Condensation water accumulation in footwells

[l3536]

Water slowly accumulate in both front foot wells. I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed this.

I already took it to dealer once and they did all sorts of diagnostic and sprayed the car down to see if there are seal leaks. The dealer says they didn't find anything and returned the car to me. I let the car dry out and two weeks later it happened again! I am fairly sure the only source of water is AC condensation. I'm about to take the car back to dealer and this time they will call upon Ford engineers. I am just wondering if anyone else has similar observations. (Peel back your passenger side carpet mat and press down on the floor liner with a paper towel.)

• This only happens when I have a non-permeating carpet on - the moisture get trapped under carpet and do not evaporate.
• I drive a lot, about 100 miles a day
• I do live in moderately humid California and I leave AC on all time
• I did not wash my Maverick between dry up and getting soaked. There is no other source for water.

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[Ford Motor Company]

Water slowly accumulate in both front foot wells. I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed this.

I already took it to dealer once and they did all sorts of diagnostic and sprayed the car down to see if there are seal leaks. The dealer says they didn't find anything and returned the car to me. I let the car dry out and two weeks later it happened again! I am fairly sure the only source of water is AC condensation. I'm about to take the car back to dealer and this time they will call upon Ford engineers. I am just wondering if anyone else has similar observations. (Peel back your passenger side carpet mat and press down on the floor liner with a paper towel.)

• This only happens when I have a non-permeating carpet on - the moisture get trapped under carpet and do not evaporate.
• I drive a lot, about 100 miles a day
• I do live in moderately humid California and I leave AC on all time
• I did not wash my Maverick between dry up and getting soaked. There is no other source for water.

Hello! Send us a private message with your VIN and the name and location of your local Ford dealer. I’d be happy to see what I can do to assist with this concern. Thanks!

 

[Scott Asheville]

The OP should work in Quality Assurance. That's classic QA detective work. The best QA finds the most unexpected problems because they check the craziest scenarios.

 

[999]

Yeah, you'd think that was A/C drain related.

 

[papak]

Sounds to me that the drain line from the condenser isn't connected under the dash. That condensation is supposed to be vented through the firewall to drip on the ground.

 

[OleFordGuy]

That could end up as Mold Heaven if not addressed

 

[l3536]

I had a chance to talk to the mechanic after 6 weeks of having the car held at dealership. I want everyone who replied in this thread to know you are all correct.

Apparently a small piece of insultation - about 6x5 inches - sits under center console flipped into the wrong position during manufacturing and got pushed into a cavity that is also part of condenser drain path. The foam diverted water into both foot well. The mechanic removed entire interior - including carpet, seats, console, as well as completely drained both AC and coolant lines, because the mold had spread to all of the insulation under the carpet. All fabric material had to be replaced and the frame under cabin was scrubbed and bleached.

Lesson here is that tiniest mistake during manufacturing can lead to super expensive fixes. Given I had one of the earliest orders - mine was manufactured during the second week - I think this won't be a wide-spread problem.

 

[Joe Kelly]

Do you have a sun roof the drains there are also a problem at times

 

[KFBR392]

I had a chance to talk to the mechanic after 6 weeks of having the car held at dealership. I want everyone who replied in this thread to know you are all correct.

Apparently a small piece of insultation - about 6x5 inches - sits under center console flipped into the wrong position during manufacturing and got pushed into a cavity that is also part of condenser drain path. The foam diverted water into both foot well. The mechanic removed entire interior - including carpet, seats, console, as well as completely drained both AC and coolant lines, because the mold had spread to all of the insulation under the carpet. All fabric material had to be replaced and the frame under cabin was scrubbed and bleached.

Lesson here is that tiniest mistake during manufacturing can lead to super expensive fixes. Given I had one of the earliest orders - mine was manufactured during the second week - I think this won't be a wide-spread problem.

That is horrible, but props to the tech who put in all that time to properly troubleshoot and fix it. Very nice. Glad it’s fixed. What a bizarre issue.

 

[Mimmoc10]

I’m having the same issue and my car smells. The dealer near my house gave up after 5 days and said it would need to happen again. I’m not driving as much so I’m not getting the build up. the car still really stinks. Like fertilizer. I’m so defeated by this that it may be the last Ford I ever buy.

 

[Ash3s]

I know this is an old thread, but posting here to help the next guy. I had the condensate drain issue, not a rain leak.

On my Ecoboost (but I suspect its the same for the hybrid, drain is in the exact same spot.) I was able to access the condensate drain without removing the heat shield or any paneling.

I removed the single 10mm bolt that holds the heat shield near the drain. Bolt is located just to the passenger side of the flex section of the exhaust, just behind the front axles. You can then flex the heatshield enough by hand to see the stupid duckbill valve that is causing the problem and unclog it with something like a coat hanger bent straight. I ended up using a 3 foot bamboo smores skewer. You have to use a fair amount of force to flex the heatshield and hold it out of the way while you clear the valve. The heatshield is quite resilient and popped back into place afterwards without creasing.

The stupid rubber duckbill valve has clogged on me twice now. The first time Ford fixed under warranty and blamed my undercoating. This most recent time I did it myself and there was not a single speck of the woolwax undercoating anywhere near the port as its completely covered by the heat shield. It even looked like the ford tech had made a small cut perpendicular to the valve opening to reduce the possibility of it clogging again but it still clogged.

The real problem is duckbill valves love to clog up and there is no easily accessible tube we can vacuum/ blow out. If this soaks my floorboards a 3rd time I'm going to look into replacing the duckbill with a fitting and some silicone tubing and run it down lower so that at least I can access it without getting my ramps out. What a horrible design.

First pic shows the bolt I removed, Second one shows the drain. Sorry my camera didn't want to focus.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

I know this is an old thread, but posting here to help the next guy. I had the condensate drain issue, not a rain leak.

On my Ecoboost (but I suspect its the same for the hybrid, drain is in the exact same spot.) I was able to access the condensate drain without removing the heat shield or any paneling.

I removed the single 10mm bolt that holds the heat shield near the drain. Bolt is located just to the passenger side of the flex section of the exhaust, just behind the front axles. You can then flex the heatshield enough by hand to see the stupid duckbill valve that is causing the problem and unclog it with something like a coat hanger bent straight. I ended up using a 3 foot bamboo smores skewer. You have to use a fair amount of force to flex the heatshield and hold it out of the way while you clear the valve. The heatshield is quite resilient and popped back into place afterwards without creasing.

The stupid rubber duckbill valve has clogged on me twice now. The first time Ford fixed under warranty and blamed my undercoating. This most recent time I did it myself and there was not a single speck of the woolwax undercoating anywhere near the port as its completely covered by the heat shield. It even looked like the ford tech had made a small cut perpendicular to the valve opening to reduce the possibility of it clogging again but it still clogged.

The real problem is duckbill valves love to clog up and there is no easily accessible tube we can vacuum/ blow out. If this soaks my floorboards a 3rd time I'm going to look into replacing the duckbill with a fitting and some silicone tubing and run it down lower so that at least I can access it without getting my ramps out. What a horrible design.

First pic shows the bolt I removed, Second one shows the drain. Sorry my camera didn't want to focus.

Thank You.
I appreciate the time, effort you took researching this and posting pictures.

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