Water ingress, BCM failure

[ShropshireMTB]

Hi there, so I’m 3 weeks into owning a 2016 custom and it’s already broken down.
Noticed some drops of water on the drivers side footwell the morning after some heavy rain.
Ran fine in the morning but died in the afternoon.
AA recovered the van to the local Ford dealership who have now told me the body control module had been water damaged
Anyone else had a similar experience? How does the water get in? The windscreen looks original as it has all the Ford logos etc.
Absolutely gutted ☹️

[dm3lions]

Hi,

Ive got a camper and this happened to the BCM but also in the passenger side behind the glovebox. It took me a long time to sort it. In my case it was the door seal grommets being loose. It could also be missing screws from the roof rack as i understand it. Drove me mad as Ford blamed my poptop but a simple hosepipe test proved it was the gutters. A year later and they are fine but i do a check occasionally. Good luck. Trandit custom 2015

[dm3lions]

I also now have rags stuffed on the small metal ledge above the bcm as back up. If it comes in via the a-pillars this seems to help. Cheers

[ShropshireMTB]

Hi,

Ive got a camper and this happened to the BCM but also in the passenger side behind the glovebox. It took me a long time to sort it. In my case it was the door seal grommets being loose. It could also be missing screws from the roof rack as i understand it. Drove me mad as Ford blamed my poptop but a simple hosepipe test proved it was the gutters. A year later and they are fine but i do a check occasionally. Good luck. Trandit custom 2015

Thanks for the info, do you have any photos of the grommets so I can check mine, or are they pretty obvious? The van does have roof bars also so will check all are secure when I get it back.
I'm sure I've read somewhere about Ford supplying some plastic deflectors for the scuttle panel, to stop water flowing onto electrical components under the bonnet, but can't seem to find the thread now

[dm3lions]

The grommets are behind the gutter in this picture.

I can't pull it out to give you a closer view for fear of causing the issue again.

I saw the scuttle issue when i had my problem and i know that did affect many vehicles.

In my case it was definitely the gutters though.

If you take the trim off the a-pillar you can see it pooling in the corner at the bottom of the windscreen if its coming in that way.

It then flows down on to the bcm and then down over various connections causing a myriad of different errors.

Cheers

[ShropshireMTB]

The grommets are behind the gutter in this picture.

I can't pull it out to give you a closer view for fear of causing the issue again.

I saw the scuttle issue when i had my problem and i know that did affect many vehicles.

In my case it was definitely the gutters though.

If you take the trim off the a-pillar you can see it pooling in the corner at the bottom of the windscreen if its coming in that way.

It then flows down on to the bcm and then down over various connections causing a myriad of different errors.

Cheers

Thanks again for the info, really helpful.

I'll check mine when its back, Will remove the A pillar trim as you say and see if the waters entering from this point. Fingers crossed.

Is the photo taken with the door open?, and how did you fix the issue? Was it a case of pushing the grommet back in or did you use some sealant too?

Cheers

[ShropshireMTB]

Also my van was parked nose down on the drive during heavy rain which I don't think helped, all the water from the roof would have been directed down onto the windscreen and doors.
Won't be parking that way in future
Ford are trying to tell me the windscreen seal is at fault, but its a genuine ford branded screen so think its the original

[Damian Kimmins]

I had this issue after a windscreen replacement was installed incorrectly. Wipers had a mind of their own, one side driving light didn't work, nor the indicator on that side, every time you drove away and the doors locked it would beep the horn and, rather more strangely, I couldn't turn it off - one afternoon having parked at the supermarket, I turned the ignition off, got out, and walked away, before realising it was still running.

[dm3lions]

Yes the door is open on the picture.

It definitely is possible that the windscreen is at fault.

They took mine off 3 times though and it carried on happening...

I replaced the gutters and made sure to put sealant around the grommets as well.

Good luck mate.

[dm3lions]

if you take the trim off and stuff a load of rags down the bottom you can blast the windscreen and then the door to see which it might be. Just make sure to not flood the bcm again obviously!!

[metalworker0]

Also my van was parked nose down on the drive during heavy rain which I don't think helped, all the water from the roof would have been directed down onto the windscreen and doors.
Won't be parking that way in future
Ford are trying to tell me the windscreen seal is at fault, but its a genuine ford branded screen so think its the original

RAMBLINGS - Not a custom but a connect .....nose down in drive no problems though,
nose up in drive, roof collects about a gallon of water that sits there , drive away have deluge pouring over the screen .
so I park nose down in drive even though backing out is dangerous ..but what will a gallon of water sitting on your roof do to it long-term ..not good for it i think
May happen the same to custom ..i don't know.

all the best.mark

[ShropshireMTB]

Thanks for all the help and advice guys.

But if an update. Collected my van tonight after the new BCM had been fitted. Asked if they had managed to find the leak and no surprise when they said no. ☹️

Got the van home and started to remove the trim from the dash in order to cover the new BCM to at least give some protection if and when the van leaks again.

Could see rusty water marks from old leaks but no more water.

Decided to remove the A pillar trim to see if there was any evidence of leaking and found a nice pool of water towards the top of the trim which had been captured in the webbing. Also noticed a foam pad under the roof lining towards the top of the trim was damp

So it looks like the water is definitely travelling down the A pillar into the dash area. Just need to find the source, but ran out of light tonight.

I do suspect the roof bars though as the seals to body look shite, not even aligned correctly.

Will be trying again tomorrow!

[ShropshireMTB]

Looks like I may have found the source of my leak

Removed the headlining and could see traces of rusty water on the roof just to the rear of the drivers seat which is very close to the mounting points of the roof bars.

The seals on the roof bars didn’t look to clever, all of them were misaligned so I removed the bolts and removed the bars, only to find the bolts or blanks missing from the spare holes!! Nice easy path for any water to get into the van
Can’t believe somebody would leave them open without plugs!!

F658A435-2A60-4C0C-9646-B517CC79A912.jpeg

Bars all removed and I’ve blanked all the holes with M8 bolts and repair washers, plus a healthy dose of sealer.

Does anyone know if new seal kits are available for the roof bars???

Cheers

[Whammy]

Hey, I've got the early 2015 Transit Custom High roof and have just had a BCM failure die to water ingress. Garage couldn't identify where the leak was coming in but have recommended removal of the A pillar trim to see if that's the route. Had a pointless warranty on the van as the BCM wasn't covered!!

I haven't had the trim off yet but I have noticed I get a lot off condensation on the front sloped part of the high roof which runs straight down to the top of the windscreen.

I'll check further on the weekend.

[Whammy]

It's been a while and I'm not sure anyone actually read this but I found where the water was getting in.

Water was getting in above the driver's door where the the high top is joined to the van. It's a join that has a long black trim front to back.

Silicone gunned onto the offending area has solved the problem.

Maybe this will help someone