Rear hatch window leaking

[acolsen]

Lots of comment chains on this issue so I'll pick the newest and speak my peace. I had a 2007 4Runner for 10 years before the repairs became overwhelming. One issue I didn't discover until there was a problem was with the rear window. I opened up the hatch panel and the metal frame for the window was so rusted it was crumbling to dust. I thought that was why they eventually started putting spoilers on the rear hatch (to channel water away from seals). Traded and got a 2018 4 Runner. Opened rear hatch a week ago and water started pouring out of the lock. Removed the plastic grip inserts and let the water drain. Looked inside and the rear hatch metal frames are rusting to pieces again.
I get that no seal can be 100% and there will be water that needs to drain. However, the drainage is so bad and slow that the moisture is destroying the metal rear window frame. That is a design flaw that I had hoped Toyota had corrected with my newer model. It does not appear to be the case. Pull out those plastic grips and make sure the inside of the hatch dries out or your rear window supports will eventually collapse.

 

[Bundutrailer]

Had a similar issue 2 years back, replacing the whole rear weather seal fixed my leaking and dust intrusion issues

 

[acolsen]

They had to replace the rear window during the 2 year free maintenance period because the poorly fitted rear wiper actually scratched the glass. Maybe the messed up the seal. I'll get a new one and see what happens. Still seems more than a coincidence that water pooling inside the rear hatch (enough to rust the window frame) has happened on both my 4 Runners.

 

[humbucker87]

Great thread! This was exactly my issue. Water and damp carpet on the driver's side, especially when parking with the rear higher than the front.

Unfortunately I had to go a bit crazier with my solution as adding rubber washers didn't solve it.

What has worked for me so far is using this tape (Gorilla Waterproof Patch & Seal Tape 4" x 10' White).

What I did was remove the weather barrier and basically reach in and put tape behind each of the holes on the hatch. Obviously if you put it flush then the plastic clips won't be able to push in, so what I did was put in one of the clips by itself and then put tape over. I also added a little bit of something on the tape where the clip hits so that it wouldn't stick. A decent bit of work, but I was getting really tired of water intrusion.