A common problem with these trucks is leaking in the rear of the cab. This video gives you a basic rundown on how to fix this problem. Applies to 2009-2014 Ford F-150.
I have the same truck (2013 extended cab). Water would just pour in through the brake light (even the one I got from Amazon recommended by youtubers) and the upper corners of the back window, where the roof channel with the black plastic cover and rivet meets the glass. I also have a leak in the passenger cab vent between the cab and the truck bed. I've had it with leaking, and so I just used black high temp RTV to seal the whole roof channel, and a thin bead of clear RTV on the top of the glass and read brake light. Now I need to fix the leak in the vent (plastic piece between the cab and the bed).
@@Unclerusty99 Thanks for the reply. I finally had time to hunt it down. I took out the back seats, the front seats, the carpet, the back padding, and loosened the headliner. I tested the grab handle leak from the satellite antenna but didn't see any. The big culprits were the back window and the rear cab vents. At least I got to dry out my carpet, which I cleaned, bleach sprayed, and dried. Once I fix the last leak I get to put it all back together. It's amazing how much I hated the truck because of the leak, but otherwise I love it.
So I too have been chasing water leaks in my 09 F150. Over the past three years I’ve done everything from the satiate antenna, 3rd brake light, weather striping around the doors as well as the rubber grommets that enter through the firewall between engine and front cab areas. Did the 90 degree elbow for the ac drain and have been routinely keeping it clean. Due to still having the leaks I begin inspecting the roof rivet moldings and noticed they had deteriorated. Sealed those up with clear rtv followed by applying black gorilla tape. Suffice it to say I am still chasing the leaks which brought me here. Upon watching the video which was very informative btw...I began inspecting the rear cab vents and sure enough water was leaking from them. While underneath the truck with a flashlight I observed holes that run along underneath the door channels that house the wire bundles. Although I am not certain water is coming in through there I do know that at one time they were covered with an adhesive fabric seal similar to gorilla tape. I plan to address the holes as well as the rear window leak areas noted in the video. In the mean time do either of you mind sharing what y’all did to remedy the rear vent leaks? I assume sealing the exterior of the vents would be best however there is very little room to work with. So far I am in a holding pattern. When I am done with leak entry points I can address the electrical ghost I am having as well. Thanks again for the video and to the others whom offered detailed comments.
@@Sheeeeeeeeeeeeiiitt I had to take the entire inside apart anyway because my carpet was soaked, and simply not drying. So I removed the front seats, front center console, rear seats, etc. I forget what size the bolts were, but I think they were 21mm, 18mm deep socket, and 13mm. I am not sure. I also wanted to use the occasion to find the source of my leaks, having already caulked the roof channel and rivets. Sure enough, I saw water come in through the cab vents. To fix the rear vent leaks, I had to do it from the inside. The original owner had sprayed in a bedliner, including the bolts that held the bed down. Getting the bed off the truck to reach the rear cab vents was near impossible. So I basically caulked the hell out of the inside perimeter of each vent, and used epoxy putty to "build up" the ledges on the black plastic vent holes to make sure no water would seep in by overflowing those ledges. Once you expose your rear vents (remove the rear seats and the rear fabric) you will notice that the black vents have ledges on the inside. cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f150forum.com-vbulletin/560x410/vent_c5b45d7fce0d30c073486c81eb21d406f76b0fe8.jpg The water can pool in each of those openings. I don't know if water ever overflowed each opening, but just in case, I added height to the inside ledge on each vent by buying a tube of epoxy putty from Home Depot, mixing small portions of it, and then applying it to the ledge to add height. Around the perimeter, where the vent goes through the sheet metal, I used high quality silicone caulk and caulked the hell out of it. I did it over several days to build caulk around it. I started with clear, but had some white left over for the additional layers. Of course, the color won't matter. I would test it by pouring water between the cab and the bed to see if any water got in. When I was satisfied, I put the truck back together. I also scraped the rusted metal on back of the rear seats, and spray painted it with a black rust inhibitor paint. Just because I hated to put a rusted seat back in the truck after all that work. I will see if I can post my photos somewhere.
