Tail Light Condensation
 

10 months and 13,000 miles in to ownership of a BRZ Limited, and add me to the seemingly growing list of owners with tail light condensation :mad0260: (rear passenger-side unit).

Clearly not happy. Will schedule a service appointment this week for routine maintenance, and request a replacement of the assembly.

Doesn't help, but at least you're not alone: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6924

You guys ever think of doing something like this?

http://www.gencoupe.com/diy-do-yours...ater-leak.html

I figure its a similar issue compared to my leaky genesis coupe tail lights. After looking at the back of an FRS tail light, looks like that gasket might be to blame as well.

As I'm still well within the car's 3/36 warranty, this will be a Subaru issue to address. That said, my last three cars (Accord, Prelude, S2000 - with a combined 600K miles) never had a condensation issue like the twins.

Definitely not cool.

It seems like a newer car issue. I haven't had it on my BRZ but I did on my Genesis Coupe, and have it a bit on my other car a '14 Accord.

Buy a set of Tom's :P

(after you get OEM replacements)

I just sent the service manager a PM where I bough my car and said that he has had nobody return with problems after replacement. I know that is contrary to the sentiment of some people on this forum. He said he is looking in the database for updated parts/components. Either way. I have had my car since June 2012 and just started noticing it in the passenger rear. Oh well, at least it's worth a shot. Tom's will be the ultimate replacement in a year or so anyway.

I've got a new passenger side tail on its way to my dealership right now. If it happens again I'll just have them replace it again and swap them for aftermarket tails.

It took about ten months for mine too and it was the same side. I was about halfway between free oil changes so I drove around like that for a few months so I wouldn't have to make more than one trip. It was a good thing I waited because the rear view mirror fell off at 11 months.

It took 11 months for the rear view mirror mounts to fail?!?! Impressive. I had my car for approximately 10 days before the original mounts / screws failed.

Ha I had the same problem with the mirror after about 6 days. On 90/94 just cruising. Went to adjust it and "pop". Reminded me of that part in pirates of the carribean when Will goes to look at the candlestick on the wall. I looked around like "did anyone just see that??" I was pissed but got it fixed same day.:bonk:

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.

I just had my passenger replaced under warrantee at the dealer as well as the gasket in my driverside changed and retorqued down as a preventative measure

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.

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?

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.

http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps3eb3bee8.gif

CEREBRUS

I love this imagery.

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.... :iono:

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. :thumbsup:

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.

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.

Gasket issue. Just fix it with DIY.

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.

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.

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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These motherfuckers...

Everything alright? Lol.

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