Cabin air filter soaking wet

[FaaWrenchBndr]

While I do agree that they cannot engineer for everything but they sure as hell can at the very least bring attention to it in the documentation that it should be checked regularly. ESPECIALLY when you take your 60K 1.5 year old truck with just 12K miles on it with a flooded passenger floorboard to the dealer to get fixed and they deny warranty claiming it's a maintenance issue but cannot provide any proof from Ford that it is.

The design is faulty. You cannot properly clean area out due to how they designed it. Access is completely blocked off from the top. Even if you remove the plastic you are prevented from accessing the well to properly clean it. Instead have to resort to poking at it with a wire rod and hope you got all the debris out.

I guess we’ll agree to disagree.

Vehicles have had the same design of the cowl area for the last, well my first car was 62 Nova. I’ve cleaned that out with the compressd air and a coat hanger with tape on the end of it. That was 1981

I guess you need to become an engineer and redesign the cowl area

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[HammaMan]

I'm forced to SEE under the hood often since I leave the hood up when I park in the barn. It might be there overnight. It might be there for a week or more.

The hood is up to prevent the engine bay from being an inviting place to nest, if you know what I mean.

So I see the dust that settles there.
And I see the two drain holes.
In fact I have seen the engine bay so often that it no longer looks as complicated and busy. (which it is)

Cleaning it up takes less effort than you might think. A spray bottle, a rag, and a few minutes to spend is all it takes.

Farm cats?

 

[Deleted member 22921]

While I do agree that they cannot engineer for everything but they sure as hell can at the very least bring attention to it in the documentation that it should be checked regularly. ESPECIALLY when you take your 60K 1.5 year old truck with just 12K miles on it with a flooded passenger floorboard to the dealer to get fixed and they deny warranty claiming it's a maintenance issue but cannot provide any proof from Ford that it is.

The design is faulty. You cannot properly clean area out due to how they designed it. Access is completely blocked off from the top. Even if you remove the plastic you are prevented from accessing the well to properly clean it. Instead have to resort to poking at it with a wire rod and hope you got all the debris out.

On my truck, just a note: The mechanic at Greene Ford removed the black windshield wiper cowl grille to gain access to the drainage cowl well and clean it out.

Then he snapped the windshield wiper cowl grille back on the top of it.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

I didn't dig that far into mine. Just took the top cover of the cowl off and saw it was solid underneath.

 

[Boosted]

If not the windshield check under the hood, there is a small drain hole where the metal cowl connects to the inner fender. Mine was clogged and water would drip from the truck for days then would leak in to the cabin filter.

Thanks for this. My blower motor was erratic, sometimes not working at all. A buddy suggested I check the cabin filter. It was soaked. I replaced the filter, drained the cowl (after reading your post) and after everthing dried out in my vent system (I think it took a couple of days) the blower moter came back. There must be an air flow sensor in the duct work. This saved me a trip to the dealer for post-warranty work.

 

[SN-OR]

Thanks. Hopefully it'll help others if they run into this issue. Which seems pretty likely. I was at the dealership getting new cab vents and my service writer stopped to ask how mine was doing since the rear end repair and she mentioned that they have had 5 F150's come in with this very issue last week alone since we had a ton of rain. Ford's not honoring any warranty on any of them... Stated that this is due to lack of maintenance on the owner's part.

Thank you so much for the post and the pictures! I just went out and stuck a 14 gauge wire in the hole, hard to find on a black truck, your pictures are awesome help, small amount of debris came out but A LOT of water followed.
Adding to the calendar for monthly maintenance. I own a 2022 F150 Powerboost FX4, ordered from the factory, came without a printed manual and online manual I find lacking. Almost at 40k total miles.
Some history in the event it helps others: In early November my heater stopped blowing air from the vents, all -- defrost vents and cabin vents. Turning fan up and you could hear it blowing but no air coming out. I took it to the dealer who reported nothing was wrong. Picked up vehicle, I got in the vents were not working, I got the service advisor and had him get in. Another appointment scheduled for following week for two days. Again returned to me with 'nothing found, working as it should'. In fact this time it was working and has for almost the last month, until yesterday. I live in Oregon, truck is parked outside, unfortunately near many trees, and we had heavy rains this weekend. Defrost and heater not putting out any air. Decided to find and check cabin air filter, found it soaking wet. Floor on passenger side also wet, but not too horribly I think. With filter out, air moves as it should. Soaking wet filter allows no air through. Ordered a filter and decided to do some research before asking the dealer. Found this post, followed your advice and believe problem solved.
Lesson learned and reminded I should read the forums before going to the dealer. You all are smarter and care more!
I do wonder if the second visit to the dealer -- did they keep it inside, cabin filter dried out? Did they replace it and say nothing? Hard to figure. They did apply some SW fix on the first visit, needed or not?
One last note, both sides these drains come out above electrical components, connections. Should not be an issue, those things should be watertight. But now wondering if part of the cause of my horn going off when vehicle is parked and locked and staying on until fuse pulled.

