I would recommend a wet vac with a small tip and suck all that water or blow it out with and air tip. Don t let water sit like that. I did this same same job on my 2002 F150. The plastic was cracked on the left side causing the brake light to be loose . I used crazy glue to fix the plastic trim it was the inside side piece that broke. Then I screwed the back plastic part to the cab with a self tapping screw then resealed the area mounted a new smoked 3rd brake light and gasket and it feels solid now and no more leaks.
Yes that’s a good point. After finding the water you will need to take it out with something and not leave it there. I vacuumed mine and let it dry. Didn’t show on video but it’s definitely good to mention. I’m glad you found what help with yours. Ideally a new third brake light would be best but sometimes you work with what you have
@@joecarreon4824 that’s awesome! I feel the same about my truck 💯. Whenever I get the chance. Hey I’m glad it helped. It got me so I thought I might as well help someone with it. Cheers
For anyone watching and considering this method, I highly encourage you purchase the upgraded Ford lamp or a quality aftermarket lamp. If you use silicone and for whichever reason have to remove the lamp again, you’ll end up destroying in and marring up the mating surface. Previous owner of my truck removed the foam gasket and used a lot of silicone but the lamp wasn’t sealed and cracked which allowed water to still enter. I also just used a screwdriver and not a drill or impact to re-install. I spent hours using disposable plastic scrapers and WD40 to help melt and scrape off all of the silicone, then did a little bit of straightening out of the metal before washing the area with dish soap and water. Just installed an aftermarket LED lamp with the upgraded style gasket this time around. A couple weeks and so far so good. If this one leaks I’ll try to track down the new style Ford lamp that the official TSB outlines.
I just clean the light seal periodically and it seems to reseal OK. I don't want to buy a new light etc soII just carry on..Also don't want to reseal with silicone. searching for a third option. I suspect intentional obsolescence on the part of Ford to sell the fixit part. and I don't like rewarding such with more of my money...Good video. Good job taking everything apart etc.
Thats a good ideal to clean and maintain the light seal. Another option might be to make another seal or something to put onto the light seal which may add more of a seal... something to try. I feel the same about giving ford more money for their fix lol. Thank you for the compliments I appreciate it! Cheers
Thanks for posting. I had the exact same issue in the exact same place. Common sense would lead you to conclude that the leak was coming from the seam in the back corner of the cab. It was several months before I came across a video that said Ford had cheaped out on the gasket which caused the leak. I used silicone and it has never leaked since.
I replaced my old 3rd brake light before it started leaking with a new LED one. Even with the new 3M gasket it still clear siliconed it all the way around after installation. Stay as a bone. I would also silicone after install like I did.
Ford upgraded the gasket seal on a new light....no need to remove anything in the the cabin area. All you need is to remove the third brake light, clean sealing surface and install new light. I did the repair in five minutes and another 15 minutes cleaning the rear portion of the headliner with a Ford cleaning shampoo. If using sealant as your video, you will destroy the light when removing in the future. Good video identifying the leak.
Thanks for explaining it in detail Matthew! I went through all this to identify where the leak was only to find it was the third brake light. I hope to save people lots of time with this video. Only need to get the new seal for the third brake lighting like you mentioned.
I added a thin bead to the gasket before installing it back on. Also replaced the bulbs with LEDs so it last longer. 2 years so far so good. I didn't have to take the interior apart
I just take off then replace and put back on. When applying the silicone, apply to the third brake light first, let it cure a bit, then connect it to the vehicle. Now it won’t stick to the vehicle
So if I wanted to fix this same issue, theoretically I wouldn't have to take my entire back panel apart, I could just unscrew the third brake light and silicon caulk it and put it back? It's nothing urgent so I wouldn't mind trying to fix it and it not working the first time... I could always go back in if I need to, but I don't want to take everything apart if I don't have to.
Yea that’s right. Just take off the third brake light and silicon it, no need to take everything apart. I took it all apart because I had no idea where it was coming from but it wasn’t necessary. Hope this video helped. Sorry for the late response.
I have a 2012 f150. I have replaced the third brake light and had the rear window resealed by a glass company. The roof still has a leak in the corner on the passenger side. Does anyone know what it could be?
