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Tesla Model Y owners have complained about water leaking into the rear trunk for a while, with dozens of cars affected. Tesla finally acknowledged the problem and issued a Service Bulletin to address it. The fix involves resealing the liftgate assembly, hopefully with a better sealant.
Water ingress can be a nasty problem, especially if you have a lot of rain in your area. If you don't discover it and fix it quickly, the water can cause mold to grow, leading to a bad odor inside the car. The problems can affect all vehicle makes. Last year, GMC issued a Service Bulletin for the Hummer EV, which was affected by a similar issue. The water was leaking inside the cabin through the A-pillar area because of a sealant issue, and the fix was filling the space with silicon sealant.
Some Tesla Model Y crossovers suffer from a similar problem, only in this case, it affects the liftgate assembly. Owners have complained that the water leaks inside the rear trunk, and the solution provided by Tesla's Service Centers only worked temporarily. Those unlucky owners will be relieved that Tesla finally acknowledged the issue and will offer a fix. The Service Bulletin SB-23-10-003, dated April 27, 2023, confirms that Tesla is aware that water may leak inside the rear trunk area through the liftgate assembly.
The document instructs technicians where inside the rear trunk area to look for water leaks and how to fix them. The liftgate assembly is the culprit, and the fix involves resealing it. Tesla will also replace the liftgate lamp's double-ended stud gasket and the liftgate lamp's connector gasket. The sealant recommended for this operation is Loctite Hybrid Polymer 5510 (or Teroson MS 660 in the EMEA region), which hopefully works better than the ones Tesla used until now without much success in solving the leaks. Tesla also instructs Service Center technicians to replace the liftgate seal if necessary.
It appears that a similar problem also affected Model 3 because the Service Bulletin links to a video showing the procedure performed on the sedan. The affected Tesla Model Y owners have shared pictures and videos showing the water dripping from the liftgate into the trunk. Despite going to a Service Center several times, the problem wasn't solved. On the contrary, several Model Y owners reported that the "fix" worsened the situation, as even more water leaked into the trunk.
Interestingly, the issues became widespread in 2022, with dozen of reports of water leakage, although other model years were also affected. Leakage can be caused by various issues, from sealant irregularities and defective seals around the taillights to dirt accumulating and blocking the drains. Other cases involved liftgate misalignments, preventing the assembly from making proper contact with the rubber seal.
According to the service bulletin, the water ingress problem is limited to 2020-2023 Model Y crossovers produced at Giga Austin and Tesla's factory in Fremont. These were also exported to other territories, so the issue might be more widespread than it seems. If your car is affected by this issue, you can quote SB-23-10-003 when creating a service request in the Tesla app.
Some Tesla Model Y crossovers suffer from a similar problem, only in this case, it affects the liftgate assembly. Owners have complained that the water leaks inside the rear trunk, and the solution provided by Tesla's Service Centers only worked temporarily. Those unlucky owners will be relieved that Tesla finally acknowledged the issue and will offer a fix. The Service Bulletin SB-23-10-003, dated April 27, 2023, confirms that Tesla is aware that water may leak inside the rear trunk area through the liftgate assembly.
The document instructs technicians where inside the rear trunk area to look for water leaks and how to fix them. The liftgate assembly is the culprit, and the fix involves resealing it. Tesla will also replace the liftgate lamp's double-ended stud gasket and the liftgate lamp's connector gasket. The sealant recommended for this operation is Loctite Hybrid Polymer 5510 (or Teroson MS 660 in the EMEA region), which hopefully works better than the ones Tesla used until now without much success in solving the leaks. Tesla also instructs Service Center technicians to replace the liftgate seal if necessary.
It appears that a similar problem also affected Model 3 because the Service Bulletin links to a video showing the procedure performed on the sedan. The affected Tesla Model Y owners have shared pictures and videos showing the water dripping from the liftgate into the trunk. Despite going to a Service Center several times, the problem wasn't solved. On the contrary, several Model Y owners reported that the "fix" worsened the situation, as even more water leaked into the trunk.
Interestingly, the issues became widespread in 2022, with dozen of reports of water leakage, although other model years were also affected. Leakage can be caused by various issues, from sealant irregularities and defective seals around the taillights to dirt accumulating and blocking the drains. Other cases involved liftgate misalignments, preventing the assembly from making proper contact with the rubber seal.
According to the service bulletin, the water ingress problem is limited to 2020-2023 Model Y crossovers produced at Giga Austin and Tesla's factory in Fremont. These were also exported to other territories, so the issue might be more widespread than it seems. If your car is affected by this issue, you can quote SB-23-10-003 when creating a service request in the Tesla app.
Tesla has released a Service Bulletin for water ingress on Model Y's tailgate.
— The Cybertruck Guy (@cybrtrkguy) May 31, 2023
This means: Tesla has acknowledged it as a common issue, and has brought it to the attention of technicians.
If your Model Y is under warranty with this problem, Tesla should be able to fix it… pic.twitter.com/qAUJUYSFGk
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