It's been raining the last few days here, and I've spotted some water in the back; it was raining again today when I got into work and I saw a wet patch on my computer bag, so I decided to go see what was up. On the passenger side, when the hatch is closed, there's an obvious gap between the metal of the hatch and the rubber of the top half of the seal, from about the base of the C-pillar to the top of it. I can see daylight through it. There's no corresponding gap on the driver's side. The seal doesn't look damaged or collapsed on the passenger side, but I haven't measured, either. In the past, I've occasionally closed the hatch in that area on the trunk cover—I used to stick it there out of the way to get large objects in, then forgot I put it there. Before I drop the $100 or so on a new seal, I want to see if there's some way I can check or measure that I haven't damaged the hatch by doing so, or if my best bet is to cross my fingers and try a new seal.

 

Thinking there is a thread here somewhere about shaving some material off. Let me see if I can locate it.

 

The problem here is that there are over 85,000 threads on the Gen1. I know I read a post where the guy cut some of the gasket to remove a high spot that then allowed the remaining gasket surface to seat properly. I just did some searches and it did not show up, I will try again later with some different verbiage.

The other leak areas are the 3rd brake light gasket, the rear hatch handle gasket and the window seal it self.

 

Thanks, knowing what to search for is a help, at least.

It's almost certainly the seal not seating correctly, given my examination with the rain today, and how I can see the open space between the gasket and the hatch.

Edit: popping out to look again, now I'm not so sure. I've noticed that the hatch doesn't close evenly for a long time now, and that doesn't actually seem to be the source of the leak. (Either the hatch is slightly bent or the seal is, but either way the passenger's side has always ended up a little above the rear quarter panel.)

There is water along the top of the hatch seal, though, beneath the third brake light, and even with the suspected long-term hatch-closure problem I've never noticed a leak before yesterday. Maybe it is the brake light after all.

 

There's also an issue with first gen hatch hinges seizing, and sometimes shearing off, from lack of lubrication. This might be your problem since when they start to seize, they bend and the hatch gets out of alignment. Try searching for broken hatch hinges, or replacing hatch hinges for more info.

 

Hatch hinge broken:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...e-broke-2.html

Check this out first.

 

Thanks, I'll definitely check that—I see a lot of the symptoms, come to think of it. Odd panel gaps on the back, a hatch which doesn't open as easily as it used to if I'm not actively lifting it... I thought the struts were just getting old, but it does sound like the hinges.