01 Legacy Outback Rear Hatch Fills w/Water! Oh no!!!

[NuclearBacon]

:banana:Hello!! I have a friend with a 2001 legacy outback wagon that has a leaky rear hatch... well it fills with water and when opened, pours all over the cargo area. upon searching i found 4 reasons for this to be in the non-sunroofed stationwagon.

 

1) Leaky rear windshield. I looked all around the windshield, the seals appears undisturbed. she told me that she on occasion slammed the rear hatch pushing against cargo when closing (who hasnt) but nothing has hit the glass etc.

 

2) Moisture in the tailights. bad seal, water gets into the cabin. Tail lights look great, again, the hatch is sealed, no water gets in under heavy rain, only when opened.

 

3) Bad weatherstripping. weatherstripping looks great. cabin is dry.

 

4) crap stuck somewhere not allowing to drain. this is what i thought, but having no sunroof and all that drainage access boggles me. i have no clue. could it be the rear valence that says "legacy" or "subaru" or whatever it says back there? could there be a seal that let go or.. ?

 

Also to clarify, its like theres a 2 liter bottle of liquid behind the licence plate waiting to rain on the inside of the car.

 

I pulled the bottom plastics and didnt see anything that looked disturbed or clogged or... even moisture damaged. its wierd.

 

Any help would be most appriciated. Becky says thank you. she's the sweetist

[J A Blazer]

I have a 2000 OBW. My guess is # 3.

[wrongturninwv]

2001 Leg Outback 3.0 with 2 sunroofs. Same problem here. I thought it was only after a spray car wash but was wrong. Hope you find find problem cause it rotted out the bulb socket in my tailgate allready. good luck

[NuclearBacon]

I have a 2000 OBW. My guess is # 3.

 

but wouldnt it be getting inside the car BEFORE the hatch is opened? the car remains completly dry inside... UNTIL the hatch is opened. ?

[Suzam]

Here' a theory/question, I have a 2001 LTD Wagon and I know at least one sunroof drain is clogged, I just can't find them and I've even looked at night with a flash light (if someone can tell me exactly where and what to look for, on both ends please send my the info.)

 

ANYWAY... after a soaking rain the water collects in the roof liner then, (unless there is an amazing amount that floods the rear cargo area beforehand) it pours out the center seatbelt shoulder harness hole in the roof when I drive around.

 

MY QUESTION:

If the car is on a correct angle could the water flow back and down the wire bundle tube leading into the rear hatch from the roof liner?

[welly]

I have a 2000 my Legacy estate (outback over there I think) which had the same problem. Although not as much water as you I would get it dumping out the lights cluster when I opened the tailgate. Apparently it was due to the seal that goes between the rear lights panel that runs right across the tail in one unit. Behind this is like a rubber sheet (as my mechanic described it) which I got him to replace - after that there has been no issues since. That was 6 years and 90,000 miles ago.

[jonnyboy]

mine did that too. DID! i siliconed the gap between my rear window and the rear lens. worked like a charm! i could see right into the hatch.

[lesstutrey]

I had similar problem with my 02 obw, except it was dripping in from the roof, and it did not require me to open the hatch. It only happened after snow and i didn't properly remove the snow from the top, got ice.. got leak and some minor stains on my headliner. There was only one place MY leak could have been coming from, the seal on the connecting point for the roof rack in the rear. Siliconed it, then it turned to spring so i dunno if it worked Rain isn't getting in, but we had a lot of rain this winter, and it wasn't leaking then. Seems like ice was getting under the seal, forming under the seal, heated up and melted into the car. Mine wasn't the hatch.. unfortunately or fortunately i dunno