Soaked carpets on front passenger floor (08 Fusion)

[Frank Wines]

Hi everybody. I have a 2008 Ford Fusion that has been the perfect car up until last week. I noticed the passenger side carpet was wet under the rubber floormat. I figured it was just from me washing off the side panel the week before, but a week later the wetness is worse. I've read in this forum where there is an A/C drain hose that loops down into the passenger side floorboard behind the dash and then to the outside of the car, and that sometimes this hose gets clogged. If the hose gets clogged the assumption being it has nowhere to go but through a seal or connection onto the interior carpet.

 

How do I confirm this?

 

I'm going to pull the carpet back today to see what I can see, but any tips or places to start beyond that would be great.

 

Edit: I pulled the carpet back and sure enough the padding under that black rubber material is soaked and a puddle of water came down from the entire length of it. I haven't figured out how to detach this rubber enough to see where the water is coming from.

 

Cheers

Edited August 23, 2015 by Frank Wines

[vahn401]

Hi, I also have a 08 fusion 4 cylinder. I've had the car since new and it has been great, but I also ran into this same problem. Little hard to explain, but on the passenger side of the engine bay, there is a drain tube coming out of the firewall. It is a little lower, but definitely reachable. If you reach down there and feel around the tube, you'll feel there is a grommet/gasket. In my car, this gasket felt loose, or slightly deteriorated. I grabbed a small tube of silicone and caked that on all around the drain tube. Performed this trick 6 months ago and haven't had a leak in the car since.

 

From my understand the drain pipe was fine, but it would naturally come out the pipe, then come back into the car on the outside where that grommet failed.

[durasel]

I siliconed around the drain tube too on both our cars. The sponge gasket around the tube lets A/C drain water get back into the compartment.

 

Ford had this same problem on its 1998+ Taurus/Sable models.

 

You'd think that they would have fixed that design??

Edited September 4, 2015 by durasel

[FusionNorth]

Hey guys,

This is my first time posting here. Came across your website. Just purchased myself a 2012 Fusion but have a problem with my dad's 2008 model that I'm trying to resolve.

 

The car has been virtually trouble free since he bought it. However, today I noticed that the front passenger floor is wet (actually it was frozen). I don't know how long it's been like this but we just had a snow storm the other day and the roads are now slushy. I've ruled out any possibility that the water on the carpet was from the floor mats. I've got industrial rubber mats underneath the regular mats to protect the carpets against salt/water runoff. They're waterproof.

 

I watched a video on Youtube of some guy who had the same problem. He claims it was coming it from the AC drain located on the firewall just behind the dash. Now... I can't yet confirm if that's the problem with my dad's 08 Fusion, but I know that the exact same problem occurred with my 03 Taurus and I had to smear tar around that gasket on the firewall to prevent any water from coming in. I never had a problem again.

 

So... I'm wondering if there's any other places on the car that could be allowing water to leak in?.

 

Would appreciate any info you could provide.

Edited January 13, 2016 by drolds1
merged with pre-exisitng topic

[MonoxideChild]

Its either going to be the sunroof drain you already mentioned. Or your heater core is leaking. Its going to be one of the two. Only way to know is to get in there and do a visual check.

[drolds1]

Its either going to be the sunroof drain you already mentioned. Or your heater core is leaking. Its going to be one of the two. Only way to know is to get in there and do a visual check.

If the heater core was leaking the moisture would be coolant and I doubt that would freeze, even in Canada. Also, there'd be a distinctive smell.

[MonoxideChild]

Agreed. but take it from a tech, the vast majority of people cant distinguish between the two when its soaked in your carpet.

[FusionNorth]

Its either going to be the sunroof drain you already mentioned. Or your heater core is leaking. Its going to be one of the two. Only way to know is to get in there and do a visual check.

 

Glad I bookmarked this page. Didn't realize it had been merged into another discussion

 

Thanks for the response. There is no sunroof in my dad's 08 Fusion. The soaked carpet is without a doubt water. I did feel behind the carpet and it's damp in behind the firewall which makes me think it "could" be leaking in from around the gasket of the drain pipe. I just wondered if these cars were common for leaks anywhere else (just want to make sure I've got all the bases covered).

 

I know it's a completely different car. But in my 03 Taurus, water leaked in from that very same gasket. Water would splash up from the road and make it's way into the car. I know the cabin filter was also a common spot for leaks on those cars. But this Fusion doesn't have one.

 

I've had many Ford cars. Every one of them has leaked water.

[Jonathan Langer]

Same issue happened with my 08 SEL. I first thought it was the sunroof drain leaking. I finally figured out via talking to a dealer that it was the A/C drain tube on the firewall. Silicone around it fixed the problem - definitely a poor design on Ford's part.