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Leaking rear hatch window area

62K views 44 replies 28 participants last post by  kevin.j.fitzpat 
#1 ·
If I open my rear hatch after some rain, sometimes a little water will drip from this area:



After a record rainfall the other day, there was a little water in the cargo tray... Maybe two ounces. I removed the interior door panel from above the window (to the right of my finger in that pic), and the was water in there. I'm trying to figure out exactly where it came in. It is possible that it came in around the CHMSL, or around the window glass. I loosened and re tightened the two nuts that hold the CHMSL on.

I was also ticking of using some Captain Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure around the light and window glass. I fixed a leak around the radio Angela on my Sprinter van with that stuff.

Has anyone else experienced this? Any ideas?
 
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#2 · (Edited)
#3 ·
Thanks. I suspected that, especially after seeing how loose the nuts were. I did tighten them up a little... Maybe that will help. If not, I'll come up with a solution for it.
 
#6 ·
Just a quick follow-up: since I tightened the nuts on the CHMSL, I have had no leaking. We got an entire day of steady rain on Saturday. Maybe that's all it needed.
 
#7 ·
I wonder if the guy who was supposed to tighten up that nut at the factory got chewed out :)
 
#8 ·
Yeah, same issue here. Mine was loose as well.

I ended up creating a new gasket using tool box drawer liner that I got from Harbor Freight. The gasket on my light was already sandwich thin, I don't think it'll do its job anymore even after tightening up the bolts.
 
#9 ·
Oh, crud... My car sat out in the rain all day and when I opened the hatch, a couple ounces of water dripped out of the hatch. Looks like I have to re-seal the CHMSL after all.
 
#11 ·
Because I have occasionally seen a small trickle of water running down the inside window of my hatch when opening it after a previous night's rain, I would also like to check the tightness of the two nuts supposedly holding the upper hatch-mounted third brake light assembly in place (and check the condition of that assembly's gasket while I'm in there). I realize the black plastic trim piece that runs along the entire top of the inside of the hatch must come off in order for me to be able to check the nuts and the gasket. Exactly how do I go about removing that long plastic trim piece without cracking or breaking it?
 
#13 ·
I thought in the link I just posted above this one shows how it comes apart...I found it pops off very easily, when you have the hatch open and stand facing the cargo area the glass is above your head. Mine comes off if I just put your fingers palm-down against the glass and gently pull with my finger-tips in the "gap" between the trim and window, it will sort of hinge toward the car roof and drop easily free.

If it's a bit stubborn or your fingers can't work into the small gap then use something non-sharp plastic (key-ring decoration, plastic spoon/fork, whatever) to pry so you don't scratch the defrost or antenna grid-lines and it should just "pop" off. Super-worst case you can use a screwdriver to help get it started at the left or right edge but that has higher risk of scratching the plastic.

That plastic is much more flexible and durable than it appears...and it has to "give" a lot less than you'd expect to be removed.
 
#12 ·
Same thing happened to me last year...started as a few odd drips like you say then after a couple months I had a flood in my cargo area after an overnight thunderstorm. Seems to come from the 3rd brake light foam seal degrading over time.

Here's the tutorial I followed to fix mine (but I used clear silicone...which was good because some squashed out on the paint)
http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums...ides/140970-third-brake-light-leak-fixed.html

I haven't had a single drop of water inside the car since.
 
#14 ·
Thanks for your advice. Glad to hear that the plastic trim piece is indeed more pliable than it looks or feels. I'll pry it off and have a look at the brake light assembly's nuts and gasket this weekend.
 
#15 ·
When that happened to my first 2012 Outback it was still under bumper-to-bumper warranty. Local dealership replaced the rear tail light with a new one with a new gasket seal.


They said it's almost always the rear tail light housing or gasket leaking and to replace both.
 
#16 ·
Is the factory gasket one of those made from that lousy foam-like gasket material? The factory high-mount third brake light assembly gasket in my 1999 Dodge Ram pickup was. It disintegrated at least ten years ago, allowing rainwater to seep in and run down the inside rear wall of the cab to the floorboard below. Took me weeks to locate and confirm the source of the leak, but I later learned through the Ram forum that it is a common problem. No way was I going to spend good money on a lousy short-lived new foam gasket from Dodge so I wound up making a replacement gasket from a very thin leftover piece of rubber sheeting that a local industrial supply company gave me for free when I went to their parts counter looking to purchase some replacement gasket material. That homemade rubber gasket continues to keep my Ram interior dry today. If I can still find my leftover rubber sheeting, I may have enough to make a new gasket for our Outback.
 