Those stupid vents in the back of the cab can also leak around the seal , mine did . I popped them out and siliconed them in and pried them inward and put some shims (cut wire ties) and stuck them between those hold in place clips to put more pressure on it . Didn't use shims on the bottom ones as it was too hard to get at . I had the brake light leak seal also it the first leak I fixed but now I got the roof seam leak . Well at least the amount of water coming in is getting less each time I fix something . I have had several trucks in my lifetime this one is one water leaking sumbitch .
I use 3M Windo Weld Ribbon Seal. It's roughly an hour to 1.5 hr job to remove, clean, reseal in reinstall. Hotter the weather, the gooier and nastier cleaning the old sealer off is.
2009 f150 ext cab? 1/2 back door? Leaking dude if I bring out a bar of soap n a wash cloth I could almost take a bath. lol this crap makes me crazy. They rip us and get away with it. I can not get the leaking to freaking stop. I am replacing the weather stripping this time, seems like 1/2 is missing around the doors
I have a camper shell on my truck. I took it off and fixed the brake light seal. still leaking. im wondering it i can just puy duct tape on it. its covered up anyway. black duct tape. wouldnt be visible with the camper
I just did this this past weekend. Now that the job is finished, I'm seeing some of the new weather strip squeezed out of the window and is now outside of it. Is this normal?
Easier, yes. Better, likely not. This is the correct way to fix it, I had the truck for 5 years after this repair and it never leaked another drop. If you want to chance using rtv, then that's your prerogative.
Excellent troubleshooting and your in depth solution to this problem. I have the same issue with a 2011.
Did you ever fix it? What was it?
I will let you know once the rains pass in the next month. @@jadedjay7861
Great video and instruction. As mentioned the 4 door super crew has different back seat releases. Thanks.
I have the same truck (2013 extended cab).
Water would just pour in through the brake light (even the one I got from Amazon recommended by youtubers) and the upper corners of the back window, where the roof channel with the black plastic cover and rivet meets the glass. I also have a leak in the passenger cab vent between the cab and the truck bed.
I've had it with leaking, and so I just used black high temp RTV to seal the whole roof channel, and a thin bead of clear RTV on the top of the glass and read brake light.
Now I need to fix the leak in the vent (plastic piece between the cab and the bed).
Sorry to hear that, i hunted down my leak for a while. It was driving me nuts
@@Unclerusty99 Thanks for the reply. I finally had time to hunt it down. I took out the back seats, the front seats, the carpet, the back padding, and loosened the headliner. I tested the grab handle leak from the satellite antenna but didn't see any.
The big culprits were the back window and the rear cab vents.
At least I got to dry out my carpet, which I cleaned, bleach sprayed, and dried. Once I fix the last leak I get to put it all back together.
It's amazing how much I hated the truck because of the leak, but otherwise I love it.
So I too have been chasing water leaks in my 09 F150. Over the past three years I’ve done everything from the satiate antenna, 3rd brake light, weather striping around the doors as well as the rubber grommets that enter through the firewall between engine and front cab areas. Did the 90 degree elbow for the ac drain and have been routinely keeping it clean. Due to still having the leaks I begin inspecting the roof rivet moldings and noticed they had deteriorated. Sealed those up with clear rtv followed by applying black gorilla tape. Suffice it to say I am still chasing the leaks which brought me here. Upon watching the video which was very informative btw...I began inspecting the rear cab vents and sure enough water was leaking from them. While underneath the truck with a flashlight I observed holes that run along underneath the door channels that house the wire bundles. Although I am not certain water is coming in through there I do know that at one time they were covered with an adhesive fabric seal similar to gorilla tape. I plan to address the holes as well as the rear window leak areas noted in the video. In the mean time do either of you mind sharing what y’all did to remedy the rear vent leaks? I assume sealing the exterior of the vents would be best however there is very little room to work with. So far I am in a holding pattern. When I am done with leak entry points I can address the electrical ghost I am having as well. Thanks again for the video and to the others whom offered detailed comments.
