March 14, 201610 yr One of the things that has bothered me on my '01 Forester is the rear hatch is rusted out where the wiper goes thru. someone stuffed it full of bondo but it looks like crap, and leaks I'm sure, tho I have never noticed water I had to replace the hatch latch due to it being rusted solid.. I took the latch from a '98 Forester that was same color, sadly I did not have the means to get a hatch home that day and they crushed it before I got back to get it.. Same yard is having an upcomoing sale soon, so I may just have to grab one. They are normally $65, but on sale could be as low as $30.. Where are the connectors that go to the hatch? I know the hatch/ hinges are straight forward.. And will the hatch fit into the car with the rear seats folded? I don't have a truck anymore Edited March 14, 201610 yr by matt167
March 14, 201610 yr matt167, Getting the hatch home ... strap it down well to your roof rack. Don't worry about rain, etc., as you'll be using all of your existing wiring anyway. Chances are that the wrecking yard will just cut the wiring to the hatch right at the hinge area to save time at disassembly, anyway. That's what usually happens. When you get it home, strip off its interior panels (will give you extra pin plug fasteners if you break any on the changeover, as well as a spare wiper motor and latch assembly and license lights). Taking the old one apart will show you all of the steps needed to put the new one on. just take your time, its not rocket science. Just don't put all of the trim panels back on until after you've tested all of the lights, the wiper, washer and lock assemblies. Good Luck!
March 15, 201610 yr Throwing this out there..... there are differences between the '98 and '01, due the mild face-lift in '01: From cars101.com: "The 2001 model was introduced early, in February 2000. The front end, rear end, dashboard, lower body cladding was all mildly redesigned, with new colors, cloth, and the introduction of a new top of the line S Premium model including side air-bags and a factory sunroof". I know the '01+ have lights in the hatch that the earlier models don't....and Car-part.com shows only 1998-'00 and '01-02 interchange. Edited March 15, 201610 yr by wtdash
March 15, 201610 yr Author Interesting. see to me, there visually the same. I know the colors and interior changed, but didn't know about hatch changes. So it might be easier to cut a patch out of another hatch and fix mine. I have a MIG welder, and could do that in a few hours
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