 

[SN-OR]

While I do agree that they cannot engineer for everything but they sure as hell can at the very least bring attention to it in the documentation that it should be checked regularly. ESPECIALLY when you take your 60K 1.5 year old truck with just 12K miles on it with a flooded passenger floorboard to the dealer to get fixed and they deny warranty claiming it's a maintenance issue but cannot provide any proof from Ford that it is.

The design is faulty. You cannot properly clean area out due to how they designed it. Access is completely blocked off from the top. Even if you remove the plastic you are prevented from accessing the well to properly clean it. Instead have to resort to poking at it with a wire rod and hope you got all the debris out.

I found this in the online owners manual

I found ZERO references to where these body and door drain holes are that we are supposed to check and clean. Also noting that every six months is not often enough if you have to park your truck outside daily.

 

[FaaWrenchBndr]

I found this in the online owners manual

I found ZERO references to where these body and door drain holes are that we are supposed to check and clean. Also noting that every six months is not often enough if you have to park your truck outside daily.

Don’t park your truck outside. If you do use a cover. You can’t blame Ford for debris clogging up drain holes. If you park underneath trees, that’s all on you.

 

[SN-OR]

Don’t park your truck outside. If you do use a cover. You can’t blame Ford for debris clogging up drain holes. If you park underneath trees, that’s all on you.

I am not blaming Ford for the debris. But that one reference in the manual to drain holes is little help. Would have liked to know to clean them before finding a soaked cabin filter and water in the blower. The fact that even service folks at the dealer did not point out drain holes when I first brought in a problem with my defrost and heat is also disappointing.

 

[VRFlyer]

Don’t park your truck outside. If you do use a cover. You can’t blame Ford for debris clogging up drain holes. If you park underneath trees, that’s all on you.

This is why I always park my truck on Mars, then take the Elon shuttle home, etc.

 

[blake.wallace]

Anyone know if there’s a video of this drain clean out process online somewhere? Thanks!

 

[SN-OR]

I do not know of a video but pictures posted earlier in this thread were very helpful and all I needed to find the hole, wiggle a 14 ga wire around and get it to drain. I am checking every few weeks in our wet winter and spring.

 

[JumboJVT]

I feel so much better knowing that I've just ordered a pickup than can't be parked outside. Anyone that thinks this is somehow the owners responsibility can go pound sand. People bitch about not being able to start their truck from their phone but accept an unforgivable design flaw as just another maintenance issue. I'm simply dumbfounded...

 

[Redd4099]

If not the windshield check under the hood, there is a small drain hole where the metal cowl connects to the inner fender. Mine was clogged and water would drip from the truck for days then would leak in to the cabin filter.

I am having the exact same issue. Wet floorboard and wet cabin air filter. I took this picture out to my truck and I’ll be damned if I can find a drain hole

 

[Porpoise Hork]

I am having the exact same issue. Wet floorboard and wet cabin air filter. I took this picture out to my truck and I’ll be damned if I can find a drain hole

There's two notches with a slot between them on the both passenger and driver's side of the truck. You cannot really access this from the top due to how Ford setup the cowl. There's a large metal flange covering the passenger side as well as the hood in the way even if you remove the plastic cowl covering.

Use a coat hanger or other thin but stiff wire and fish it into the front facing drain notch hole then work it down between the inner fender and cowl along the slot to the bottom facing notch to clear it. You can also use compressed air with a long air blower rod to clear the drain. Once cleared you can keep working to get as much debris out of it as possible.

As for the carpet depending on how soaked it is you can simply unbolt the passenger seat and tilt it back without disconnecting anything and lift the carpeting up so you can put a fan on it to dry the jute out. May take a day or two to completely dry, then I'd recommend a mold-mildew preventative treatment on the area.

Last thing is to put this drain on your regular maintenance schedule to check and clear the holes out every few months.

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