DIY - 99-TL Trunk Seal Replacement
06-10-2012, 03:47 PM
#1
Racer
Thread Starter
DIY - 99-TL Trunk Seal Replacement
Hi All :
I just finished replacing the trunk seal and I thought I'd share some of my experiences with others in hopes of helping others. It's a job I would rate as medium and took me about a hour. I could do this in half that time now....
The manual indicates that the seal is held in place by a special adhesive. However, I discovered that a contact adhesive is already applied to the seal and held it firmly in place. If this does fail in the future, then another adhesive can be applied relatively easily.
The OEM seal is a closed loop and has a factory join located close to the truck latch. I suspect many shops or DIY'ers will just cut the old and the new one to simplify the whole process then re-glue the join. If this is your preferred method, then ignore most of these instructions. This instruction will go over the more complex approach, retaining the factory join.
1) Order new seal, part # 74865-S0K-A00 WEATHERSTRIP, TRUNK LID
2) Open the trunk (duh) and carefully remove the old seal, noticing how if fits with relation to the seams and features in the rubber.
3) You will now notice that the trunk hinges, emergency release cable and the electrical wires for the trunk actuator prevent completely removing the old seal.
4) Remove the inner cover of the trunk lid by removing small grey retainers. These have small inverted "fins" that hold them in place, they are removed by a large slot screwdriver applied under the head and working back and forth to defeat the fins holding the retainer in place. Once you can get your fingers under the head, keep working back and forth, they will come out. Once all are removed the cover comes off
5) Remove the electrical connector at the trunk solenoid and gently work the wire harness out from under the trunk itself. You will encounter two different cable retainers, one is a simple retainer that has a rounded end with two clips on either side. Needle-noise pliers applied on either side will allow you to push the retainer up into the trunk lid. The second retainer is a combination emergency cable and wire harness retainer. This type is held in by an inverted "V" and the only way the get them out is the pull hard, reversing the V and probably weakening the retainer. I did reused mine but some might want to replace them with new ones.
6) Examine how the emergency cable is attached to the release mechanism for reassembly and simply unhook the cable.
AT THIS POINT. IF YOU CLOSE THE TRUNK FOR ANY REASON, IT WILL NEVER OPEN AGAIN AS YOU HAVE DISCONNECTED BOTH WAYS OF RELEASING THE LOCK. REMEMBER, TL'S DO NOT HAVE A TRUNK KEY LOCK ! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !
7) Notice the two bolts on each trunk hinge. In order to retain the trunk alignment, remove them one at a time. Remove the passenger side first as it has no cables or wires. Remove the two bolts making sure you hang on to the trunk lid as it WILL fall and impact on the rear window, possibly cracking it.
8) Notice how the old seal is oriented, paying attention to what feature is on the inside and move the old seal over the now detached trunk hinge and loop the new one over, making sure the orientation is correct. Put the two bolts back in a tighten.
9) Move to the other side and repeat only this time ensuring that the wire harness and the release cable are clear and can be fed through the seal once in place. You should now have the old seal free from the car and the new seal obstructed by the two trunk hinges.
10) Locate the blue dot on the new seal and line this up with a "crease" located at the 12 o'clock position on the truck lid opening. Drape the seal on the trunk opening to approximately where it will eventually sit, again rechecking to make sure the orientation is correct.
11) Look at the old seal and see where the metal trunk lip fitted into the old seal. Check the new one and you may not see the same seam. That's because on the new seal its being held together by an adhesive already applied to the seal. Starting at the 12 O'Clock position, with the blue dot and crease line up, locate approximately where the seam should be and push with the heal of you hand. Almost magically the seam will part and stick to the lip. Using the heel of your hand, work the seal onto the trunk lip in both directions until you're all the way round to the trunk latch. It you are short or have extra, simply remove the seal "upstream" and work the seal in the opposite direction to take up the slack or the reverse if you're short.
DO NOT TRY AND TEST THE SEAL AS THE TRUNK DOES NOT HAVE A RELEASE AND WILL BE LOCKED FOREVER !
12) Reinstall emergency cable and the truck solenoid wiring. Once complete, test the trunk solenoid by hitting the trunk release on the remote or in the car and hopefully hearing a CLICK, indicating it's firing.
13) Close the trunk and check that the shut lines on either side of the lid are equal. Mine did not move and a realignment was not required.
14) Open the trunk and this time SLAM the truck to ensure the seal is seated equally around the entire opening.
15) Reinstall the trunk lid liner, reusing the original grey retainers.
....and you're done !
Hope this helps out !
smarty....
I just finished replacing the trunk seal and I thought I'd share some of my experiences with others in hopes of helping others. It's a job I would rate as medium and took me about a hour. I could do this in half that time now....
The manual indicates that the seal is held in place by a special adhesive. However, I discovered that a contact adhesive is already applied to the seal and held it firmly in place. If this does fail in the future, then another adhesive can be applied relatively easily.
