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Freestyle Leak Problems

11979 Views 2 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  MissInformation
I own a 2006 Freestyle. Until this past winter, I never had a problem. I winter in Florida and have to park my car on an incline. Thats when I discoverd that the design of the car is seriously flawed. I've seen other posts on here of other having the same problem. Yes I have a sunroof. But that is not where the car leaks. It is due to the design of the roof raising up in the rear so the 3rd row of seats has more head room. When parked on an incline and it rains the water is trapped in the channels on the roof entering the car just at the point of the roof raising, it then flows inside the car, under the header then follows the path of the rear seatbelts and flows into the spare tire wheel well. It also may flow under the header then drips down over the steering wheel and onto the driver side floor. I tore the car apart myself and watched it all happen. I didnt have all the tools needed to take the whole inside of the car apart, so I took it to my trusted collision shop and helped the owner of the shop figure the problem out. We know what happens, but we cant fix it. The best he could do was move some of the tubing around and secure it better hoping that would help. To our dismay it works a little, but does not solve the problem. What I saw when we had the insides removed shocked me - right at the point the water enters the car sits the air bag containers for the rear passengers - on both sides of the car. Both those containers are rusted, we cleaned those the best we could as well, but water continues to enter when parked in the dredded incline position. Also the water puddling at the drivers feet is worrisome as alot of the electronics for the car run through that path.
I talked to the dealer, all he stated was there was no recall nor any service advisories, nor were they aware at all of any such problem. I asked for a Field Rep to come look at the car and was refused.
Now my car has intermitent electrical problems - rear lights parking and turning signals blow consistantly - until I learned the secret of protecting the terminals with a vasoline type gel. And now the airbag light stays on - intermitenly of course, but the book says if they stay on too long it may render the car useless - as in it will no longer run until fixed. What do you think - possibly the rusty side air bag containers?
I wrote Ford online of the problem - their answer was take it to the dealer - in other words - give us more money to fix the problem we created.
Oh and by the way - in Fords cost cutting inititives they got rid of their Master Mechanics - the ones left behind have no clue.
Ford sent me a survey for my opinion of the online mesage and reply - I just sent them another message with that survey about the shoddy answers and trouble shooting. I also informed them I once LOVED my Freestyle now I feel unsafe in it. I will never purchase nor recommend Ford again. I recommened the Freestyle to a friend, who promptly bought it and now has the same problem. EGG on my face.
My next step - write the President or CEO. See what he has to say.
Anyone want to join me?
Keep you posted. Beachbum814
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I got to admit, I stay away from vehicles with a hole in the roof, no matter what it's called......or a house for that matter...IMO it's just asking for trouble....but I digress.

I doubt you'll get any satisfaction form the manufacturer....but, if this is truly a design flaw then the internet should be littered with complaints.
Have you filed a complaint with the BBB and NHTSA? The latter should net a response since the Air bags may be affected.
If I had your problem I would definitely join you....heck, I'll do it anyway! I'll bet others will too.

Got pictures???
Actually, Ford does have a Technical Service Bulletin for this issue, TSB 07-3-6, which I have attached it for reference.

On Freestyle vehicles, reroute rear drain tubes. Current rear drain tube routing may not be adequate to handle water when vehicle is parked with the front of vehicle on a slight incline. Proper routing should allow 1 quart (1.0 liter) of water per minute for each rear drain.


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