It seems after todays car wash I've developed a pretty good water leak in the rear window area. I have the power window on my S-crew. After the wash, I noticed a good amount of drips exiting between the headliner and the window. I really don't understand seeing I've owned my truck since October 04 and never had this problem. I'm going to try and tighten up the 3rd break light according to other posts I've searched for. Other than that, would this be something I should reserve time to take to the dealer? This sucks

 

I siliconed mine up. No more problems.

 

Was it indeed the seal around the third brake light?

 

Yes but I had my navigation antenna ran thru the 3rd brake light so the shop that did the install actually fixed it for me.

 

A few of us have had that problem. I took mine back to Ford and they sealed it up for me under warranty, but allot of people here have done it themselves. There are 3 holes under the 3rd brake light and water seems to get in the light if not sealed correctly or the seal breaks. anyway, hope this helps and good luck.

 

I just developed this problem about a week ago, dealer says it's not the brake light but the seal around the window. I guess I'll find out soon enough when it goes back in to have the window seal replaced.

 

I got a leak that’s beginning to develop but so far only shows up sporadically. It leaves a spot of water on the top of the back seat about the size of a silver dollar, but not every time it rains. My best guess is it’s coming from the third brake light.

 

It's probably from a distorted seal on the 3rd brake light. TSB 04-20-5 covers this; the part number for the latest and greatest 3rd brake light assembly is 5L3Z-13A613-AA. Or you could remove it and straight the seal out, maybe apply a little clear RTV to it to seal it up yourself if you're so inclined.

 

I didn’t notice any leak last year when the truck sat outside through four hurricanes. Hopefully I’ll be able to pinpoint where the leak is coming from by water testing with a hose, this way if I have to take it in for repair it will only take a day or less.

 

Close all the windows, turn the blower on high on normal air, and spray some soapy water around the 3rd brake light. Look for bubbles.

 

I’ll give that a try tomorrow, thanks for the tip

 

Quintin, I can’t thank you enough for that HOT tip! That was a lot simpler, and much more effective than using water then waiting to see a leak. I soap-sprayed along the top of the back window too, just to make sure nothing funky was going on there either. The pic shows bubbles on the back window area, but that just run off from the 3rd brake light.

Apparently, the gasket fatigued and lost its seal. I’m undecided whether to bring it to the dealer and let them replace the gasket, or go about a fix myself. What say you Quintin?

 

Usually what happens is the seal distorts and rolls away from the edge of the third brake light. Removing the foam seal and running a thin bead of clear RTV would probably seal it up, but it's covered under warranty, so I'd let Uncle Henry put a 3rd brake light in it. Glad to see it worked.

 

also, Ford did reseal my back window too. They said there were reported problems with it too, but I never had a problem with the back window.

 

Awesome info guys...Seeing I still have issues w/ the motorized rear window, I'll probably take it to the dealer to get the leak fixed at the same time.