Leaking Taillights (Again)
 

I bought my car certified pre owned(first owner worked at the dealer). I noticed a few months after that my tail lights filling with water. I took it to the dealer the told me they had already replaced them once on that car. They replaced them again and assured me I would have no problems.

I wanted to get them painted red, but wanted to make sure I didn't spend the money and then have to change them again. I did some research on here and found the gasket ninja thread. I ordered them and put them on when I had the tails painted. Now a few months later sure enough tail lights full of water again.

I called the dealer today and they told me there is no recall on them and the only fix is new tail lights again. And that potentially I will be forced to change tail lights every few months, until my warranty runs out then I have to pay out of pocket for them every few months. Also that there is no way to dry them out and if its not fixed it will be "very bad" I called Toyota's customer service line and they basically told me the same thing, how ever they started a case, I don't really see what they can do except fix it which they would anyway since my car is under warranty. I'm hoping to at least get them to refund me for getting them painted. But then Im either stuck with the ugly(my opinion) stock tails or spending an extra $150 every time to get them painted again.

This is the first new car I have ever owned. So Im not sure how these things work. Is this going to really be an on going issue that can never be solved? Or will they likely do a recall/tsb on them or develop a part that will correct the problem instead of masking it? Or maybe someone on here has another fix for it? Maybe more people should call them and complain lol.

Just gonna have to buy aftermarket.

But I hear such bad things about aftermarket quality and fitment.

I have buddy club aventador tail lights and the fitment was perfect

Maybe they didn't do step #2 on page 5 of TSB? When they did mine, they specifically said in the work order that they flattened the sheet metal and put touch up paint on them. I think if the crack was caused by this sheet metal and this sheet metal (root cause) is not flattened, the newly replaced tail light housing will get cracked again.

Interesting, they told me there was no TSB for the tail lights. The work order says:
Installed lens and body both sides
Installed packing both sides
Installed nut flg m5
Inspected and replaced both rear lens and scraped off old body seals and straightened both side mounting holes.

Nothing about touch up paint or sheet metal, unless that is referring to the mounting holes. They also never mentioned anything about the tail lights actually being cracked.

I've got valenti tails on my car, and they've been leak free. Hell, the first day I had them it rained, and I throught I might have an issue, but nope! All good!

Just make sure you buy through someone with a warranty, like Modbargains, so if you do have an issue for some reason, they get swapped out without issue.

as far as stock goes, its usually a gasket issue...but it sounds like you've just had bad luck with them since you've had multiple sets. Time for new haha

maybe the techs are over torquing them as well. I noticed that I could basically loosen the 8mm bolts using using a deep socket in my bare hands when I painted mine.

Just get some clear silicone caulk and seal the seams yourself... OEM / aftermarket... takes 5 min, and its good piece of mind.

because of the design of the rear trunk/taillight area, water will always drain right onto the taillight gaskets.. pop your trunk, and look down at the top of your tail light.. see that big hole?

Option 2 - get some "snowman Snot" and seal the area with that, and re-direct the water off to the rear instead of down that hole into the back of the tails..

just my $0.02..

I'm pretty sure this is it. I think they did perform that step of the TSB.

lol

You may have luck with the Gasketninja gaskets. I put mine in about a year ago and haven't really had an issue since.

Yup gasketninja i installed mine after my first time getting a leak, never had the problem since, i use the gaskets on both sets of aftermarket lights with no issues on either.. I get why people claim just take it in, but after i read how someone will do it over 6 different times, i dont get why not just spend the 25$ and not worry about it again.

-Thomas

This last set leaked with the gasket ninja ones and the 3m silicone

I did what you did with black caulk as a preventative measure

Yup after seeing so many people with leaking issues, i thought it best to be proactive myself.. have had no issues with my stocks or aftermarket tails since doing this..

http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps12d9941a.jpg

Found a pic of another member using "Snowman Snot" to seal the offending area and divert water out of the light assy..

Hmm Ill have to try this once I get them painted again. And get some more gasket ninja gaskets

Not much you can do.
I got my changed in Dec 2014 after I heard on the forums that the gasket got updated for them. Either I was lied to or the update doesn't work. They actually worse now. They don't leak terribly, just light condensation. If it stays there then when the temp gets warm, remove the trunk lining and pop out the brake light bulb harness and just use the blowdryer on it for a few minutes.
They get in because of a few things, the drain off for the rear window is over the tail light gaskets and the seals on the whole car are pretty useless. If I open my trunk during the winter, the whole interior trunk is full of condensed water.

At that point you might as well glue the gasket to the housing and the gasket to the car. Doubt it would leak at that point, if mine ever leak again, that's probably what I'll do.

I used the black 3m weather stripping to glue the gasket to.the housing, but not the gasket to the car. Im gonna try that and sealing the top.

Now to see if I can get toyota to give me the money back from getting them painted.

If anyone has purchased and had any issues with Gasket Ninja gaskets, please PM or email me and I'll hook you up.

info@gasketninja.com

For anyone with a FRS/BRZ/GT86 (stock or aftermarket tail lights/gaskets), you should definitely cover the gaps between the trunk and the tail light housings. Lots of people have recommended silicone or "snot", but those methods make a mess or are unsightly. I just use waterproof black 'Gorilla Tape'. It's cheap, affective, and easily removable/replaceable.

Attachment 103859

Attachment 103860

I can say the first part is not true, they can be dried and the methods are on this forum. The second part seems not true as well, but I don't know what they mean by "very bad". There are pictures of cars with something like an inch of water in there and everything still worked fine.

Mine had about 1/4" in them after we got real rain last year. I did the GasketNinja fix and they've been fine since. You have to not only use the thicker gaskets and glue them to the housings, but also put some sort of dam up top to redirect the water. I wouldn't glue the gaskets to the car, it'll likely not help, could make a place for water to pool agains the metal, and will make removing them more difficult. Just my thoughts though.

Where do you buy this product, 'Snowman snot'? Im trying to find it online, but I can't find it.

do a google search for Poster Putty / mounting putty. Scotch / 3m / UHU Tac all sell a variety.

Use windshield Adhesive Sealant by 3M Autozone has it, stuff works great.

http://www.autozone.com/sealants-glu...ne/464397_0_0/

http://contentinfo.autozone.com/znet...08609/image/4/

I used black caulk and since my car is DGM, looks fine

Just to reiterate, I'd really recommend using tape over the gap between the trunk channel and the tail light housings. Especially if you have to remove your tail lights for any reason in the future (swapping them out, changing for aftermarket, or another repair), it'll make it way more difficult using caulk.

All the adhesive you should need is sealing the gasket to the tail light housing.

snowman snot variation
 

Stationary store sticky snot is instantly removable.

There is a substandard snot that is to sticky, and will run in hot weather.

If by chance you get the substandard, you will not have wasted your 99 cents, just mix some room dust in it and it will be fine.


Tape leaves an area uncovered (outside top edge,) under the fender at rear, while snot can be pushed in with a credit card.

I did NOT replace the gaskets, just sealed them with gasket sealer.

Goin fine since I figured out the problem in June of 2012 - no wa wa !


:cheers:

Thanks bro! Found it just now.