On mine, seems to vary depending on whether you're driving and how much runoff is being blown back from the roof while the rear hatch and glass jostle around a little (and they do "jostle" - because I fixed a squeak on my hatch by wrapping the latch post with some electrical tape when I first got the car.) My weatherstrip is not "plush" - I'll take a picture of it this afternoon.

I took the car through an automated car wash yesterday with all the thumping and brushing and spraying and vacuuming and so forth and I got a few drips of ingress on the passenger side, about an inch inboard of the hinge toward the center, under a spoonful, but I could see it. I popped the glass afterward and I could see how the water traverses, it kind of pools in the valley made by the weatherstrip and then it ootzes its way in unless you dry it off. I realize that "ootz", "jostle" and "plush" are not exactly SAE-sanctioned terms. I took a paper towel and dried off the weatherstrip and inside of the rear window. I think maybe a few drops made it into the rear hatch, not much. It just shouldn't happen at all.

 

I am going to try this stuff. People on Mazda Miata, BMW and Honda S2000 forums rave about it. The other alternative I've heard of is Syl-Glyde, but I'm going to give the Honda stuff a try.

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/201...eaks-shin-etsu


If it works as well as they say on door seals, even if it doesn't cure the back hatch it will help preserve the other door seals on the car.

I will post back the results. I'm going to clean the seal with soapy water, let it dry, and then apply this Honda goop.

 

I use their thermal paste. But other silicone grease probably works too. Silicone spray is what I went with.

I yanked on the junkyard strips to make sure they weren't brittle. Passed on and ripped a few that were too. That's what's happening to all my bad weather stripping. It looks "fine" in parts but is actually easy to tear. It gets "fuzzy" and dry in the areas that rip or start to leak.

 

I got my Honda grease today, and tomorrow I'm receiving the Max Professional Rubber Rejuvenator 2145. I am going to try them in combination. First on a small area with the MP2145. If I am correct, it will allow me to "deep clean" the rubber seal, then I will apply the Honda grease in a separate spot, compare/contrast/combine, and so forth.