It could be the weather strip that goes on each side of the roof. (passenger side and driver side) I'm not for sure if this would be a fix but it something to check. I'm sorry to hear that you went though all that and still leaking, bad design from ford in this model. Let me know if you find a solution. Cheers
So this comment worried me because I don't want to damage my truck so I went to the Google machine. Though John could be completely right fr the handful of articles I read it looks as though if you wait until that silicone is completely cured before adding back to the truck you should be fine. I'm hoping that's the case because I don't know when I'll have the extra 85-110 for a complete replacement.
Jake Przybysz hey Jake that’s a good point you made there!! If you put the silicone on the light and put it together right away without letting the silicone dry up first, you will have a hell of a time trying to take it off. Gotta put the silicone onto the light not the truck and let the silicone dry a bit before putting it on. I learned after the same thing happened to me. I don’t know if I have it in the video but that would be good to note. I’m sorry to hear you had that happen. Thanks for sharing your experience man!
Just a hint when working with silicone or sealant removal try to heat up some with a electric heat gun and it should peel off a lot easier or use a small plastic putty knife after heating it
Bro you don't have to tear the back out of it use some gutter sealer around that light and that's a permanent fix also clean your door hinges and put that sealant around it bro
The 2010 model f150 has two weather stripes on each side of the cab that connects to the rear window on each side (left and right). This is on the roof and there are rivets that hold them on the roof. Caulk these rivets might help stop the water.
I had this issue for forever in my 2010 without noticing it. After only 2 years my cab corners started rusting and now have a massive hole in them. This also came from the 3rd brake light leak. Something so simple caused me so much grief! It's just ridiculous. I'm pretty much speechless over how insanely dumb these "engineers" are that designed this bullcrap. P.S. Just another hint for ya. The inside of the rocker panels on this generation of f-150 have holes that are just taped over and when the tape inevitably peels off it allows dirt, salt, mud, etc. get in there and have no escape until it rusts all the way through the entire rocker panel like what also happened on my truck. There may still be hope for many of you with the 2009-2014 f-150's but you better get drilling some drainage holes in your cab corners and rocker panels along with properly sealing the holes on the inside of the rockers where otherwise they are just covered with flimsy tape. Take my word for it as an owner of one of these trucks with 185,000 miles on it. I know what the problem areas are.
Hey Brenton, Same here, I noticed water coming in the cab and then I did this third brake light repair and it hasn’t leaked since. Later I found out the cab corners were in pretty bad shape so I had to replace them due to the rusting from the inside out. I’m glad you found out what it was to bad you didn’t catch it earlier though... just a bad design from ford. Thanks for the comment and sharing your experience.
I had cleaned and added silicone to the 3rd brake light because I noticed some water on the inside of the back window. Now, like you say, I noticed my lower cab corners or starting to rust from the inside out. I believe it is probably due to the water that had gotten in there earlier from the light leaking. I wonder if its a good idea to shoot some fluid film in through the light opening so it would run down into the cab corners to stop any further rusting now that the leak is fixed. It could be a little risking spraying the fluid film in there because I'm not 100% sure it will run down and make it to the cab corners.
@@gramps5157 hey man, sorry for the late reply. I would not spray in by the third brake light. If you want to spray build film into the cap corners, I would suggest putting it into the little holes underneath the cab where the cab corners are, you'll be able to spray right into the cab corners. Usually these holes are covered by small piece of factory tape which you can replay with new duct tape after your done. I hope this helps
I have a 2013 F150 extended cab. I resealed the 3rd brake light. It is still leaking -- most certainly at the corners of the rear of the roof where there is a channel, a rivet, and black plastic channel inserts (drip molding). Both sides of the headliner right under these corners are currently wet and dripping water. The water then soaks the rear carpet, drops in the wiring channel on the floor, and soaks the front carpet too. Have not fixed it yet, but a forum person did (though not sure how). www.f150forum.com/f12/water-leak-top-rear-corners-crew-cab-216995/#post2816094
Hey thanks for the comment, yes that’s another place that I should’ve mentioned in the video that water comes in. It’s the third brake light, the two rivets on the roof right near the back window on each side, and some say the satellite antenna leaks as well. With the two rivets in the weather stripping on the roof, I would just take silicone and caulk it nicely. Make sure it’s clear, that way it’s harder to see. Hope that helps
hey Bro. nicely done. I have a air leak on my Tacoma front windshield. whenever driving against wind there is a whistling sound which is really annoying. I'm guessing the windshield wasn't sealed properly.
