DIY Tail Light Gasket

[RFB]

Originally Posted by LANI86

I bought the GN gaskets along with brand new set of OEM tail lights. After about two months, the condensation slightly came back....I even have duct tape all over my taillight where the water drains into the channel of the tail lights. Water somehow will reach inside and eventually causes to moisten the inner housing. It's not as bad as before but the aftermath is still prominent upon evaporation. This problem is inevitable. With all of that water running down that channel, it will always come back. This is such a headache and I'm honestly starting to have second thoughts about keeping this car... It really sucks.

Sure seems like it really sucks the water past the gaskets !

The water came down the channel and UNDER the tape and through the gasket .

Four and a half years ago, with the Toyota oem gaskets, I sealed the top of the tail lights (as per my original post) with snow man snot from the dollar store (any waterproof putty will do).

The tails are still dry.

[LANI86]

Originally Posted by RFB

Sure seems like it really sucks the water past the gaskets !

The water came down the channel and UNDER the tape and through the gasket .

Four and a half years ago, with the Toyota oem gaskets, I sealed the top of the tail lights (as per my original post) with snow man snot from the dollar store (any waterproof putty will do).

The tails are still dry.

I guess this will be my only way out of it too...how does it look in terms of visual wise? I know it won't be appealing but hoping it won't be that bad.
Thank god the bulbs can be replaced without having to remove the whole entire lense...

[wdninja]

Originally Posted by LANI86

I bought the GN gaskets along with brand new set of OEM tail lights. After about two months, the condensation slightly came back....I even have duct tape all over my taillight where the water drains into the channel of the tail lights. Water somehow will reach inside and eventually causes to moisten the inner housing. It's not as bad as before but the aftermath is still prominent upon evaporation. This problem is inevitable. With all of that water running down that channel, it will always come back. This is such a headache and I'm honestly starting to have second thoughts about keeping this car... It really sucks.

So sorry to hear that. I PM'd you with some options.

Have you checked to see if the sheet metal is warped where the mounting posts go through? It was warped on my FR-S, and warped enough that the gaskets can't do their job, since the gasket adheres to the tail light housing and not the metal itself. Once the metal was flat again and the tail lights were torqued to spec, (and with the new, fully sealed gaskets of course), it didn't happen again.

Just something to check! Also, Gorilla tape (more resistant to water than standard duct tape) or a more dedicated water resistant/proof tape will hold up much longer than standard duct tape (if that's what you're using).

Thanks.

[RFB]

Originally Posted by LANI86

I guess this will be my only way out of it too...how does it look in terms of visual wise? I know it won't be appealing but hoping it won't be that bad.
Thank god the bulbs can be replaced without having to remove the whole entire lense...

The putty is more adhesive than tape, and will stay sealed if something flexes slightly apart.




Visually it looks like sh!t, since tree sh!t, and dust stick to the surface of the putty, but its only along the seam and is not visible until the trunk is open.
Pic shows almost 5 yrs. ago, the putty is brown now.

[tracerit]

Got my ninjagaskets in very quickly over thanksgiving weekend. There was a delay and the guy informed me right away and credited me $5 for the troubles, awesome!

On install, I noticed that my leaking came not from the side where the gasket contacts the tail light housing, but where the gasket contacts the metal body of the car. It leaked through there. You can see the dirt in the picture.

I'm thinking about reinstallling it and applying a line of the 3M weatherproof adhesive on the body of the car and then putting the tail light housing in, it'll probably be messy though. Thoughts?

[RFB]

Originally Posted by tracerit

Got my ninjagaskets in very quickly over thanksgiving weekend. There was a delay and the guy informed me right away and credited me $5 for the troubles, awesome!

On install, I noticed that my leaking came not from the side where the gasket contacts the tail light housing, but where the gasket contacts the metal body of the car. It leaked through there. You can see the dirt in the picture.

I'm thinking about reinstallling it and applying a line of the 3M weatherproof adhesive on the body of the car and then putting the tail light housing in, it'll probably be messy though. Thoughts?

The mess would be from excessive glue squishing out. Just enough would be invisible, but I would have a spare set of gaskets in case of re-install as the glue may destroy gaskets when removing the tail light.


HAVING SAID THAT, my gaskets looked like that when new, when it leaked, but after snow man snot on the top seam, no leaks for years without any other fix.

[tracerit]

My concern with the method of putting the putty on top is that it'll redirect the water draining down to a path thats not intended. Or is it just directly over the top of the taillight?

[wdninja]

Originally Posted by tracerit

My concern with the method of putting the putty on top is that it'll redirect the water draining down to a path thats not intended. Or is it just directly over the top of the taillight?

Whether you use putty or tape, as long as the water is running over and off of the tail light housing (rather than down into the gap between the trunk channel and tail light housing and directly onto the gasket), then you're fine. After you've installed the tape or putty, you can test it by just pouring some water down the side of the trunk channel and seeing how the water flows.

[ARTBRZ]

Originally Posted by wdninja

Whether you use putty or tape, as long as the water is running over and off of the tail light housing (rather than down into the gap between the trunk channel and tail light housing and directly onto the gasket), then you're fine. After you've installed the tape or putty, you can test it by just pouring some water down the side of the trunk channel and seeing how the water flows.

Are the gaskets still available for purchase?

[wdninja]

Originally Posted by ARTBRZ

Are the gaskets still available for purchase?

Yes they are. PM'd you with details.

[ARTBRZ]

Originally Posted by wdninja

Yes they are. PM'd you with details.

Just bought it! Can't wait. It's been raining too often here.

[wdninja]

Originally Posted by ARTBRZ

Just bought it! Can't wait. It's been raining too often here.

Thanks! Your order will ship out tomorrow morning.

[Jajanken86]

I applied the ninja gasket with the 3m weather stripping on my tail lights in June and torqued them on then made the water dam on top of them like others have done. Unfortunately the sprinklers got through all that protection last night and there's a little condensation inside. I followed the YouTube guide when I did this too. Did I still do something wrong??

Sent from my iDroid

[wdninja]

PM'd you