#19 ·
Is the factory gasket one of those made from that lousy foam-like gasket material? The factory high-mount third brake light assembly gasket in my 1999 Dodge Ram pickup was
Yep.

When that happened to my first 2012 Outback it was still under bumper-to-bumper warranty. Local dealership replaced the rear tail light with a new one with a new gasket seal.

They said it's almost always the rear tail light housing or gasket leaking and to replace both.
Lucky it happened under warranty...that 3rd brake light isn't cheap if you were to replace it out of pocket. I think that's why everyone just uses sealant goop to fix it for good.
 
#17 ·
I decided to have a look while I was thinking about this repair. I used my wide-blade paint scraper / window opener to get underneath the long piece of plastic trim and pop it out of its brackets as described by others. Just go slowly, exert minimum force along the edges, and it will indeed pop out without breaking the plastic tabs that hold it in place.

The two nuts holding the brake light assembly in place had both loosened up over time. I used my 1/4-inch socket drive with an 8mm socket to snug them up, then replaced the plastic trim piece by lining its tabs up with the proper grab holes and pounding it back into its flush position with my open palm. Again, go slowly and exert minimum force until you see and hear the plastic tabs of the trim piece pop back into their proper positions.

Total time spent on this job was less than five minutes.

We'll see if just snugging up the two nuts stops any future rainwater drippings inside the hatch. If the problem still persists, I'll go back in there and replace the factory gasket with a better homemade one.

Thanks to all that contributed to this thread.
 
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#18 ·
Odds are the gasket is deteriorating, and you can get away with snugging the nuts one(1) time. Snugging fixed mine for maybe 6-10 months, then it began leaking again. What worried me was the driver for the top/center stop led is just left of the lamp assembly, which can also get wet. (I'm pretty sure it isn't water proof looking at it). I pulled my light out, scraped out all the foam gasket, and applied a thick bead of Black RTV Sealant to the gasket area, let it set a bit and reinstall the lamp. - No more leak.
 
#20 ·
Had this problem on my 2013 2.5i Outback at about 60K. That car was subsequently totaled after an altercation with a bull elk. I replaced it with a used 2014 3.6 that had about 56K on it. Sure enough, right on schedule, second G4 Outback developed the same problem. I repaired both with gasket maker rather than replace the entire unit. It's an easy, inexpensive repair. I also had to replace the bulb on the drivers side headlamp on both models at almost the exact same mileage. That is not an easy repair unless you have tiny hands and x-ray vision. I guess the Outback is consistent in its problems.
 
#21 ·
I used permatex black RTV gasket stuff from a tube, its more permanent than one would normally use, but since its LED I don't expect to need to remove it any time soon. Remember to plug it in before installing, I got distracted and nearly forgot myself. That would not be fun to remove it after using that sealer.
 
#23 ·
I had been seeing the evidence of water trickling down the back glass but thought it was on the outside until a couple of weeks ago when I saw a small accumulation of water on the cargo cover after a strong rainstorm.
Today, I went to check the brake light mount nuts and found one of the nuts completely off, rolling around in the plastic trim cover. Sheesh, someone didn't have their torque wrench even close to right on the assembly line. Good thing it wasn't a safety critical fastener.
 
#25 ·
Rear hatch leak

Thanks for the great advice in this thread! I would have spent hours with the wild goose chance of trying to determine where the rain was getting in my rear hatch. I simply sprayed the third brake light and there it was. I followed the instructions and carefully removed the light. The gasket was in good shape, so I cleaned it up and reinstalled the light. Turns out it was just a bit loose on the right side. Took me ten minutes! Thanks again all!!!
 
#26 ·
The original foam gasket is poorly designed (all foam gaskets are poor for a watertight application) and will leak again. I initially tightened up mine as well, but it began leaking again within a few months. The only permanent solution is to remove the original foam gasket and seal the area with a waterproof material such as RTV silicone or a rubber gasket.
 
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