I have just bought a new rear hatch rubber seal as water leaking into boot. Is it necessary to remove the rear hatch window. Any tips or pics of how to do this job would be very much appreciated.

 

Ive done a lot of searching on Rennlist and put together this summary of all advice I could find from previous posters. Hope it will help all you guys who get similar problem in future.

REPLACING THE REAR HATCH SEAL

Remove the tool tray crawl into hatch area close the hatch,
have a helper spray water around the sun roof look for leaks
then move to the hatch seal area
then do the quarter windows then the top of the hatch this will get the spoiler area wet
then do the hatch lock.


Mine was leaking through the bolt holes for the rear hatch glass trim.... it took forever to find... i had water in the car but the hatch was always dry because the water simply ran off the hatch on the inside and left no signs of water travel.
Another place it can come in is around where the hatch seal tucks under the sill plate that screws in at the top of the bumper cover. If the seal is above this piece, it could leak. If the seal is split near the bottom where it is glued together, it can leak.

There are 4 drain holes for the sunroof compartment. They are located in each corner. If you want to make sure they are draining properly, use a length of thick weed whacker line. Run the line through each hole to make sure they are not clogged. The rear holes drain into the hatch tracks and the front drains through the A pillars down into the back of the front fenders. That's probably not your issue, but it's always a good idea to make sure they drain.

If the hatch weather stripping has been replaced, I would bet that they didn't "SEAT" the weather strip properly at the top between the hatch hinges. I say this because it's not an easy task to do when replacing it. I used a large flat head screw driver with a thin block of wood to make the weather strip seat correctly. I basically pried the screw driver against the block to push the seal down over the metal lip.

If that is not your issue, pull the rectangular plugs at the back of the headliner bordering the sunroof motor cover and look to see if either side shows water leakage. It should be apparent, but you can always recreate the leak with a garden hose when all is closed up.

Other than those 3 things, there really isn't any other way to my knowledge for water to penetrate this location. Good luck!


Has anyone replaced this seal?
It looks like the hatch must be completely removed to get it in. Am I missing something? Anyone who has performed this please share.

I would recommend that you do not remove the hatch, as is very heavy and its forward section is positioned with shims under the hinges and could be quite difficult to realign especially getting the fit even all the way around and the possible adjustment of the hatch release mechanism, as the adjustment is three dimensional, forward and aft, left and right and the depth into the female section of the locking mechanism.

Rear hatch seal is easy. no need to remove the hatch. a good tip is to leave the weatherstripping in the sun for a while to get nice and warm/playable.

You can just pull the seal off, wipe off any dirt around where it goes and then just thread it back on. It isn't a solid piece like the door seals, it's cut. Start off at the hatch receiver and work your way around


How do you get it under the trim on the rear hatch?

just feed it under the hatch overhang. once you start taking out the old one, you will see how it works.

To replace/renew the hatch seal, first disconnect the battery, then remove the hatch sun visors .

Then remove the hatch lamp, label the wires.

NOTE add some heat shrink to the connectors of this lamp.

Remove the upper hatch trim panel, 5 push pins hold it in place.

Fow what it’s worth, without removing the top trim on the hatch its next to impossible to properly clean and reseat the the top edge of the hatch seal .

Also consider removing the hatch shocks and opening the hatch further may increase the clearance but it may also pull the wire harness out of its home and possibly pinch the wires,
also if the hatch is opened too far the paint may be damaged along the edges.

Then remove the old seal, mark the center location along the top edge of the seal first.
then clean along the body seal ridge .
NOTE pay attention to the upper ridge as this is where you will find the most dirt.

If your using the old seal,
wash it with some detergent and scrub it with a small brush,
rinse it off then leave it in the sun to reform for a few hours.

Get a tube of Hondabond 4 and put a bead into the first 4 feet on either side of the center point of the seal, this so you have time to install the seal .
NOTE The Hondabond can drip out if you get too far..
Once you have the top edge installed then work either side to the hatch latch ,
add the Hondabond then put the seal onto the body ridge.

NOTE make sure that you press the seal onto the ridge and that it stays in position .

NOTE if your using the old seal then you may have to squeeze the seal edge together so to reform the metal in the seal groove.

After the seal has been installed then get some Dow Corning 111 and smear this onto the seal,
this will keep the seal soft and thus let it seal out water for a very long time.

Reinstall your upper hatch trim the visors and the lamp. Then connect the battery.

 

Thanks for pulling all this info together and putting it at the top of the thread.