Case Study
Ford Focus Water Leak
Our customer brought in their Ford Focus with water leaking into the driver's footwell whenever the air con was on. It started on the offside and then began settling in the nearside footwell too, with noticeable vapour coming from the air vents. After two weeks at another garage without an answer, they asked our Ford specialist technicians to start the investigation from scratch. The customer was certain it wasn't coolant or rainwater, as the water only trickled in when the air con was running.
Fault Codes
No specific fault codes – the water ingress was traced through a physical inspection of the air conditioning and heater system
Common Symptoms
- Water in the driver's footwell when the air con is on
- Water spreading to the passenger footwell
- Vapour coming from the air con vents
- Leak stopping when the air con is switched off
Ford Focus Diagnostics
To diagnose the leak properly, we needed to strip the interior. The customer hadn't used the air con since to let the car dry out, and we confirmed all the carpets were now dry. We removed the air con drain pipe and found it wasn't blocked, with water dripping out of the drain tube as it should. The pollen filter was also dry. Using a borescope, we were able to see a build-up of water inside the heater box. With water collecting inside it, the heater box needed to be replaced, which meant removing the dashboard, draining the coolant and de-gassing the air conditioning system.
Vehicles Affected
Ford Focus
- Ford Focus 2011
- Ford Focus 2012
- Ford Focus 2013
- Ford Focus 2014
- Ford Focus 2015
- Ford Focus 2016
- Ford Focus 2017
- Ford Focus 2018
Ford C-MAX
- Ford C-MAX 2010
- Ford C-MAX 2011
- Ford C-MAX 2012
- Ford C-MAX 2013
- Ford C-MAX 2014
- Ford C-MAX 2015
- Ford C-MAX 2016
- Ford C-MAX 2017
- Ford C-MAX 2018
- Ford C-MAX 2019
Ford Kuga
- Ford Kuga 2012
- Ford Kuga 2013
- Ford Kuga 2014
- Ford Kuga 2015
- Ford Kuga 2016
- Ford Kuga 2017
- Ford Kuga 2018
- Ford Kuga 2019
Ford Focus Heater Box Replacement
We replaced the heater box, then reassembled the dashboard and all the components removed during the job. We re-gassed the air conditioning system and refilled the coolant, before testing the whole system to confirm everything was working correctly.
Resolution
After clearing the fault codes and completing a road test, we confirmed the leak had been fixed. Our customer's Ford Focus was back to a dry interior, with the air con working properly and no more water in the footwells.
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Thank you so much for sorting my car out! Even though there was a subsequent problem, you responded professionally, courteously and swiftly to remedy the situation. Thank you to Stacie for sorting everything out and to the team for repairing our car.
Sarah Liron
Customer Review