Water in doors after a heavy rain

MiVor

MiVor

New member
So I've noticed that there is water in my truck doors (more on the drivers side) after a heavy rain (maybe after washing too). This is not an issue by itself as no windows totally seal out water. My concern is that it only seems to drain out when I open the door(s). My truck might sit in the driveway for a week without being opened up and driven. The drain holes are clear and I've even cut back the bottom seal a little thinking it was compressing and blocking the holes....but no joy - when I open the door(s) after a good rain, the water pours out the drain hole(s).
Am I missing something?

(water inside doors is just asking for rust inside out.)
 
Don't know, but if you find a magic fix please post it here because I have a Focus ST that does the same thing with both rear doors.
 
I've googled and this seems to be a somewhat common problem with many different makes and models. The odd thing is that it drains fine when the the door(s) are opened. But as I mentioned, mine sits outside and I don't wanna have to open it up after every rain and heavy dew!...and I'm concerned about trapped water and potential RUST.
 
Sounds like the door seals are blocking the drain holes when closed.....not good! Check and see if there is a service bulletin on it.
 
PA DETAILER said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFaAXY29-Ns&feature=player_detailpage
Click to expand...

This guy clearly had plugged drain holes while mine are as clean as a whistle...and when my door(s) is/(are) opened, water freely runs out the drain holes. (and boy did he have a lot of water in there!!! - mine not so much)

I was thinking that the bottom seal was covering the drain hole preventing draining when the door was closed. I trimmed them back some but it has not made a difference. I'm wondering about the level of the vehicle such that some water collects away from the drain(s) and when the door is opened the (door) level changes and the water runs out??? I sure would like it to drain without my intervention.
 
MiVor- Noting that it won't really solve your overall concern, I'd just do something to head off rust. Namely, I'd remove the inner door panels so you can get inside the door, and then:

- See what things look like now...rust started already?...that'd influence the next step
- If no rust, rustproof the crap out of the lower seam from *inside* the door shell so the water sits/flows on the rustproofing instead of seeping down into the seam. NO this won't clog the drain holes unless you do something I'd consider completely unlikely

Beyond that, you *could* drill additional drain holes, but !oh man! would it be easy to open a whole new, and worse, can of worms.
 
could replacing the wipe strips along the door edge where it meets the glass help any? never had that problem with my 2000 ford pick up.
 
I had this on my 14 Focus. It seems like a common problem. It was fixed under warranty. The inner door plastic barrier was not totally sealed on the bottom, letting water to enter more into the door where it got trapped by the door seal.
 
Accumulator said:
MiVor- Noting that it won't really solve your overall concern, I'd just do something to head off rust. Namely, I'd remove the inner door panels so you can get inside the door, and then:

- See what things look like now...rust started already?...that'd influence the next step
- If no rust, rustproof the crap out of the lower seam from *inside* the door shell so the water sits/flows on the rustproofing instead of seeping down into the seam. NO this won't clog the drain holes unless you do something I'd consider completely unlikely

Beyond that, you *could* drill additional drain holes, but !oh man! would it be easy to open a whole new, and worse, can of worms.
Click to expand...

I removed the lower door seals last week when I sprayed Fluid Film up into the doors (so that's taken care of). I could tell by the appearance of the lower edge of the door, the crimp seam and all of the holes that it is currently rust free in there. Yea, I would not want to drill additional holes as unless properly painted, new holes would expose bare metal that likely would rust very quickly.
I appreciate that windows can never totally seal and drains are necessary, but I think there's a minor design flaw here. Maybe I need to always park on a greater angle so the water more readily flows to a front or rear drain hole! lol
 
MiVor- I might've known that you've already scoped out the situation and applied the Fluid Film :D

I have a door (rear "barn" door) on the Tahoe that's like that...I just coated the inside and hope for the best (unfortnately it'd already rusted by the time I got the vehicle, we'll see how well my repair holds up).
 
My repeated google/youtube searches have revealed that this is an issue with many different make/model of vehicles (where water only seems to drain from the doors when they are opened). Again, the drain holes (2 per door) are clean as a whistle and it does not seem they are blocked when the doors are closed. I can only presume that some water gets trapped until the door is opened. Perhaps this depends on the level of the surface it's parked on. My concern is the trapped water and the potential for rust, especially since the truck may sit in the driveway undriven for a week or so at a time. I also wonder about this water freezing in winter, further blocking the tiny drain holes.
Although I will make the effort to open it up after rain storms, I sure wish it would drain on it's own, with the doors closed.
 
Sounds like there's a vacuum keeping the water from draining when the door is shut (like when you place your finger on the top of a straw to hold the liquid).

Are the drainage holes on the inside side of the weatherproofing rubber strip or the outside side? My drainage hole is on the other side (exterior) of the weatherproofing rubber strip...

Please post up some pictures/video so we can have a better look.
 
Here are some photos of the lower door with and without the lower seal installed:

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1) In the first photo, after I realized the 'problem', I slightly trimmed the weather strip to better expose the front drain hole (so it wasn't trapped behind and being blocked) - it made no difference in the door holding water unless/until the door is opened.
2) You can plainly see that the drain holes are not blocked and the condition of the lower door is excellent (like new).
 

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MiVor- I hope that trimming the seal back didn't make it more likely for bad stuff to get in there, but it oughta help with the drainage.

The seam does look fine and let's hope it stays that way! You have the Fluid Film in the doors, right? That oughta head off problems.
 
What if you leave it like in the 4th picture without the weather strip, the door still has a seal. My door only has a seal but not a weather strip. Looks like they put it there to keep construction materials out of the door frame...
 
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