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Rear Hatch Door seal repair

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by GT4Prius, Nov 21, 2016.

  1. GT4Prius

    GT4Prius Active Member

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    A small area (about 2cm) of the rubber seal around the Hatch door has torn. Don't know if weather is getting in, but very cautious as have had water leaking in before and it damaged the traction battery!

    The seal is a hollow rubber tube, and I'm not sure how to repair it. I don't know if it has to stay hollow to let water pass through the inside. Does anyone have any experience of repairing this?
     
    #1 GT4Prius, Nov 21, 2016
  2. hchu1

    hchu1 Active Member

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    The tube shape is for cushioning and giving you a tight seal when the door is closed. You could use some silicon caulk to mend the tear, you'll have to clean it really well of dust and grit for the caulk to adhere properly. If the area of the tear is where there is a lot of flex, the caulk might not hold.

    Another adhesive is contact cement, it will definitely seal the tear, but is less flexible than caulk. Good luck.
     
    #2 hchu1, Nov 21, 2016
    Last edited: Nov 21, 2016
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    This site was saying maybe weatherstrip glue for weatherstrip to metal bonding (which I don't think you need do?), and "tire patch glue" ( post #2670644, near bottom) for repairing weatherstrip tears:

    Glue torn door weatherstrip? | Mechanical /Maintenance Forum | Bob Is The Oil Guy

    I don't think you should fill the hollow in the weather stripping with anything, though it is tempting: it would tend to lock the two sides of the tear together. Maybe if the filler was very compressible; that void is meant to provide compressibility.
     
    #3 Mendel Leisk, Nov 21, 2016
    Last edited: Nov 21, 2016
  4. hchu1

    hchu1 Active Member

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    Yeah that too. :)
     
    #4 hchu1, Nov 21, 2016
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Sorry for editing my post after your quote, it was a case of the more you read, the more complex it gets.
     
    #5 Mendel Leisk, Nov 21, 2016
  6. GT4Prius

    GT4Prius Active Member

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    Thanks. That's right the seal is not detached from the car, just torn.

    As the rubber tube is so thin, I am thinking to put something soft and compressible inside to help the gluing process.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
    #6 GT4Prius, Nov 21, 2016
  7. Paul Schenck

    Paul Schenck Active Member

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    I used "shoe goo" first applied with a tooth pick just to get the tear stitched together, then next day after that was dry wiped a patch layer over. Shaped this patch with a moistened finger let dry and all is well. Didn't fill the void


    iPhone ?
     
    #7 Paul Schenck, Nov 21, 2016
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I keep thinking of wet suit adhesive; that's gotta be stuff that can survive tension after bonding.
     
    #8 Mendel Leisk, Nov 21, 2016
  9. GT4Prius

    GT4Prius Active Member

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    Thanks to everyone for the helpful replies. Wondered about using a bicycle puncture repair kit but imagine it might be rather difficult to stick a repair patch on the inside of the channel.

    Haven't used shoe goo or wet suit adhesive but like you say maybe they are strong enough without a patch.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
    #9 GT4Prius, Nov 24, 2016
  10. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Regarding inner tube puncture repair kit, the idea would be to use the supplied glue, not the patch. I'm not sure of it's efficacy, just one possibility.
     
    #10 Mendel Leisk, Nov 24, 2016
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