@@Sheeeeeeeeeeeeiiitt I had to take the entire inside apart anyway because my carpet was soaked, and simply not drying. So I removed the front seats, front center console, rear seats, etc. I forget what size the bolts were, but I think they were 21mm, 18mm deep socket, and 13mm. I am not sure.
I also wanted to use the occasion to find the source of my leaks, having already caulked the roof channel and rivets. Sure enough, I saw water come in through the cab vents.
To fix the rear vent leaks, I had to do it from the inside. The original owner had sprayed in a bedliner, including the bolts that held the bed down. Getting the bed off the truck to reach the rear cab vents was near impossible. So I basically caulked the hell out of the inside perimeter of each vent, and used epoxy putty to "build up" the ledges on the black plastic vent holes to make sure no water would seep in by overflowing those ledges.
Once you expose your rear vents (remove the rear seats and the rear fabric) you will notice that the black vents have ledges on the inside. cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f150forum.com-vbulletin/560x410/vent_c5b45d7fce0d30c073486c81eb21d406f76b0fe8.jpg
The water can pool in each of those openings. I don't know if water ever overflowed each opening, but just in case, I added height to the inside ledge on each vent by buying a tube of epoxy putty from Home Depot, mixing small portions of it, and then applying it to the ledge to add height.
Around the perimeter, where the vent goes through the sheet metal, I used high quality silicone caulk and caulked the hell out of it. I did it over several days to build caulk around it. I started with clear, but had some white left over for the additional layers. Of course, the color won't matter.
I would test it by pouring water between the cab and the bed to see if any water got in. When I was satisfied, I put the truck back together.
I also scraped the rusted metal on back of the rear seats, and spray painted it with a black rust inhibitor paint. Just because I hated to put a rusted seat back in the truck after all that work. I will see if I can post my photos somewhere.
@@Sheeeeeeeeeeeeiiitt try this video of my repair photos: th-cam.com/video/f_qlMF7R0ms/w-d-xo.html
Those stupid vents in the back of the cab can also leak around the seal , mine did . I popped them out and siliconed them in and pried them inward and put some shims (cut wire ties) and stuck them between those hold in place clips to put more pressure on it . Didn't use shims on the bottom ones as it was too hard to get at .
I had the brake light leak seal also it the first leak I fixed but now I got the roof seam leak . Well at least the amount of water coming in is getting less each time I fix something . I have had several trucks in my lifetime this one is one water leaking sumbitch .
I use 3M Windo Weld Ribbon Seal. It's roughly an hour to 1.5 hr job to remove, clean, reseal in reinstall.
Hotter the weather, the gooier and nastier cleaning the old sealer off is.
Great video and details
3/8 butyl rope was too big for mine… wouldn’t sit flush enough. Had to step down and size.
It bowed the glass slightly when I tightened the nuts down, you just have to use good judgement. A few hours in the NC heat and it formed down flush.
2009 f150 ext cab? 1/2 back door? Leaking dude if I bring out a bar of soap n a wash cloth I could almost take a bath. lol this crap makes me crazy. They rip us and get away with it. I can not get the leaking to freaking stop. I am replacing the weather stripping this time, seems like 1/2 is missing around the doors
I have a camper shell on my truck. I took it off and fixed the brake light seal. still leaking. im wondering it i can just puy duct tape on it. its covered up anyway. black duct tape. wouldnt be visible with the camper
I just did this this past weekend. Now that the job is finished, I'm seeing some of the new weather strip squeezed out of the window and is now outside of it. Is this normal?
Better off just sealing the glass from the outside with RTV.
Easier, yes. Better, likely not. This is the correct way to fix it, I had the truck for 5 years after this repair and it never leaked another drop. If you want to chance using rtv, then that's your prerogative.
@dalton hatcher did that thickness of tape work okay? i have read that others use 5/16 instead of 3/8
Yeah, it worked great. Seemed too thick at first, but it settled in
OOH RAH MARINE!
Semper Fi!
Any man knows how to plug a hole, show us something we don't know how to do