A couple of years ago I tried to explain the cause of a rear hatch leak in the window area but based on the questions I got, I don't think it was clear. Since I finally got around to fixing mine permanently I wanted to post (I hope) a better description of what is happening here.
The first picture shows the measurement of the window opening at the center of the rear hatch window. This hatch is perfect and does not leak. Note that the measurement is almost dead on 17 1/2 inches.
This second picture shows the same dimension on my old hatch that leaks. Note that the measurement is close to 17 3/4 inches.
This old hatch has spent many years in the sun and had the typical XJ droop. (this is the "bad hatch" in the above pictures).
What seems to have happened is that as the hatch "drooped" down, it pulled the top corners in (note that at the corners, the height of the hatch is lower than the roof line). When this happened, the center of the window bowed upwards. I tried to use yellow arrows to highlight all this movement.
The net result is that when I pushed up on the rubber holding the window, it could slide far enough that I could actually see the top edge of the glass. At the same time, because the top corners pinched inward, the entire top edge of the glass was pushed out slightly so that it was riding on top of the hatch instead of within the channel. This created a gap that filled with water as it tried to run down the rear. Once the rubber channel fills up, it drips into the interior.
There are a couple of ways to fix this. I eventually chose the most expensive way which is to simply replace the hatch with a good one I found in a junkyard (~$700 after paint). The cheapest way would be to simply apply caulk across the seam of the top rubber and the hatch. I did this initially and it kept the rear dry but looked like crap.
I also tried using straps to squeeze the hatch back into shape. This did not work at all despite leaving it in the hot sun for many hours.
HTH anyone else who might run into this.
The first picture shows the measurement of the window opening at the center of the rear hatch window. This hatch is perfect and does not leak. Note that the measurement is almost dead on 17 1/2 inches.
This second picture shows the same dimension on my old hatch that leaks. Note that the measurement is close to 17 3/4 inches.
This old hatch has spent many years in the sun and had the typical XJ droop. (this is the "bad hatch" in the above pictures).
What seems to have happened is that as the hatch "drooped" down, it pulled the top corners in (note that at the corners, the height of the hatch is lower than the roof line). When this happened, the center of the window bowed upwards. I tried to use yellow arrows to highlight all this movement.
The net result is that when I pushed up on the rubber holding the window, it could slide far enough that I could actually see the top edge of the glass. At the same time, because the top corners pinched inward, the entire top edge of the glass was pushed out slightly so that it was riding on top of the hatch instead of within the channel. This created a gap that filled with water as it tried to run down the rear. Once the rubber channel fills up, it drips into the interior.
There are a couple of ways to fix this. I eventually chose the most expensive way which is to simply replace the hatch with a good one I found in a junkyard (~$700 after paint). The cheapest way would be to simply apply caulk across the seam of the top rubber and the hatch. I did this initially and it kept the rear dry but looked like crap.
I also tried using straps to squeeze the hatch back into shape. This did not work at all despite leaving it in the hot sun for many hours.
HTH anyone else who might run into this.
