Rain problem - success! ??

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gal54uk

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I have a 2004 Lincoln LS V8 sport. For a long time I have had a problem with water in the trunk. Solved (?) this by drilling a couple of holes in the bottom of the trunk. Anyway, just recently had several days of heavy rain. Car wouldn't start. Engine would not turn over. The only light on the dash was the air bag light. Battery OK. Remote operated the door locks ok. Reset the PCM by jumping the +ve battery terminal with the negative cable. Now got more dash lights and engine would turn over but not start. Left it for a day with the windows all open and battery disconnected. Now it started and runs OK. Discovered that engine revs are limited to 3000 rpm when in park. Never knew that before. But now I need to do something to stop it happening again. Water in trunk is obviously not good. I have a moonroof that leaks water onto the A pillar. The trunk lid seal seems OK. Is there a drain from the rear of the moonroof that is getting into the trunk?
 
There are two moonroof drains in the trunk, one on each side, near the rear bumper. Pull back the interior trunk trim, and you can't miss them.
The A pillar leak is more likely to be the one that is causing your electronics failure. On the driver's side, it will leak down into the FEM. It won't take getting wet too many times before it fails permanently.
You have to partially drop the headliner and reconnect the four drain tubes to the moonroof. Often, you have to splice in a short piece of hose (3/8" tubing couplers work for this) at each corner. The factory hose seems to shrink and pull away. Anyway, there are a few threads about this on here. Use Google advanced search to find them.
 
Agree with Joe 100% ...also after dropping down the headliner you can be reassured by blowing/shooting pressurized air down the drain tubes to be sure they are free off debris...why rust out your trunk? Just fix with the proper procedure as Joegr stated
 
12 Step Sunroof Repair How-to
Step 2. Remove the headliner. I didn't get a good pic of this but its pretty easy. Pull all 4 corner pillar trims off, the trims where the seatbelts attach, all 4 oh crap handles and the sunvisors and clips. The visors will hang by their wire which you can't unplug until you drop the liner down and you can get them. There is a plug glued on both corners of the headliner and you have to disconnect them there. The only thing left holding the liner is heavy duty velcro around the headliner
 
Take heart, when my son bought our 2000 the spare wheel well had obviously been filled above the battery. I popped out one of the drain plugs to keep it from happening again and kept an eye out to see where it had come from. After 2 1/2 years the rust stained, 6 year old battery died and between batteries I cleaned the well best I could and replaced the drain plug as the car has not leaked since we got it, nor have we had any major electrical problems. Our car sits out in the elements and the second thing I bought for it was a custom fit cover. This goes a long ways in keeping all the bird and tree crap from getting into and plugging up drains and collecting and causing rust in places you can't get to. Of coarse, as I write this it is raining and it is uncovered because the Escorts are both being worked on! An LS in France, that must be really rare!
 
Back again about my moonroof leaks/electronics failure. What is the FEM? Things were working well but the electronics is playing up again.
 
Well, it won't help you to do anything with the FEM if you have not corrected your moonroof leak. One or both of the front drain tubes may have pulled loose.

The FEM is behind the driver's left kick panel. It controls the front lighting, the alarm, the variable effort steering, and a few other things.
 
Hello Everyone; (Belated Merry Christmas and Upcoming Happy New Year!)
It looks like I too am hit with the Water in the Trunk Issue. Never noticed it being out here in SoCal where it hardly rains in the High Desert.
Joegr, Thanks for your LS Knowledge and Insight re: the Tubes in the Trunk; I pulled the rubber plug out from the bottom of the trunk hopefully, most will drain out as the car is parked on a steep incline.

Question: Do I need to add 3/8 Hose to extend those Moon Roof Drains Hoss and / or re-route them?
Currently, I'm not having any water leaking from the actual moon roof.

Thanks
 
2005 Lincoln LS V8 said:
...
Question: Do I need to add 3/8 Hose to extend those Moon Roof Drains Hoss and / or re-route them?
Currently, I'm not having any water leaking from the actual moon roof.

Thanks
Click to expand...
I feel like most (probably not all) of those drain hoses are going to pull loose eventually. Yours haven't yet, so it is up to you if you want to extend them preemptively, or wait for failure. Both are valid approaches to the problem.
However, it does seem like it would be best for you to diagnose and correct your trunk leak. Get in the trunk with a flash light and look for the source of the leak while someone else uses a garden hose to soak the car.
 
Thanks Joe,
Will have to do tomorrow..
Been raining since yesterday...
You're correct..I should get ahead of the moon roof problem as I'm sure it's another ticking time bomb with this car ..
 
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