water in rear tai lights
 

has anyone else noticed water in their rear tail lights? is this a common problem? Is it just a broken seal? and lastly, is it covered under normal warranty?

It's condensation. It's normal, you can get new thicker gasket to fix the problem. And yes it is covered under warranty.

Fix #1: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26217

Fix #2: http://gasketninja.com/

yes its a known problem on the 2013 models, i believed they fixed the problem in 2014 models and newer

bring it back to the dealership, they should replace it for you

if and when they do replace them, if you are nervous going forward
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26217

beat me to it

tell them that forum members sent you and they will give you free animals to take home with you. i got crickets but maybe you'll get something better!

Mine is out of warranty. Was there a TSB for it?

yes. there's a zillion threads on this.

the fix was pretty simple, they added an adhesive strip to the foam gasket after 2013 afaik.

Both FRS and BRZ TSBs listed here include the condensation issue. Look down the headings and click :)
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21868

If out of warrenty just do what the second post in this thread says.

It surely will buff out

Or wait till January 7th when the sun comes back for sure

The gasket ninja worked liked a charm (identical to OEM but much thicker). I substituted the recommended 3M adhesive with an adhesive silicon from Home Depot (made by GE) because of the horror stories of the 3M product arriving in the tube dried out or becoming brittle over time.


It also give you an opportunity to clean out the crud that gathers behind the tail lights. When you do this make sure you have some touch up paint handy (the last thing you want is rust from chipped paint around the mounting holes).

Extremely normal. My tails went for 50k without any condensation. Fortunately I believe the fix is quite cheap and if not replacing OEM Tails is extremely easy if you can find a cheap pair for sale on facebook. I see them being sold for under $100 a set quite often.

So what is the ACTUAL way that water enters? I'm having a hard time understanding why a gasket is needed at all. I've never encountered this on other cars

I have one tail light on my 2014 that is filling with water like an aquarium. I took it off, tilted it in every imaginable orientation, and it seems to be sealed, with the exception of the non-LED turn signal bulb opening. Is that all the gasket is actually protecting?

Also, do the tail light assemblies come apart?

I find it odd that the issue is with a foam gasket when the turn signal has no o-ring to seal it. The brake light has a gasket but the turn signal does not.