OEM or aftermarket??

My 07's seal is leaking. It leaks in, pools between the glass and hatch plastic inner liner, then runs down onto who knows what inside the hatch, then pools in the latch area (second clue). Also my license plate lights pool water (first clue) and one of these wires has apparently shorted out as one new bulb won't energize. I want to fix this before other electrical things fry back there!

So, go OEM for >$100, or generic for around $30 and hope for a good seal?
I'd heard that the factory has used a thicker hatch glass seal for some warrantied replacements- might that be this one I found on a Ford parts site

Also, is this a relatively easy "peel it off the old and stick on the new" kind of job?

Thanks!

 

Hmm, that's a tough one. I have no expirience with aftermarket seals but rubber is expensive and making sure it's the right tooling is important. If you can return the $30 seal I might give it a shot.

 

So I replaced the rear hatch glass seal with an OEM one. Easy peezy.
It eliminated some of the leak (that running down the glass, overflowing underneath the inner panel), HOWEVER.... now it appears that there is an additional leak elsewhere on the hatch letting rainwater inside the hatch. I'm suspicious of the chrome bezel thingy over the licence plate.... Water runs out of the hatch lock when opening and dribbled out when I peeled back the glued down clear plastic liner, and pools in the corresponding loop latch area.

So in order to look at how it is attached to the hatch, it looks like I'll need to unbolt the pull down to close strap then pop the entire plastic inner piece off of the hatch....

Any pointers or experiences on this one??

 

Ok so I removed the hatch liner and seal.
It appears the the chrome tail light/hatch glass button mount thingy doesn't communicate with the hatch interior other than for a couple of centering pins and three bolts and the wire grommet- so that doesn't look to be the source of water in the latch mechanism....although it does leak and fills the plate lights with water and has probably corroded the glass popper button.

Question- when replacing the glass seal, should I have used some sort of glue or silicone between the metal ridge and groove/trough of the seal?? Can significant water migrate between the seal and steel??

 

No sealent. Just the weatherstripping. You need to keep the panel removed and crawl in there with the hatch shut while someone sprays water on it and look with a light to see where it's coming in. Dry everything first.