Hey!! Thanks bro!! Yea that sound like a leak from the windshield not totally sealed properly. Do you know if it got a replacement window anytime during its lifetime?
Must have been a Bad gasket Like my F150. reseal area with sealer and a new gasket put a new brake light in or change the bulbs while you are in there you just figure it as you go
I would recommend a wet vac with a small tip and suck all that water or blow it out with and air tip. Don t let water sit like that. I did this same same job on my 2002 F150. The plastic was cracked on the left side causing the brake light to be loose . I used crazy glue to fix the plastic trim it was the inside side piece that broke. Then I screwed the back plastic part to the cab with a self tapping screw then resealed the area mounted a new smoked 3rd brake light and gasket and it feels solid now and no more leaks.
Yes that’s a good point. After finding the water you will need to take it out with something and not leave it there. I vacuumed mine and let it dry. Didn’t show on video but it’s definitely good to mention.
I’m glad you found what help with yours. Ideally a new third brake light would be best but sometimes you work with what you have
That’s true!! Thanks for responding. Enjoying life and my Ford F-150. I enjoy working on it, your video helped me.
@@joecarreon4824 that’s awesome! I feel the same about my truck 💯. Whenever I get the chance. Hey I’m glad it helped. It got me so I thought I might as well help someone with it.
Cheers
For anyone watching and considering this method, I highly encourage you purchase the upgraded Ford lamp or a quality aftermarket lamp. If you use silicone and for whichever reason have to remove the lamp again, you’ll end up destroying in and marring up the mating surface. Previous owner of my truck removed the foam gasket and used a lot of silicone but the lamp wasn’t sealed and cracked which allowed water to still enter. I also just used a screwdriver and not a drill or impact to re-install. I spent hours using disposable plastic scrapers and WD40 to help melt and scrape off all of the silicone, then did a little bit of straightening out of the metal before washing the area with dish soap and water. Just installed an aftermarket LED lamp with the upgraded style gasket this time around. A couple weeks and so far so good. If this one leaks I’ll try to track down the new style Ford lamp that the official TSB outlines.
I just clean the light seal periodically and it seems to reseal OK. I don't want to buy a new light etc soII just carry on..Also don't want to reseal with silicone. searching for a third option. I suspect intentional obsolescence on the part of Ford to sell the fixit part. and I don't like rewarding such with more of my money...Good video. Good job taking everything apart etc.
Thats a good ideal to clean and maintain the light seal. Another option might be to make another seal or something to put onto the light seal which may add more of a seal... something to try. I feel the same about giving ford more money for their fix lol.
Thank you for the compliments I appreciate it!
Cheers
Thanks for posting. I had the exact same issue in the exact same place. Common sense would lead you to conclude that the leak was coming from the seam in the back corner of the cab. It was several months before I came across a video that said Ford had cheaped out on the gasket which caused the leak. I used silicone and it has never leaked since.
Thanks for posting this but why did you remove all that just to work on this brake light
I couldn’t find where the leak was coming from and needed to prove it for the video.
Thanks for the video. No doubt it will fix my issue.
Hope it does, it fixed mine. 💯
Thank you sir
I replaced my old 3rd brake light before it started leaking with a new LED one. Even with the new 3M gasket it still clear siliconed it all the way around after installation. Stay as a bone. I would also silicone after install like I did.
Ford upgraded the gasket seal on a new light....no need to remove anything in the the cabin area. All you need is to remove the third brake light, clean sealing surface and install new light. I did the repair in five minutes and another 15 minutes cleaning the rear portion of the headliner with a Ford cleaning shampoo. If using sealant as your video, you will destroy the light when removing in the future. Good video identifying the leak.
Thanks for explaining it in detail Matthew! I went through all this to identify where the leak was only to find it was the third brake light. I hope to save people lots of time with this video. Only need to get the new seal for the third brake lighting like you mentioned.
I added a thin bead to the gasket before installing it back on. Also replaced the bulbs with LEDs so it last longer. 2 years so far so good. I didn't have to take the interior apart
So just buy a new light from Ford and it will have the new seal with it and should be good to go, providing that is where the leak is coming from?
