I have been reading about these water leaks so I decided to check mine out after a long night of rain. Sure enough my truck has this leak. I took it to the dealer and they are going to replace the headliner, carpet, and brake light under warranty. I am a little bummed because this truck has 4000 miles on it and its already in the shop. Here is the picture of the water leak.

 

Wow! sure hope mine is defective like that!!!

 

hmmm ill have to check mine i did notice the other day when i was washing it that water was gettin into the housing for the 3rd brake light i never looked inside tho for leakage whoops

 

This has been an issue in the past with the 2004-2008 series as well. Water leaks in, runs into the headliner, and drips down into the cab. Happens on some, but not others, and I have no idea why. Search the forum and you'll find a couple threads talking about it.

The fix is pretty simple though: remove the light, add some silicone sealant around the inside edge, let it dry and then reattach the light. You could reattach it while it's wet I guess, but you wouldn't get much of a better seal, and removing the light down the road to replace a bulb would be a PITA. 10 minutes and a couple bucks for a small tube of sealant... pretty easy fix.

 

Ford has a new design for the light. It has a thicker gasket to prevent water intrusion. The dealer said that they have one in stock but because my headliner is wet they want to be safe and replace that as well. So now I have to wait a few days because they have to order the headliner. Better safe than sorry I guess. I sure as hell don't want mildew growing in my headliner.

 

They aren't going to at least try to clean it first? They told me they would clean it before doing anything else. I wouldn't want them tearing everything out in my truck..

 

that thicker gasket is a load of crap... i got that gasket about a year ago & mine started leaking like a month ago... give it a shot but doubt it will work

 

Maybe it was the way the dealer installed it. Sometimes you have to babysit the dealer and make sure they do the job correctly.

 

+1

If it's a warranty repair, this will *always* be the case. Even the higher end dealers are turning into real jerks when it comes to warranty jobs. My dad bought an A8 last year, and it's had a squeak in the driver's side front brake since day one. After taking it in three times, they finally told him he'd have to pony up 500 bucks for a brake job to correct it. I drove down there on my lunch break, confirmed this with the guy my dad spoke to, then called Audi Preferred Customer hotline from the parking lot. Told them my story, then took the phone inside so the service guy could tell them what he told me. I could hear that german yelling at him over the phone. Had my dad's car to them at 8am the next morning, and it was done and delivered to his office before noon, with a gift certificate for a free detail on the dash.

Anyway, when this happened to my 2005, I just did the work myself because I'm really weird about trusting others with my truck. I pulled the headliner down and wiped up what I could, and used a blower I borrowed from a friend who is a professional painter, and let it blow air up there overnight. Put it back together, performed that seal job on the brake light I described earlier, and it hasn't been an issue since.

 

With warranties becoming such a big selling point (and profit point with the extended ones) you would think they would bending over backwards to keep us going to the dealer rather than the local mechanic.

Aside from that I think it depends on where your located whether you would want a new headliner or not, if I was say down in Florida or Georgia where there is a potential for mold it's probably cheaper in the long run for the dealer to replace rather than have to bring it back later and detoxify the whole thing later on after it spreads to the rest of the cab. Which after mold gets hold is darned near impossible to do properly without tearing it down to bare metal.

 

I just got back from the dealer and the mechanic said that there is no way to get the headliner perfectly clean. He had to take pictures and send them to Ford to get the go ahead and replace under warranty. It seems like these guys at this dealer are pretty competent. He also looked up the TSB for the satellite antenna leak and he is going to fix that as well just in case.

I wonder if Ford has fixed these issues in the new 2011's.

 

You would hope so, but the 3rd brake light leak has been an issue since 2004, and a well known issue at that.

I'm jealous of you guys that live in the lower 48, because in most cases, there are multiple dealers within a hundred mile radius. Up here in AK, there are literally 4 Ford dealers, two of which are 345 and 686 miles from my house, respectively. The largest, and also the closest, is a Cal Worthington dealership that is notoriously inept when it comes to the service department. In the case of my dad's Audi, the dealership he goes through is the only one in the state, period, and they act like it more and more every year.

Hope your headliner gets fixed quickly Banshee. I lucked out with mine in that you couldn't see any water damage on the cab side so I didn't need to replace the whole thing. If your dealer said they would go ahead and fix the sat antenna leak while they were at it, then it definitely sounds like you're working with one of the good ones.

 

I have been hearing some horror stories about dealers and how they do their work. Has anybody felt like their truck just wasn't new anymore after the dealer worked on them? I feel bad that my truck with only 4000 miles is getting the headliner ripped out and a new one put in. I hope no other issues arise after this fix.

 

Well, count me in as a victim of the dreaded 3rd brake light leak.

I've been reading about this problem on various forums and have been checking my light almost every day.

We've had constant rain for the last 2 days here and when I parked my truck last night in the driveway, everything was fine.

Then this morning, I noticed a couple of water drops on the rear seat and sure enough, the headliner is all stained and water is dripping from it. So, this literally happened overnight.

Dropped it off at the dealer this morning and informed them that there is a new light with thicker gasket from Ford. They said they didn't know this was still a problem with the newer trucks. So, now I wait and see what they do to fix it.

Couple of thoughts I have on this...

1. Why is the brake light mounted into essentially a hole in the cab? One would think it should be a sealed cavity that allows water to drain to the outside.

2. Because this leak happened suddenly, is it possible that the light either loosens over time or the gasket slides down and out of place thus allowing water to enter. Or does the gasket material itself break down and eventually allows water past?

3. I now wish I had ordered that Recon LED brake light with the good gasket!

Grrrrr...

 

Where do you live? When i picked up my truck the service manager said that this usually happens where it gets really hot. I live in Houston, TX and in the summer it gets to about 105 degrees. I am guessing that the old gasket is deteriating over time from the summer heat. Anyways, I picked up my truck with new light and headliner. It all looks good except the overhead consol sunglass compartment looks a little off. I mean it's not flush to the console. I may just be picky but I have a right to with a new truck. The overall job looks good though. I water tested the new light myself and it seems to be fixed. Good luck with yours!