged drain tubes had to be cleaned frequently, and even after getting the debris out (vinegar, Clorox, or just water) some knid of insect liked to crawl up from the bottom and nest there!
I ended up just using some aluminum tape and sealing the dang thing completely covering the rubber gaskets and all.

Now that might look funky on a $70k+ F-150 Lightning unless you could find metal tape that matched the color, lol.

Even if you fix the moon/sun roof leak, there is always the possibility that the rear vent behind the rear seat, or the side windows, will allow water into your truck - they have also been prone to water intrusion in F-150's.

So far my 2023 Pro has been water tight, knock on wood....

 

[TwentyTwentyThree]

I've parked my truck at many angles and never had a water problem.

It's possible your roof was ajar.

Impossible. Less than zero chance.

 

[TwentyTwentyThree]

Yes, well ideally no water should even get past the seals.
There was a recall on the sun/moon roofs on some Lightnings as I recall.

I was once drenched by my old 1968 Peugeot 404 "sun roof" clogged drain tubes had to be cleaned frequently, and even after getting the debris out (vinegar, Clorox, or just water) some knid of insect liked to crawl up from the bottom and nest there!
I ended up just using some aluminum tape and sealing the dang thing completely covering the rubber gaskets and all.

Now that might look funky on a $70k+ F-150 Lightning unless you could find metal tape that matched the color, lol.

Even if you fix the moon/sun roof leak, there is always the possibility that the rear vent behind the rear seat, or the side windows, will allow water into your truck - they have also been prone to water intrusion in F-150's.

So far my 2023 Pro has been water tight, knock on wood....

No sunroof no problems

 

[bryce]

It is u fortunate that you are having this problem. We have as a community made suggestions on the most common cause, clogged drains. It may be that there is a manufacturing defect with your truck. I would suggest that this is a problem for the dealer to evaluate and if indeed there is an issue then either fix, or if not repairable then Ford should replace your vehicle with one that does not have this defect. If it is under warranty.

Sponsored