Finding the leak

I have a leak in my 2012 mustang that I am vigorously trying to locate. I think I have found it. Water is running down the back of the driverside kick panel onto the carpet. I think it is getting there by running down a cable coming from the bulkhead or dripping onto a cable. I really think I can locate the problem by removing the plastic piece that the windshield wipers stick up from. I don't know what the piece is called. A cowl?

Anyway, how do I go about removing this part to take a gander down the firewall? I've had it to the dealer who claims they can't find a leak despite my wet carpet. So I am attempting it myself once I find out how to get the dam *whatever it is* off.

I'm doing just that. I made an appt for next week at the dealer who sold me the car. Maybe the local dealer I've been dealing with isn't giving it 100% since I didn't buy the car from them. Who knows...

Well, the dealer I bought the car from couldn't duplicate the leak either. I picked it up this afternoon with a renewed determination to find it!!! That may involve my camping out in the car under the dash the next time it rains.

Well, last nite before the rains came, I stuffed fresh shop towels between my carpet and the driver kick panel and cloth towels directly over the electronics box above the kick panel and up against the box mounting panel. The rains came and this morning all were soaked with a nice stream trailing down the carpet edge into a puddle just below the driver seat.

I changed the paper towels, left the car for an hour during which it rained again. After
ward I checked only to find water running off the new towels. Needless to say, the car is in the garage now with the carpet pulled back.

I found all the cabling going to the box and the box mounting hardware wet. The only wet area overhead of the box was the insulation butting up against the metal framing. So I have essentially located the source of the water.

I emailed the dealer service adviser with all this information. I also told him that I will bring it to them on Monday and do not expect it back until they have found the specific leak. If they do the water hose spray and declare "We can't find it!", I will return the car to the dealer as a irreparable defective product and get a refund and compensation.

Up to this point, the young techs have been real reluctant to remove anything such as the windshield cowling and the wheel well plastic inserts, cowling or whatever it's called. They are now going to have to stretch themselves and maybe do a little digging since I have pointed out specifically where the water is showing up in the interior.

I hate going thru this!! I love the car, but there should be no leaks in a brand new $30K product.

I'll keep y'all posted....

To FORDCUSTSRVC: What options do I have? I am frustrated and at my wit's end with this issue!!

Thanks! The more I think of the young tech's reactions to the issue the more I'm convinced that they don't want to take the time to go about finding the problem in a logical sequence of steps. The 2 of them did not like it when I took the car back the 2nd time. The service adviser is very professional (at least on the surface). The techs are not. They may very well be the problem.

Well, well, well! I took the car into the host dealer this morning at their request and got a phone call about 30 minutes ago. By elevating the car's front end and spraying, the leak presented its ugly head!! AT LAST! I became so excited at the news I almost wet my pants!!

Anyway, the water was coming thru a body seam in the driver firewall area...no doubt a void in the mastic or sealant or whatever they use to seal the seams. Since it was getting wet during all this, the power amp mounted above the kick panel is also being replaced "just in case" as they put it.

Anyway, I hope my trials and tribulations in this regard will be of some value to someone else here on the forum. I'm just sooo tickled that I will soon get the car back in a truly sealed condition... I'll now be able to sleep at night during a rain storm knowing that my carpet will still be dry when I awake...

UPDATE: I took this car in Monday and finally got it back this afternoon (Friday). The cause of the leak was finally determined to be a bad windshield seal at its bottom driver side. We're expecting rain tomorrow and Sunday which will be the ultimate test of the fix. Once I have determined that the fix is a valid one, I will officially and gladly close this thread!!!

One thing that bugged me about the dealership was the conflicting information I'd get from the service adviser when I would call for updates. I think that they just say things to get the inquirer off the phone. On Monday afternoon, the guy called and exclaimed "We found the leak!". Yesterday morning (Thursday) he called and exclaimed "We found the leak!". OK.

Another adviser substituting for him on Wednesday stated that they were out test driving the car to make sure that the leak was fixed. OK. I set the odometer when I took it in and they put a whopping 0.3 mile on it. Short test drive.

Tuesday I was told that the epoxy they used to plug the leak was still tacky. I was told that yesterday (Thursday) also. Yesterday I was told they had to remove the windshield to fix the leak. When I picked the car up this afternoon, I was told they didn't have to remove the windshield. DA-YUM!! My head is spinning by now.

When I drove off at 2pm this afternoon, the cab smelled like the epoxy. I'll bet they hadn't touched it 'till yesterday.

BUT, hopefully it's fixed. I'll let y'all know Sunday.

Because of the heavy rains of today and the dry carpets in the car, I think I can officially end this thread and declare this issue resolved. The leak is fixed.