Rear hatch leak? Pics

I had the rear hatch open for a bit and some water drained out of the crack shown here- from inbetween the gap in the plastic trim.
The rig was sitting for several weeks and thru some rain so it obviously had a chance to collect. Is this a clogged drain or the dreaded rear window seal leak?
The rubber around the glass looks good, no cracks or seperation from the metal...

Is it possibly coming thru the spoiler screw holes?
ideas for troubleshooting welcome! Thanks

I'm voting rear glass seal. Mine was leaking without any obvious signs. Just like with the front one, it needs to be sealed with urethane all around from the glass and metal side and when the urethane ages, leaks start.

My recommendation is to look up the 3M site and see if there is a sealant in a caulk gun style. You may be able to run a bead around and under the rubber seal on the top and sides to fix this.

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dfmorse said:

My recommendation is to look up the 3M site and see if there is a sealant in a caulk gun style. You may be able to run a bead around and under the rubber seal on the top and sides to fix this.

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Washed the car today to relax a bit and spotted the leak. It is easy to see now.

as I wipe the car down, the water continues to dribble out of of one spot on DS bottom edge. I pushed on the rubber trim and it did 'squeeze' a few more dribbles of water out of the same spot.

I lightly pulled up on the black trim and could see the urethane under there. I think it might be possible to run a bead under there w/ a small enough tip and squish it down-I think a tube o' thane w/ pointed tip would be the ticket... Thanks for the idea, at least it's worth a shot.

Good pre-emptive strike I think. I dont notice any signs of rust or damage- hopefully the inside metal is solid (no bubbles or weakness pushing on metal), I think this is a very minor leak and I caught it early. knock on wood

oh, checked the spoiler bolts and no leaks there.

Hey FirstToy,

I think mine is leaking now as well. Not to bad but the carpet in the back seems to be getting wet. I'm trying to determine if it's the side windows or the rear glass. I think it might be both actually.

I just got done looking at my seal, both at the glass and the body, and it looks like the urethane is drying out. I do have a Las Vegas truck after all so it's been in a dry climate for most of its life. When I pull the seal away from the body I can see in some sections where there is a bit of urethane left connecting the seal to the body. In other areas I can't see any sort of urethane left. The same holds true with the between the seal and the glass.

The FSM is a little sketchy when it comes to the hatch glass. It specifies that there should be urethane between the body and seal. , but doesn't say anything about the glass and the seal. It does say that the install is the same as the front windshield install.

I'm thinking that I might replace the seal altogether seeing as that there is a ton of dirt jammed in the seal and I don't think I will be able to get the urethane to stick enough using the old seal. I'm also curious to see what it looks like at the pinch weld. In theory water should never get to that area due to the urethane, but seeing as the urethane is mostly gone I'm certain that area has been wet in the past. Hopefully not enough to cause the problems the northern folks get.

I think I'm in the same boat, too. I was chasing down leaks on my rig today in a brief break in the rain and after reading this thread, thought I would rule out the glass gasket as a possible source. Well, i did notice a little residual water around the lower DS corner of the seal and if I pushed on it, I could make a little water bubble out. The glass also seems to be less well-attached to the metal at that point. I can definitely push the window back and forth a little bit. Not able to get that much movement on the other three corners.

I guess I'm glad to find this, but I'm sick of leaks on this rig. Better than not finding them in time, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

I also found a couple more possible places for water to get in today. One is talked about here:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=75308

The other is the main rear hatch seal ~ the one that goes around the entire rear opening. It was pretty wet inside the channel that pushes onto the metal of the truck. The urethane adhesive is shot and the only thing holding it on there is the tension of the gasket channel and whatever metal is inside there to help it pinch on to the metal of the hatch. I'll have to take it off when it is a little warmer and drier out to do a good job of re-sealing it. Anybody know what a new seal gasket costs? Might be worth it to just replace it with a new one.

Darwood said:

Hey FirstToy,

I think mine is leaking now as well. Not to bad but the carpet in the back seems to be getting wet. I'm trying to determine if it's the side windows or the rear glass. I think it might be both actually.


I'm thinking that I might replace the seal altogether seeing as that there is a ton of dirt jammed in the seal and I don't think I will be able to get the urethane to stick enough using the old seal. I'm also curious to see what it looks like at the pinch weld.

Click to expand...

derek,
If you do the whole replacement, I'm very curious what the seal looks like underneath as well. It will tell me if/how it is leaking and if a "squeezing urethane under the rubber" will be effective.

I dont have any wet carpet or anything- only noticed from it dribbling out of that trim gap so I want to catch this early before it gets worse...

keep us updated if you do it and I'll do the same,
thanks derek

Nice find C6H1206, good things to checklist...

wet carpet here too... was there a solution?

Resurrection....

I have been chasing wet carpet and I think I tracked down the same leak you circled in your pic. Mine's on the passenger side, but same drip location. Has anyone been able to confirm this is a window gasket urethane issue, or a weather strip issue? I thought mine might be the quarter belt molding and/or vent, so I pulled those and sealed with silicone rtv this weekend, but I dont know how water could get from there to the carpet on the passenger side.

My window gasket sill seems sealed well since its tough to pry it up, but I did have a shop pop the window out in 2007 to re-tint the hatch window. I wonder if something happened then.