I have been going through several repairs and to do’s on the TJ I picked up a couple weeks ago. It has a rear glass leak on the hard top. I can see water residue lines coming down the inside of the glass from the top. I tried the trick of adding a piece of split fuel across the top of the rear gate to make the hard top glass shut a little tighter but still get a little water in. Looking for recommendations on what aftermarket replacement seal may be preferred abs who has had success fixing a leak with a replacement seal.
Hard top back glass leak
- Thread starter rebelles
- Start date
I tried a Fairchild seal from Quadratec for the top and sides on mine, but the lower ends of it were too stiff. It would not fit correctly where it mates with the lower seal. I went back to the OEM seal.
Then, like many others (and you), I made a pusher pad which helped somewhat.
Finally, on the side which was leaking, I pulled the seal off and placed a piece of 14 AWG wire in the slot. When I pushed the seal back in place, the wire held the seal out from the hardtop, a little closer to the glass. After messing with it, and closing the glass and checking it from the inside several times, I got the right placement of the wire to seal it pretty well. A 3x5 card to slip between the seal and glass helps to "feel" it. I still have several inches of the wire just dangling there, in case I need to tweak it again.
Then, like many others (and you), I made a pusher pad which helped somewhat.
Finally, on the side which was leaking, I pulled the seal off and placed a piece of 14 AWG wire in the slot. When I pushed the seal back in place, the wire held the seal out from the hardtop, a little closer to the glass. After messing with it, and closing the glass and checking it from the inside several times, I got the right placement of the wire to seal it pretty well. A 3x5 card to slip between the seal and glass helps to "feel" it. I still have several inches of the wire just dangling there, in case I need to tweak it again.
I just put some size 14 wire (I believe that’s what size it was, it was a little thicker than some 16) inside the slot of the seal. I had previous lined up the seal and could see where some lube had not touched the glass (from the seal making contact with it). After adding the wire, it looks like I have the lube that was smeared on the seal, consistently transferred onto the glass. So maybe that’s enough to seal it off. Unfortunately after popping the seal off and putting the wire inside, now it seams to want to come off pretty easily (especially with it greasy and wanting to stick to the glass as it opens).