I had to pull out the hatch wiring harness boots to run a cable for my rear-facing dash camera, and a satellite GPS receiver for my android box.

I'm having a really difficult time figuring out how to re-install it... there appears to be no clearance for the lip of the grommet to squeeze between the hole in the body and the plastic sleeve insert. Is a special tool needed? I don't want to puncture the rubber with sharp objects and my thin pry bars aren't doing the trick.

Has anyone fully reinstalled this piece at home?

Can someone upload a better picture of this grommet installed so I can ensure that I do, in fact, need to have the gasket fully pushed into the body, and not just flush with the plastic shield that goes along the top of the frame with plastic push-rivets?

 

I removed mine when run wires for reverse camera and had no problems that I can remember reinstalling it...

 

Here's my grommet... You can see the lip that I think should be on either side of the metal hole.

I have no idea how to reattach it, as the plastic sleeve and hole are nearly the same dimensions... Maybe 1mm gap at most.

 

Well, it has to fit tight so that you don't get water leakage. Probably need to push hard, working one edge in at a time. For the final edge you may have to push at an angle to compress the opposite edge that is already seated, and then it will pop into place.

 

Would non-flavored lubricant help?

 

Hi you separate these parts you install first the 1 and after clips 2

 

You need someone that has not removed theirs to look at their grommet and verify that the inner lip does in fact go on the inside of the metal. I cannot remember if I actually removed the bottom grommet you are showing or if I just removed the top and fished my wires down.
I will check mine tonight for you.

 

I looked at mine, the smaller inner lip is supposed the go inside the hole; some lube should help, a small screw driver and patience!

Good luck, don't give up just work your way around the hole. Hope this helps......

Adrian

 

I don't follow... the rubber boot has interior dimensions that fit around a lip on the plastic sleeve. They are supposed to fit together.

Here's a crude diagram of how it should all fit together:

 

Just spit balling, but is it possible to turn the entire unit sideways and put everything into hole then with pick pull out the outer rubber?

 

You all have it right. It's a one piece grommet and just a tight fit. Use a screwdriver and some Veener Slider and work it in. I started by fitting the front edge in, then the bottom. I then pushed the back edge and top using a screw driver.

 

As you can see in that diagram, the plastic sleeve has a lip that fits into the boot, and that lip is about 3-4mm larger than the hole dimensions... it's physically impossible to have the sleeve go behind the hole. It can only be installed from the outside-in. I am 100% positive of that.

I'm wondering if the dealer has a special compression tool??

I'm honestly considering bringing it over and paying for 30 minutes of service, instead of stressing myself for a few hours. I've already spent over an hour trying to use small pry tools and screwdrivers, and I'm risking puncturing the rubber, which will make the whole boot useless, and I'd have to pull the entire wiring harness to run a new boot, which sounds like a miserable job.

 

Yeah I see what your saying after looking at your diagram... Without looking at it, seems like Sean is right about angling one side in and going around the circle or there might be enough flex in the plastic flange to simple use force to push the entire thing straight in until the inner lip is seated...

 

Sounds like I just have to work it some more... it's a surprisingly exhausting process to lean over the car and try to wedge a small flat blade into such a thin opening. An hour of that with no progress had me cursing out the car and my constant desire to torture myself with these modifications (see the GVIF and touch screen installation thread).

 

Going strictly by his diagram, it looks like the 'sleeve' is attached first and then the whole thing pushed through as one piece.

 

That's correct... it needs to be installed as an 'assembly', just as the wiring harness photo shows. The sleeve provides interior structural support to the boot so it doesn't collapse or deform once installed, and also locks it in place..

 

I had no trouble with mine, a bit of silicone lube & hard plastic trim tool, not a metal screwdriver. It did take a little effort.