I did exactly that and the new light/gasket leaked that same day in the rain.
Has yours leaked since Matthew? Where did you order the replacement?
Just did the same thing on my ram 1500. Used 5/16 by 19/32 weather stripping from Home Depot. Works perfect and cost $7.99.
Perfect that’s awesome!! Glad it worked for you as well.
How do you replace the bulbs, when they fail?
I just take off then replace and put back on. When applying the silicone, apply to the third brake light first, let it cure a bit, then connect it to the vehicle. Now it won’t stick to the vehicle
Hoping this is all I need as well! Thanks for the vid!
Yea man take a look at the side rivets as well to make sure water don’t come in there either. Glad it helped 🤙
Thanks for the video. It did help me out with the same issue...
Hey not a problem, I’m glad it helped.
I had the same problem with my 2004 crewcab. Now I need to do it on my 2010. ugh
I had it on the 10 in the video now I have a 11 lariat and I need it again. 🤦🏻♂️
Great job. I am doing this fix in the morning myself.
Thanks Michael. Nice so You have the same problem to eh? Yea it seems to be a common thing in these trucks
So if I wanted to fix this same issue, theoretically I wouldn't have to take my entire back panel apart, I could just unscrew the third brake light and silicon caulk it and put it back? It's nothing urgent so I wouldn't mind trying to fix it and it not working the first time... I could always go back in if I need to, but I don't want to take everything apart if I don't have to.
Yea that’s right. Just take off the third brake light and silicon it, no need to take everything apart. I took it all apart because I had no idea where it was coming from but it wasn’t necessary. Hope this video helped. Sorry for the late response.
I have a 2012 f150. I have replaced the third brake light and had the rear window resealed by a glass company. The roof still has a leak in the corner on the passenger side. Does anyone know what it could be?
It could be the weather strip that goes on each side of the roof. (passenger side and driver side) I'm not for sure if this would be a fix but it something to check. I'm sorry to hear that you went though all that and still leaking, bad design from ford in this model. Let me know if you find a solution.
Cheers
Xm radio antennas leak all the time. The water could run to any side of the vehicle, depending on how/where you park
Bobby Biggs thanks bobby for sharing that! Hadn’t thought it could be there too
What brand/style of Tonneau cover is that?
Hey I believe it’s a ford original but not sure. Will check and let you know
Hey sorry for taking so long but it’s a bakflip brand
Very helpful. Thanks.
Your welcome Don I’m glad it helped.
Not to criticize but you don’t use silicone on a vehicle it could cause rust it eats into the paint
That’s definitely something to consider. I hadn’t thought of that. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, very helpful
So this comment worried me because I don't want to damage my truck so I went to the Google machine. Though John could be completely right fr the handful of articles I read it looks as though if you wait until that silicone is completely cured before adding back to the truck you should be fine. I'm hoping that's the case because I don't know when I'll have the extra 85-110 for a complete replacement.
Be aware when doing this fix... I just spent 2 hrs peeling off this garbage because I did this 2 years ago and now the bulb burned out.
Jake Przybysz hey Jake that’s a good point you made there!! If you put the silicone on the light and put it together right away without letting the silicone dry up first, you will have a hell of a time trying to take it off. Gotta put the silicone onto the light not the truck and let the silicone dry a bit before putting it on.
I learned after the same thing happened to me. I don’t know if I have it in the video but that would be good to note. I’m sorry to hear you had that happen. Thanks for sharing your experience man!
Just a hint when working with silicone or sealant removal try to heat up some with a electric heat gun and it should peel off a lot easier or use a small plastic putty knife after heating it
Bro you don't have to tear the back out of it use some gutter sealer around that light and that's a permanent fix also clean your door hinges and put that sealant around it bro
Hadn’t thought about the hinges. But I took it out to see, it’s not necessary to take it off
@@forreal2532 10 bro as in 10 4
I put silicone on my rear light and water still.getting through
Ok, try putting some silicone on the two rivets at the rear of the roof on each side of the cab. That may be another place that water gets in.
