I need a little help. The rear window (hatch) is pulling out of the frame and is starting to leak. I have taken to several glass places in the Detroit Area and no one will attempt to fix it. I was told by one person to break it and have the insurance comapny pay for a new one. Does anyone have any insight in how to fix the leak and get the window back into the frame? Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

lol, I don't recommend insurance fraud.

if it's just separating at the top I put black duct tape over it and if you put it on nicely it's not noticable unless you look close up and I'm not sure if mine was leaking (was separating pretty badly) but I don't see any leaks.

or you can just look for a good used hatch. That's what I'll eventually do.

The insurance company might totall your car if you have a broken hatch lol, at least tha's what one guy said in an article in excellence. A brand new rear hatch is like 3000 dollars.

 

If ya try to seperate the hatch from the frame, you'll most likely kill the glass. Like yummybud 924 said, hatches are not cheap.

I got the same problem, and i also wouldnt recomend insurance fruad. I called a few places where i live and they had said they could do a "pump seal". I think they just use a silicone sealer.

Otherwise get some of that sticky rv foam sealer, and just cut off a strip and stuff it in there. Take a black perm. marker and color over the strip.

 

do not brake it ! one of the biggest reasons why thay start to pull apart is that the hinge was never lubed . could you do a job like this your self ? remove the hatch with you and 2 frends , turn it over take out the screws , the small ones suck to do some times you have to drill off the heads on thous and remove the rest of the screw with locking pliers . reseal with strip caulk get it from an auto body store . home depot should have the hardwere you need for screws . then reinstall not to bad right ?

 

You could take this as an excuse to buy a lexan hatch from GT-Racing and save some weight.

 

You could just try picking up a tube of window sealant at your local auto parts store and see if you can salvage it. You could also check to see if the rubber gasket thing is dry, cracked and well-seated to the frame and reglue (or replace) it if it's not.

I did both and it did wonders.

No matter what don't mess with insurance companies, please!

 

I myself and few others have successfully resealed the glass into the frame without totally seperating the two. There are a few threads on it here if you do a search and there is also a writeup on pelican parts on how someone else repaired the same problem.

 

Thanks for the suggestions for a quick and long term fix. I am glad I joined the forum. I have been reviewing it for the past two years and never joined. No reason in general but very glad I finally did. In regards to insurance fraud that will never happen. I was just shocked that a person at a well know auto galss company would say that. Thanks again.

Rich