The Oklahoma drought

The absence of rain in OK since I bought my 2012 V6 Premium in May has severely inhibited the appearance of a problem I have just discovered. After 2 heavy rains in the past week, I have found that the car leaks on the drivers side under the dash. Water drips down onto the left footrest and gets what I think is a computer behind the kick panel wet. That makes it worse.

Anyway, she's sittin' at the dealers as we speak. This will be warranty trip #2 for the car and the first new Ford that I have owned to have to be taken in under warranty. Bummer... My other new Fords were 2003 and 2006 Crown Vic Sports.

I called the dealer to check on "old leaky's" progress and was told that they couldn't find any leaks in their wash bay. They're gonna keep it tomorrow and try again. Go figure. What's the difference between a good rain shower and an garden hose???

It leaked both times just sittin' in the rain.

I went and picked the car up this afternoon after the dealer's 2nd attempt to find the leak. Of course they didn't. All they did was order for me the door weather stripping to replace the one on the car which came a tad distorted from the factory. The piece takes some odd shapes on the section that runs down the door sill along the windshield. This is the rubber stripping that the door window slips into. So they'll install that after it arrives.

So for now I've implemented some good old Okie engineering and stuffed a towel under the dash atop the computer box that's mounted behind the driver kick panel.

Some folks would tell me to tell the dealer to keep 'till it's fixed. But I tried that tactic when my brand new 1969 Mustang 302's engine developed a slight ticking noise shortly after I bought it. The service adviser (Miracle Ford in Dallas) told me that was normal for that engine and was a valve train noise rather than a single incident. So I told him to keep it 'till it was fixed. Well, 2 weeks later and being tired of having to rely on my roommate for transportation, I gave in and retrieved it. Of course they hadn't touched it. They won! And of course the ticking never caused a problem and eventually went away...

Thank you! My lower door sills are still getting wet thru the door latches and I haven't yet heard anything since my last correspondence during the summer. I assume they are still evaluating the extent of the problem.

The Stang is now at the dealer as we speak in order to have that distorted driver-side door frame weather stripping replaced. The part came in this morning. It should be ready by noon tomorrow (Friday).

I'm gonna wait for the rain to test the fix since that seems to be the only time it leaks (vs. the car wash). Just in case it doesn't fix it, I have this really nice color-coordinated towel up under the dash and resting on that computer mounted above the kick panel and directly over where the drips were seen on the left foot rest. I'll just check that for wetness next time it rains and go from there...

I excitedly retrieved my trusty stang Friday at lunch. Saturday I took it to the car wash and got it all wet then shined up. No leaks! This morning after an overnight rain storm, the towel I had placed on the left footrest had wet spots!!! This afternoon on my drive from Tulsa to Amarillo, I went thru some torrential rains and high winds. No leaks that I could discern, i.e., my left foot which had been on the footrest was dry.

Does Ford employ exorcists? I'm at my wits end. Does an instance such as this qualify to be within reach of the lemon law?