Tail Light Condensation

[iceman666]

Update. . . Within a week, condensation in BOTH tail lights. . .

F'in awesome. Needless to say, will be scheduling a trip to the dealership.

[funwheeldrive]

Originally Posted by iceman666

Update. . . Within a week, condensation in BOTH tail lights. . .

F'in awesome. Needless to say, will be scheduling a trip to the dealership.

It's a documented, well known issue that Subaru and Toyota are willing to fix. Why are you so upset?

[RFB]

Originally Posted by wdninja

DIY Tail Light Gaskets:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26217

PM me if you need new ones.

The design of the trunk constantly assaults the tail lights with water and dirt/pollen/debris. You can build a diverter with some Sugru or other compound, and/or get better gaskets and fully seal them to the housings with automotive weatherstrip adhesive.

The factory gaskets aren't fully sealed to the tail light housings, so it's just a matter of time.

Factory gaskets allow water flow AND condensation.
Better gaskets, properly torqued, prevent condensation.

However, the back of the tails have holes in the gasket. Thickness will not prevent the trunk channel run off from eventually finding its way into the gasket holes for wires + plugs.

I have thin (but glued on Crystal Eye gaskets) and snowman snot. Tails are still as dry as a popcorn fart even in our Canadian weather which is up and down like a toilet seat in a whore house on a saturday night.

I will be cutting thicker gaskets though for next year.

Because of the design problem, without my idea of a snowman snot dam, it will always be just a matter of time, because rubber breaks down with age.



CEREBRUS

[codesplice]

Originally Posted by RFB

Tails are still as dry as a popcorn fart even in our Canadian weather which is up and down like a toilet seat in a whore house on a saturday night.

I love this imagery.

[wheelhaus]

Originally Posted by Cjymiller

Just got this taken care of at the dealership this past week. Although there was no condensation present in the lamp, I had insects. Yes, whatever hole is in the gasket is big enough to get bugs trough.

The gaskets don't seal the taillight housing itself, they only partially seal it to the body of the car. The only way into the taillight housing is through the bulb sockets (which are not sealed, but exposed to the interior if the car which is supposed to be watertight). So if water trickles past the gasket, it can wick past the bulb sockets and into the housing. As far as insects, that's a new one. They might have been small enough to crawl past the bulb sockets....

Originally Posted by iceman666

Update. . . Within a week, condensation in BOTH tail lights. . .

F'in awesome. Needless to say, will be scheduling a trip to the dealership.

The dealership doesn't have a "fix" for this even though it's a known issue, they just reinstall new parts. If reinstalled properly there's a chance it'll work, but it's not really a fix, and there's no guarantee it'll last. Three confirmed fixes are A- thicker aftermarket gaskets, B- silicon sealant on both sides of any gasket (what I did), or C- sealant putty (Snowman Snot, etc) across the top of the taillight housing where it meets the body.


I know this is an issue that gets a lot of people frustrated and up in arms about warranties etc, but it's such an easy fix to do on your own I say have a couple beers, knock it out yourself and be done with it for good. It's only 4 bolts per housing, and a little plastic alignment tab on the side. Use a hair dryer or use a solvent (I can't remember which solvent will accelerate water evaporation but not harm the plastic, methyl something?). Just be careful when you torque them back down.

[blackfireball5]

The previous owner of my car had the passenger side replaced. As of a couple days ago i'm getting condensation in the same tail light again.

[ThisIsChrisKim]

I just replaced my passenger side tail light with a used one on eBay after some ass holes broke my tail light and didn't even inform me.... I should watch this one carefully. My driver side has been condensation free thus far.

[Kuri]

Gasket issue. Just fix it with DIY.

[iceman666]

Thanks for info. . . As an aside, I was not up in arms. Its a car, sh*t happens. I was just a bit annoyed to have to deal with it so early into ownership.

[Carlsbad]

I have had my car since May 2012. Both tail lights developed condensation last month
By the time I took it to the dealer, only one had water in it.
They are ONLY going to fix the one with water and not the other one. They did not seem very proactive in trying to replicate the problem. I guess I will wait until it has condensation and then drive really fast to the dealership.
I was quite disappointed.

[spdfreak]

How long has it taken for the dealers to get these in stock? I took mine in a month ago and as of last week the part was still on back order.

[blackfireball5]

Originally Posted by spdfreak

How long has it taken for the dealers to get these in stock? I took mine in a month ago and as of last week the part was still on back order.

Took mine like 2 days.

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[spdfreak]

These motherfuckers...

[blackfireball5]

Originally Posted by spdfreak

These motherfuckers...

Everything alright? Lol.

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