The OEM seal is a closed loop and has a factory join located close to the truck latch. I suspect many shops or DIY'ers will just cut the old and the new one to simplify the whole process then re-glue the join. If this is your preferred method, then ignore most of these instructions. This instruction will go over the more complex approach, retaining the factory join.
1) Order new seal, part # 74865-S0K-A00 WEATHERSTRIP, TRUNK LID
2) Open the trunk (duh) and carefully remove the old seal, noticing how if fits with relation to the seams and features in the rubber.
3) You will now notice that the trunk hinges, emergency release cable and the electrical wires for the trunk actuator prevent completely removing the old seal.
4) Remove the inner cover of the trunk lid by removing small grey retainers. These have small inverted "fins" that hold them in place, they are removed by a large slot screwdriver applied under the head and working back and forth to defeat the fins holding the retainer in place. Once you can get your fingers under the head, keep working back and forth, they will come out. Once all are removed the cover comes off
5) Remove the electrical connector at the trunk solenoid and gently work the wire harness out from under the trunk itself. You will encounter two different cable retainers, one is a simple retainer that has a rounded end with two clips on either side. Needle-noise pliers applied on either side will allow you to push the retainer up into the trunk lid. The second retainer is a combination emergency cable and wire harness retainer. This type is held in by an inverted "V" and the only way the get them out is the pull hard, reversing the V and probably weakening the retainer. I did reused mine but some might want to replace them with new ones.
6) Examine how the emergency cable is attached to the release mechanism for reassembly and simply unhook the cable.
AT THIS POINT. IF YOU CLOSE THE TRUNK FOR ANY REASON, IT WILL NEVER OPEN AGAIN AS YOU HAVE DISCONNECTED BOTH WAYS OF RELEASING THE LOCK. REMEMBER, TL'S DO NOT HAVE A TRUNK KEY LOCK ! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !
7) Notice the two bolts on each trunk hinge. In order to retain the trunk alignment, remove them one at a time. Remove the passenger side first as it has no cables or wires. Remove the two bolts making sure you hang on to the trunk lid as it WILL fall and impact on the rear window, possibly cracking it.
8) Notice how the old seal is oriented, paying attention to what feature is on the inside and move the old seal over the now detached trunk hinge and loop the new one over, making sure the orientation is correct. Put the two bolts back in a tighten.
9) Move to the other side and repeat only this time ensuring that the wire harness and the release cable are clear and can be fed through the seal once in place. You should now have the old seal free from the car and the new seal obstructed by the two trunk hinges.
10) Locate the blue dot on the new seal and line this up with a "crease" located at the 12 o'clock position on the truck lid opening. Drape the seal on the trunk opening to approximately where it will eventually sit, again rechecking to make sure the orientation is correct.
11) Look at the old seal and see where the metal trunk lip fitted into the old seal. Check the new one and you may not see the same seam. That's because on the new seal its being held together by an adhesive already applied to the seal. Starting at the 12 O'Clock position, with the blue dot and crease line up, locate approximately where the seam should be and push with the heal of you hand. Almost magically the seam will part and stick to the lip. Using the heel of your hand, work the seal onto the trunk lip in both directions until you're all the way round to the trunk latch. It you are short or have extra, simply remove the seal "upstream" and work the seal in the opposite direction to take up the slack or the reverse if you're short.
DO NOT TRY AND TEST THE SEAL AS THE TRUNK DOES NOT HAVE A RELEASE AND WILL BE LOCKED FOREVER !
12) Reinstall emergency cable and the truck solenoid wiring. Once complete, test the trunk solenoid by hitting the trunk release on the remote or in the car and hopefully hearing a CLICK, indicating it's firing.
13) Close the trunk and check that the shut lines on either side of the lid are equal. Mine did not move and a realignment was not required.
14) Open the trunk and this time SLAM the truck to ensure the seal is seated equally around the entire opening.
15) Reinstall the trunk lid liner, reusing the original grey retainers.
....and you're done !
Hope this helps out !
smarty....
06-11-2012, 07:12 AM
#2
HE>i
iTrader: (1)
I know you can still get the trunk open if you "accidentally" close it. lol
its a bish, but you would have to remove the back seat and crawl through the beam support area into the trunk. then you would have to remove the latch mechanism by unbolting it from the inside. you unbolt the latch part that is connected to the car, dont have to unblot it from the lid.
I know this because i turned my speakers up one day to show them off to a friend, then went to pop my trunk and nothing would happen. ended up shaking my latch cable out off the trunk latch/lock.
^^^OP has warned you all, but there is a way to unlock your trunk IF you happen to shut it. Nice write up
its a bish, but you would have to remove the back seat and crawl through the beam support area into the trunk. then you would have to remove the latch mechanism by unbolting it from the inside. you unbolt the latch part that is connected to the car, dont have to unblot it from the lid.
I know this because i turned my speakers up one day to show them off to a friend, then went to pop my trunk and nothing would happen. ended up shaking my latch cable out off the trunk latch/lock.
^^^OP has warned you all, but there is a way to unlock your trunk IF you happen to shut it. Nice write up
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