Alright i dunno wtf happened but now my hatch wont close, well latch rather. Its not the motor, that things been shot from day one and ive just pushed it locked, but now it looks as if my hatch has slid back cuz its not aligned with the body, and the square anchor that goes into the motor is begining to graze the weather seals. I tried adjusting it with no luck anybody know how to do this?? Apparently there was a hatch alignment 101 article but nothing came up in search except a bunch of people complaining how the link was a bust.

Its driving me insane i cant hit a bump without worrying wether or not my hatch is gonna pop up any ideas/ info??

TIA

 

Mine and many others I've seen have done the same thing. The glass has came loose from the metal hatch due to the pressure of the shocks. Not sure but I'm working on a plan to fix this. Will involve seperating the two pieces and removing the shocks to align the two again. These will have to set up before reinstalling the shocks. Just not sure if urethane will hold up to the pressure or not. You're in a hot climate too.

 

The only adjustment would be at the top where the hinges mount, losen the 4 bolts and try there.

 

Been there, done that, no help. If you take the trim panel off the hatch you will see the bolts for the glass. They tend to be stuck. I have loosened mine before and had the hatch fit near perfect. But without glueing them together somehow they slip apart. Too much torque on the nuts holding them and you'll be vacuuming up your rear glass.

 

There's a 3m adhesive I forget what its called but its like a black gunk, it should be good enough to hold them together, hopefully I don't need a new hatch cuz this one isn't even original and its a pain in the *** aligning them, I tried the 4 bolts inside too with no luck my hinges are topped out, I believe that alignment 101 thread mentioned the glass adjustment, something about cutting adhesive and being careful when pulling the caps so you don't crack the glass

 

Even with those nuts loose the pressure of the shocks is still there. Not to mention the weight of that glass is unreal. I think I'm going to seperate mine with the shocks off, put it together with urethane, and get it lined up and let it sit for a couple of days before putting the shocks back on. BTW Did your rear trim panel crack where the latch is yet?

Also, no need in buying another hatch, all the ones I've seen are the same way. They really didn't fit that well when they were new.

 

I haven't had anything crack but I'm sure it will now lol

 

Good luck with it. Let us know what happens. I'm still trying to build up the nerve to do mine.

 

ok did some tinkering last night, it looks like my hatch glass is still good, there is a sun ring around the glass which has been there since i bought it, and it hasnt shifted, the body ones however are off like crazy, i tried adjusting it the other day but never pulled the shocks off so im gonna give it another go w/o them and see it that helps

 

Ok so its all fixed and aligned now, the trick I used was disconnect the struts, adjust the body bolts first all the way forward, tighten, then loosen the 4 glass bolts, carefully use a razor blade to cut the adhesive if needed, I just loosened them up and gave the glass a lift, pushed it forward carefully and then tightened them down, it took 3 people to do it safely cuz the hatch likes to flex if you don't lift evenly, it definitely moved a lot over the years lol oh and I had to pull my hatch latch up a bit for the catch