If it has been raining or I have washed the car,
and then I raise the rear hatch,
water leaks out from the hatch left trim
and leaks variously onto the fender rail, enterior side piece, trunk area hinged cover, and streams down into the tool pouch and the bin behind the left seat.

Obviously there is a leak somewhere there should not be, and/or a drain that should be there is plugged. Any knowledgeable clues would be useful.

If it is a leak around the hatch window rubber trim (no obvious breaks that I can see) is there a simple way to seal that from leaking, that doesn't have visual poop?

thanks

 

I get this same thing but I am no where near the stage of my project for this to get any attention. I always thought it was just the way it was - I hope you find a fix and let me know!

Shawn

 

I would also like to know.. Mine does the same thing.
Can't open the hatch for several hours after washing the car.

 

Mine does the same thing, I think its because of the spoiler; it doesnt compeletly seal where the bolts go thorugh the sheetmetal. Im assuming both of your cars have the real spoiler? one way to fix it would be to take off the spolier, and find some rubber and cut out a circle a little bit bigger than the hole, but not big enough to be seen, then push the stud from the spolier through it, and that should make a good enough seal to keep out rain and car wash water from getting in. I'll probably do this eventually..try that and post if it worked or not...good luck

neil

 

Mine does that too. And yes it has a rear spoiler. It seals ok (has the rubber washers) but not good enough to keep water out, unfortunately.

 

Funny I have the same problem also, and I also agree that its probably the rear spoiler. Could I just replace some seals and it'll be all good or use some silicone sealant around the seals to close up the holes? It's been annoying me ever since I got the car.

~alan

 

I don't have a spoiler and I get the same problem. I would assume it's just an FD thing. The water just get's trapped up in the seals and when u raise it there it goes...

 

Yeah it's just an FD thing.

I didn't have a spoiler before, and it did the same thing.

Now I just live with the fact that I can't open my hatch when I wash the car or when it's raining or something.

 

Yup, same thing for me too.
I just have a rag handy.

 

I have the same problem, with and without the spoiler.

I think it is from water collecting on the back of the hatch, inside of the 3rd brake light. then when the hatch is raised, it streams down into the molding. Although, I don't know how plausable this explaination is because i get a fair amount of water to come out sometimes.

An easy way to check and see where it is coming from would be to take the inside trim off and then go wash it.

 

mine does not have a rear spoiler and does it too but probably not as bad as you guys with spoilers

 

Hmmm, mine (no spoiler) drips just a bit onto the interior trim and over the rear quarter when first opened after a bath but not into the tool kit area. I just chamois the drain channels and under hatch edges down(hard to get a towel into the upper hinge area but worth it) all the way to the taillight trim. The FD has good drainage imho, so you may have the hatch out of alignment or messed up weatherstrip. Do you wash/open the wet hatch on level ground?

 

All good input. I have a spoiler, but it sounds like that is not a necessary condition.
Anecdotally, it was worse one time when the car was parked nose down a bit. But a mini-flood also on level ground.
Seems like it could cause some corrosion and crud if the leak does not get stopped or a drain not figured out.

Any possible inlets up on the top edge by the hinges?
Did not look closely up there.

 

No obvious path from the top edge.

Where does water go that gets below the sunroof?
My non-sunroof model did not have the hatch flood syndrome.

Mine only does it on the left side (so far), is this the same for everybody?

I am thinking it is the window seal in the hatch, but still wondering.

 

It's the window seal, and mine leaks like a SOB!

 

I put silicon stuff along the hatch top soft rubber,
and it still leaks. So I am guessing it is the harder plastic/rubber against the window instead of the soft rubber against the metal. Any better guesses?

 

rain storm brain storm

I was looking at the base of the rear wiper blade.
Not seated well, possibly another source.

 

it's from the hatch window seals. if i'm washing my car and i don't spray the hose directly at the seal, it barely drips anything when i open my hatch. but if i spray a lot at the seal, then it gushes out. i dunno of any fixes, but it seems to be quite common!

 

that window seal endlessly leaks. I have left a towel on there for 2min straight, came back and it STILL left a puddle. It is an endless source of retained water. like vudoodoodoo said, keep a rag handy!

 

If the water comes out from under the plastic, it is probably the spoiler. They put die cut sticky seals on when it is installed. I removed it, applied clear silicone rubber and reinstalled. No more leaks. Water will still run off the hatch and spill into the car, but it doesn't get inside if the hatch is closed ie - if I dry the car before opening it, no water drips in. Water will get trapped under the window seals, and slowly drip out, but it does not go from outside to inside. I run my drying cloth under the seal lips to get it when I dry the car.

 

I recently ran mine (spoiler, no sunroof) at a track day in the poring rain. While mine has always had the leak from the the hatch molding when I open the hatch this time by the end of the day it had filled my spare tire well with about 3" of water. Has anyone tried caulking under the plastic trim seal? Did it help?

 

i just keep towels ready in the compartment so when i open it up i do it slowly and place the towels in the place that i know its going to leak

 

I had this leak too

Its gone down the arm and fried my rear windscreen wiper as well

 

i have this problem too on my car. filled 1/4 of spare tire storage. worst leak!!

 

Water leaking from the interior trim panels = leaking wing mount. remove wing, replace seals and the plastic retaining clips (you will break then to remove the wing) on the aft end of the inboard mounts. Thats what i did, no more leaks. I did not use any silicon on the new gaskets, although it couldnt hurt to do so.