Rear Window Leak

[CheepComanche]

I was vacuuming out the interior of my Jeep yesterday when I noticed that I had water coming in through the bottom corners of the rear window. After peeling the carpet back and knowing there was water under there I quickly removed the carpet to prevent floor pan rust. I'm now faced with the task of fixing the leak. Do I need to remove the window and reglue it or can I just redo the seal? 

[Pete M]

the rubber is just a beauty trim piece.  the core problem is the urethane glue has died and needs to be redone.   just did that with the truck I'm working on.  be prepared to deal with some light rust on the mating surface (which is usually why the urethane fails to adhere).

[CheepComanche]

Does the headliner need to be removed prior to removing the window?

[Pete M]

I prefer to strip the entire truck out.  I've accidentily hurt the headliner and bpillars in junkyard trucks while trying to cut out the rear window.  but maybe if you're super careful?

[CheepComanche]

My floor pans do have some surface rust which I will remove with a wire wheel. What would be best to coat the floor pans with?

[Pete M]

paint works just fine if you can get all the rust up.   the most important thing is finding all the leaks.  if moisture persists, it'll keep going bad down there.  don't assume it's just the one leak either.  these things leak all over.   these are the ones I found on the pass side of the truck I'm working on.

 

 

 

[ghetdjc320]

It’s also possible that you’re leaking from failed seam sealer or a rusted body seam. There is a vertical body seam under each lower corner of the rear window that will likely be hiding a good deal of rust if the window has been leaking. Personally, I haven’t seen the urtheane itself fail but rather the surface that the urethane adheres to. 

[CheepComanche]

So In July of 2024 I got the window professionally removed and reinstalled. About a month ago I found it leaking again. I contacted the company, they were cool about it, got it pulled back out and this time I took the Jeep home with the glass removed. I found the seam sealer had failed just like ghetdjc320 said. I cleaned all of it out to find only a minor mount of surface rust which I wire brushed off; then applied some urethane bonding primer. I’ll get the window glued back in, in a couple weeks. (It’s going to the body shop for roof damage)