Hi - Last week I jumped into the truck to find the passenger ceiling speaker dripping water onto the passenger seat of my 5000 mile 2024 Raptor R. This is my 4th Raptor, and EVERYONE warned me to skip getting the sunroof. Of course I didnt listen and ordered all the options…...I took the truck down to Walnut Creek Ford the next day which is one of the best service centers in the bay area. The service advisor (got me in the same day) explained that they have two full time techs working on F-150 sunroof issues. During the pickup process, I got to speak with the tech that worked on the truck, and he explained and showed me the issues with the sunroof. I tried to caputre his comments;
1. Ford’s design on the F-150 is that they expect to always have a bit of moisture leak into a trough which traverses left to right below the middle seam of the glass. This is a spring loaded part allowing it to move slightly down during the operation of the sunroof, and moving back up once its closed. He actaully showed me how it operates by grabbbig it and pulling it down. this cross member captures the mositre on runs the water into a drain.
2. If the drain gets plugged, then the cross member/trough over flows into the headliner and out the speaker. The headliner which is lined in plastic then runs the water into the ceiling speaker and onto the seat. He said Ford has made it very simlpe to fix, as the headliner is attached the to truck with magnets, and snaps onto the cab.
3. Everything works well until the drain gets clogged, and backsup the water into the headliner.
4. The other issue he mentioned is that Ford’s cross memner has small fringes on each side that “brushes” the sunroof during operation, and if that doesnt seat correctly it allows water to flow into the headliner.
5. Further he mentioned that the weight of the glass can crack the rails during use, and or the rails can come out of alignment. Furthermore, he suggested to not operate the sunroof to have better longevity of the sunroof…..wow
Bottomline - Avoid purchasing the sunroof if you plan to keep the truck outside of the warranty period.
I have a fix for the leak through the speakers on my YT channel. It's more treating the symptom than the cause, which at this point is unfixable.
I disagree with what that dealership says is the cause. What I think it is, is water running down the flat "spring" arm of the deflector, and into the "track" area where no water is ever supposed to be. It doesn't happen to every truck. I think it has to do with maybe how you park it, angles and such, and sometimes with a simple glass adjustment.
So the water comes from the front, down the arm of the deflector, into the greased "track" part of the sunroof frame, and in that section there are multiple spot where water can enter the headliner. One of them, where the deflector hooks to the track, happens to be RIGHT above the overhead speaker. So it leaks in right there and comes right to the speaker...it doesn't have to run around in the headliner and find a hole into the cab. The overhead console is another common spot.
The magnet brackets on the bottom of the track can also leak. One is right behind where the deflector mounts....water can come through their rivets, as they are hollow.
Short of it is, I use butyl backed foil tape to seal underneath the deflector, to contain that water there, and then seal up the rivets. Usually adjust the glass and sometimes replace the seal if I don't like how it fits.
Been doing this "happy meal" (that's what I call it, lol) fix for a good bit now with no comebacks. Probably 75 or more of them to date done this way. It contains the water, and eventually it'll run out the front of the track into the trough, or simply evaporate.
I would much rather just stop the water from getting into that area in the first place, but no luck with that yet. I'm working on coming up with something I can install on the spring of the deflector that will block the water, but it has to do that without interfering with the deflector's movement and still stay in place.
The older pano models don't do this for 2 reason: One, they don't have the overhead speakers. Two, the deflector was totally different, with a shorter, rounded arm that had a spring beneath it to push it up. So if the water did get on them, it was rounded so it just ran off into the trough where it's supposed to be.
Sometime in about 2019-ish, they switched the deflector style to where the arm was also the spring...it's essentially a leaf spring, and like all leaf springs, it's flat. And a lot wider than the older ones, so water can easily run down it should it get to it....and on some trucks, it does.
Now all the advice about the drains always applies to any sunroof, but especially these. They pass so much water by design, that the drains have to be in tip-top shape in order to keep up. And I still see a fair number that have been kinked during installation, and never flowed the first drop of water from the factory. But again, that's the case with any sunroof. But the sheer numbers of F-150's ensures that there are a lot out there.
I generally don't pimp my YT channel overtly, but it's easily found "Seal of Perfection Sunroof and Leak Specialists" and I have lots of F-150 videos on all things sunroof, since my biggest clients are huge Ford dealers...so again, numbers game. If you're out of warranty, you can see what I did and copy it.
If you're still in warranty and not having luck with whoever your dealer is, maybe show them the video and they can replicate it.
