Hey all, I hope everyone had a nice holiday. I noticed after a heavy rain while driving, there were some water drops coming into the pillar area, and also the drivers floormat was soaked. I dropped it off at the dealer and they didn't say anything about it not being covered. I'm still under the original 4-yr/50k mile warranty. If its not covered does anyone have a clue as to how much that would cost to fix? Thanks

 

It's not reported on the S Type and I don't know why except maybe they are built different?? The Lincoln LS is well known for this and it's an easy fix. I have fixed both front drain hoses on my wife's 2003 LS over the years.

The Moon roof is not really sealed. Much water gets around the Moon roof by design but is captured by a metal drain pan under the Moon roof. This pan has 4 drain hoses attached that run to the four corners of the car. The front two drains are run down the A pillars and this is where you usually first see the leak. Secondary symptoms are wet floor mats and the map pockets in the door can also fill with water.

The problem is over time the plastic/rubber drain hoses start to harden and shrink. Apparently the drain hose is well secured on the bottom section but the hose always pulls off the metal nipple at the drain pan up top. The fronts are the problem 90% or more of the time. In fact I can't remember anyone having problems with the rear drains.

The repair is simple once you understand what is going on. Peel the rubber door seal back so you can remove the A-pillar covers. Remove the sun visor and A-pillar cover on that side of the car and then look up at the drain pan. It's kind of hidden at first and you won't see it because it's buried under the front edge of the head liner. You don't want to get rough with anything just get your hands in there to fix it. Remember the A-pillars are tethered and don't come all the way off. They dangle on the tethers. These tethers are there so when the air bags go off the A-pillar covers are not blown into your face. The hose can be stretched back into position on the nipple and I add a small hose clamp to keep it in place.

Here is a picture of the hose and nipple from the LS.
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Its covered, and either a blocked or loose drain line

 

I own a 2003 Lincoln LS with this exact problem. After some extensive Googling, I came across this post from clubairth1 which helped me identify the root cause (many thanks!). Once I exposed the area, sure enough, just as clubairth1 posited, I had the exact same issue at hand. Unfortunately, as you can see from the first photo, I was not able to simply pull the drainage hose back on the nipple and secure -- it was just too far away and I could not get the drainage hose to move that far.

My solution was to splice in a small section of vinyl tubing - but it wasn't easy. After warming up the tubing a bit, I was able to get it over the nipple and secured it with a plastic tie. as for the other end, it was slightly too large in diameter to fit in the drainage hose. So, I made a small (3/4 inch) slit in the vinyl tube piece, folded it over itself, and then inserted that end into the drainage hose. That I secured with some good old duct tape -- in this case, some Gator Duct Tape (as I am a Florida alum!).

Here is the situation as first exposed -- just like clubairth1 indicated above:





A good one and a half inch gap here


And here is my "fix" which I hope will alleviate the situation:

 

If you heat the drain hose, you should be able to pull it enough to reach the nipple. If you have access to a steamer, you should be able to warm up the hose enough to easily stretch it another 6-8 inches. I used a Eureka Hand Steamer with the flexible hose attachment.

If you do end up having to add additional tubing to cover the gap, I would try a nylon or brass barbed hose splicer/coupler. The car's drain hose is a 1/2" hose with a 3/8" ID (internal diameter). Get a 3/8" to 3/8" coupler and a few small hose clamps to secure it permanently. Again, a little heat works wonders. You should have no trouble slipping your new section of tubing onto one end of the coupler but the car's tubing is very stiff and inflexible. You'll be able to slip it onto the coupler a lot more easily if you're able to warm it up with a steamer or even a hair dryer.

 

Hi everyone i would like to share and hope help someone with the same problem. I just bought lincoln ls 2004 from dealer after first rain i noticed my boots were wet and i had dripping water coming down on my legs from pillar A . After researching on line i wanted to give a shot and make sure are the drain hoses attached in sunroof area of course they were detached and explained why i had water getting into the car . I went in ACE Hardware and got 3/8 2 metal splinters since the hose is 1/2 inch wide and iner diameter 3/8 . Also got one foot clear hose i bought the one that can fit nice and snug 3/8 splinter ,cut the hose to fit exact length of one side of splinter, that side will be pushed inside of the car drain hose ,attach clear hose to another side of splinter but leave some extra hose so you can attach over the niple, you can heat up hose with cigarette lighter and stretch it w pliers if you put them inside of the hose and slowly start widening them that will help stretching process .Once you are done you don't need clamps or glue the fit is nice and waterproof here are pics before and after.