@@forreal2532 I'll try that but I'm not sure exactly where your talking about
The 2010 model f150 has two weather stripes on each side of the cab that connects to the rear window on each side (left and right). This is on the roof and there are rivets that hold them on the roof. Caulk these rivets might help stop the water.
They go by the rear window top right and left of the window to a little ways up the cab
@@forreal2532 Thanks so much
Dude keep the camera still for a minute. I stopped cause I couldn’t see what you
I had this issue for forever in my 2010 without noticing it. After only 2 years my cab corners started rusting and now have a massive hole in them. This also came from the 3rd brake light leak. Something so simple caused me so much grief! It's just ridiculous. I'm pretty much speechless over how insanely dumb these "engineers" are that designed this bullcrap. P.S. Just another hint for ya. The inside of the rocker panels on this generation of f-150 have holes that are just taped over and when the tape inevitably peels off it allows dirt, salt, mud, etc. get in there and have no escape until it rusts all the way through the entire rocker panel like what also happened on my truck. There may still be hope for many of you with the 2009-2014 f-150's but you better get drilling some drainage holes in your cab corners and rocker panels along with properly sealing the holes on the inside of the rockers where otherwise they are just covered with flimsy tape. Take my word for it as an owner of one of these trucks with 185,000 miles on it. I know what the problem areas are.
Hey Brenton,
Same here, I noticed water coming in the cab and then I did this third brake light repair and it hasn’t leaked since. Later I found out the cab corners were in pretty bad shape so I had to replace them due to the rusting from the inside out.
I’m glad you found out what it was to bad you didn’t catch it earlier though... just a bad design from ford.
Thanks for the comment and sharing your experience.
I had cleaned and added silicone to the 3rd brake light because I noticed some water on the inside of the back window. Now, like you say, I noticed my lower cab corners or starting to rust from the inside out. I believe it is probably due to the water that had gotten in there earlier from the light leaking. I wonder if its a good idea to shoot some fluid film in through the light opening so it would run down into the cab corners to stop any further rusting now that the leak is fixed. It could be a little risking spraying the fluid film in there because I'm not 100% sure it will run down and make it to the cab corners.
@@gramps5157 hey man, sorry for the late reply. I would not spray in by the third brake light.
If you want to spray build film into the cap corners, I would suggest putting it into the little holes underneath the cab where the cab corners are, you'll be able to spray right into the cab corners. Usually these holes are covered by small piece of factory tape which you can replay with new duct tape after your done. I hope this helps
cool Video bro. 😊👍👍
thanks bro!!!
I have a 2013 F150 extended cab. I resealed the 3rd brake light. It is still leaking -- most certainly at the corners of the rear of the roof where there is a channel, a rivet, and black plastic channel inserts (drip molding). Both sides of the headliner right under these corners are currently wet and dripping water.
The water then soaks the rear carpet, drops in the wiring channel on the floor, and soaks the front carpet too.
Have not fixed it yet, but a forum person did (though not sure how).
www.f150forum.com/f12/water-leak-top-rear-corners-crew-cab-216995/#post2816094
Hey thanks for the comment, yes that’s another place that I should’ve mentioned in the video that water comes in. It’s the third brake light, the two rivets on the roof right near the back window on each side, and some say the satellite antenna leaks as well.
With the two rivets in the weather stripping on the roof, I would just take silicone and caulk it nicely. Make sure it’s clear, that way it’s harder to see.
Hope that helps
hey Bro. nicely done. I have a air leak on my Tacoma front windshield. whenever driving against wind there is a whistling sound which is really annoying. I'm guessing the windshield wasn't sealed properly.
Hey!! Thanks bro!! Yea that sound like a leak from the windshield not totally sealed properly. Do you know if it got a replacement window anytime during its lifetime?
For Real I think it has had a replaced windshield. I put black silicone by the seal on top of windshield and now noise is gone.
Nice that’s not bad at all... good job dude !
Lame video. Didn’t talk about he prevented water from entering light area.
Hey well thanks for bringing it up though. My bad
Must have been a Bad gasket Like my F150. reseal area with sealer and a new gasket put a new brake light in or change the bulbs while you are in there you just figure it as you go
bad design from Ford.
You got that right jay.
I got the same 2010. Other makes have the same issue but there is more videos for the ford
It’s not specific to his 2010, my 2003 is doing exactly this problem