In the "APIM Failing?" thread, I talked about replacing the back hatch glass weather stripping on the '08-'12 Escape to prevent water ingress past the glass seal, into the rear hatch, which causes all kinds of problems, including corrosion of the wiring and the hatch release system, and it looks like the backup camera system also. A couple of caveats/questions:

In the interval between and now, a lot of people have apparently seen it (53,776 and counting) and done the repair. And the price for that weather stripping has gone up by about 300% because of supply and demand. The is the same one FTM used in the video. In 2015, you could buy that weather stripping for about $55 and now it is $140 or more.

A few things:

1) Supply and demand always determines the price on things like this and FTM (and a couple of others) obviously created some demand with his excellent video. It's not his fault that the people who sell these items responded by jacking the price. Easy money.
2) Unscrupulous actors out there are apparently selling the *USED* old, defective weather stripping that was taken off these cars at the 2015 price of around $55. Obviously if you buy that, you'll be replacing something old and used that leaks with something else that's old, used and leaks. "Marvelous" as "Dirty Harry" Callahan used to say. Sleazy money.
3) I am looking for the full, real Ford part number for the NEW, IMPROVED seal. I have not been able to find it.

It would be helpful if someone on the forum could supply that part number and maybe tell us if we can still buy it from Ford directly, for something close to the original price back in 2015 ???

I have not done this repair on my car yet. I'd like to! And I would like to pay something closer to the original Ford OEM price. Can anyone help?

 

Hi Alex, I would like to replace the weather-stripping on my Escape as well. Unfortunately, as you mentioned, the price more than doubled. Did you have any luck finding the replacement part for about $55 as mentioned on the video? If so, would you be able to share a link?
Thanks!

 

You can buy it from ford for $191

Back Window Weatherstrip (https://parts.ford.com/shop/en/us/bo...ndow-7841527-1)

Part #: 7842084

I went to the wrecker and picked up 2 but I ripped them at the bottom rather than taking the rods off. I only had ingress at the top left by a tiny bit. Though it rained again this week and I should check how it's doing.

I paid like $8 along with the drivers side door.

 

Hi, Thanks for the reply! That crossed my mind too, I was just afraid that the one I would get would have the same issue. But at $140 (price i found it at), I guess it would not hurt to try one a yard. $8 bucks and 15 minutes of time is definitely worth the $132 savings. Thanks again!

 

I have been looking from time to time to try and find the good part more cheaply but so far with no luck. So here is what I plan to do:

I'm thinking of buying some brand of rubber rejuvenator to try on this piece of strip before I spend the money on the ~$140 part. I don't have any RR now and there are some other things (printing equipment and other stuff) I can use it on, even if it doesn't work on the weatherstripping, so it won't be wasted money.

I'm thinking of "crossing the streams" from automotive into printing and trying some of this:

https://www.parts-express.com/Max-Pr...10-oz.-341-462

For $10 bucks if it doesn't work on the rear hatch glass I'm not out very much money and I can definitely use it elsewhere.

Anyone have any other favorite rubber rejuvenation goop to recommend? It seams (ha ha) that on these particular seals, they get soft and a little smushed & floppy with age and start to sag (anybody over 40 can empathize). If this stuff reconditions the seals just 10-20% and rolls the clock back a couple of years, it'll be worth it. Right now I'm getting some small droplets that meander past the seal in two locations in moderate to heavy rain. It's a trickle at most, not a torrent, but I have to stop it.

If you're adventurous I guess applying a layer of silicone sealant to the existing weatherstripping and letting it fully cure while open, on that transverse upper portion especially, might augment the seal enough so that it works again. Smear it on, level it out, let it cure. I might try that, too. I use the glass hatch almost never - maybe 3 times in the past year - so it really wouldn't have to handle lots of opening/closing.

 

This is the correct part number for the "new and improved" weatherstrip:

BL8Z-7842084-C

I would definitely avoid going the salvage yard route. Unless you cut it (not recommended" this is a relatively labor intensive install for this type of part. The salvage yard part is likely to be the older variant with the same issues as your existing part. The salvage part will (obviously) be used, beginning to lose its pliability and has been sitting in the yard, compressed and baking in the sun.

 

I pulled on them and made sure they still held up. Should shoot some silicone spray on them too. Make em all nice. Or why not jut buy generic strip? I saw plenty on amazon of various kinds. $150 bucks is worth experimenting with for a few different $15-20 ones. It's not super fitted like the door strips. Paid less for my CV axle.

 

Thanks, GatorJ. It's interesting because the prefix varies, some of them have a "Y" in front, and I think those are the older ones (they seem to be cheaper). Might work for a while but will suffer from the same problem eventually. I'm going to try my homebrew cures (which I'll document here) first and if no fruit is borne I'll buy the better one. The price has dropped a little recently, there is one place (if you google the part number) that's selling them for $125 or so.

 

I checked today after the decent rains last night and I don't see anything leaking. How bad does it have to rain for it to get through?

 

Per FTM's video, the new part is thicker and plusher. It will be less prone to the same issues.