Ford Escape sunroof care
On the Escape a clogged drain wets the headliner and the front footwell. The frequent confuser here is the A/C condensate drain, so check whether the water tracks rain or air-conditioning use.
Clogged drains
The front drain tubes run down the A-pillars toward the firewall, and owner reports point to the fronts clogging more often than the rears. Clear them from the tray opening at the top with a soft brush and confirm with a water flush. Owners do sometimes reach the hose by dropping the A-pillar trim, but that means working next to the curtain airbag, so leave it to a shop with the model repair procedure unless you are inspecting a tube that has come apart.
Escape owners specifically report that too much force detaches the drain tubes. Soft brush and water.
When it is not the sunroof
- A/C condensate drain and the cowl drain are the big confusers, both wetting the front footwell.
- Ford acknowledges roof-area leaks generally in TSB 17-2218 (water stains on the headliner from the roof opening, fixed glass, roof rails, or ditch mouldings).
- A bonding defect on a very small number of 2014 cars. Ford recall 14S13 (NHTSA 14V403000) covers roughly 1,867 2014 Escapes built at Louisville Assembly between 15 and 22 October 2013, where the urethane bond between the panoramic glass and its bracket may not have cured properly. Ford put the expected rate at under 0.4 percent of those cars, and the symptoms it lists are "noise, water leak, or separation of the glass panel from the vehicle". It traces back to ten sequential roof assemblies built with improperly mixed urethane. If your Escape is a 2014 from that window and it both leaks and creaks, this is worth a VIN check with a dealer rather than a drain cleaning.