Valenti Red Lens Tail Light-moisture build-up

[Agent 86]

Originally Posted by jawn

My replacement lens came in, and it had slightly more coverage on top than the ones they replaced. I forgot to take pictures, but I was pretty pleased with how the gaskets looked.

That's interesting. I wonder if your gasket is an updated part from the distributor/manufacturer, or if your reseller ModBargains was responsible.

If it's from the distributor/manufacturer, then it is their recognition of a problem that exits with the original gasket. That recognition would be quiet different than the response i got to my claim.

[Agent 86]

This is the gasket from my driver's side tail light. I have had no leak issues with this gasket.

[Agent 86]

This is the tail light that was filled with water. This is what it looks like on my car after getting it back from Emotion USA. You can see the water spots. The spots are inside the lens. I'm hoping that they will fade over time and that there won't be any additional leaks.
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[Agent 86]

In the images below, you can see the 3M double sided tape that I applied to the back of the tail light to both seal, and hold the gasket in place.

The areas that I highlight with blue and green circles show the light gray gasket (green circle), and the 3M double sided tape (blue rectangle) as the tail light is positioned on my car.
The black line you see in the green circle is the line I drew to identify the minimum area that had to be exposed.

The only way I could get that amount of gasket height was by stretching the gasket. The gasket does not lay this way by default.

Also, it's not possible to reach the gasket with your fingers (at least not my fingers) when the tail light is positioned on the car.
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[Agent 86]

Last, I installed lock washers to keep the nuts in place. I also used my torque wrench, although, I did not know the torque specifications so I ended up hand tightening the nuts.
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[Agent 86]

The new gasket and 3M tape has had a couple days to sit. I will use the coin operated pressure washer on my car today. Hopefully, no leaks.

I will update.
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[Agent 86]

[YamahaR86]

Little update to my situation. My passenger side was the only one acting up.

What I did was steal the thicker gasket from the OEM tail lights and "doubled Up".

Put the valenti thin gasket and oem gasket together (cut the OEM gasket a little to match the valenti for the wiring).

It's holding up fine, no water is going through or air. Been having some drastic weather changes here where the condensation would seep it's way into the tail lights but it's not happening this time.

[Agent 86]

Originally Posted by YamahaR86

Little update to my situation. My passenger side was the only one acting up.


What I did was steal the thicker gasket from the OEM tail lights and "doubled Up".

Put the valenti thin gasket and oem gasket together (cut the OEM gasket a little to match the valenti for the wiring).

It's holding up fine, no water is going through or air. Been having some drastic weather changes here where the condensation would seep it's way into the tail lights but it's not happening this time.

Thanks for the update!

Your's is another example of the passenger's side tail light leak. Jawn also had that experience. I'm sure that there are others as well.

I received a post from another owner who doubled up on the gasket using the OEM + Valenti. However, in his case, he doubled the gaskets from the very first installation, and has not had any leaks.

I'm hoping my solution works. If not, I will try doubling mine as well.
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[YamahaR86]

Originally Posted by Agent 86

Thanks for the update!

Your's is another example of the passenger's side tail light leak. Jawn also had that experience. I'm sure that there are others as well.

I received a post from another owner who doubled up on the gasket using the OEM + Valenti. However, in his case, he doubled the gaskets from the very first installation, and has not had any leaks.

I'm hoping my solution works. If not, I will try doubling mine as well.
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One member on here made a gasket kit but he would be out of town for a few weeks and I couldn't wait that long as the weather here is changing so it'd be even more water in my tail lights. Luckily I had my OEM tails around to steal it from.

Attached is how bad mine was before, about an inch of water.

[Agent 86]

Well it did not work. Using the 3M double sided tape with the Valenti gasket, did not prevent water from entering the tail light at the car wash.

I dried out the tail light as much as I could, then reinstalled it using both the OEM gasket and the Valenti gasket.

We will see what happens today.

[YamahaR86]

Originally Posted by Agent 86

Well it did not work. Using the 3M double sided tape with the Valenti gasket, did not prevent water from entering the tail light at the car wash.

I dried out the tail light as much as I could, then reinstalled it using both the OEM gasket and the Valenti gasket.

We will see what happens today.

If that fails for you check this out: http://gasketninja.com/

He's a member on the forums, started from this guide here: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26217

[Agent 86]

Originally Posted by YamahaR86

If that fails for you check this out: http://gasketninja.com/

He's a member on the forums, started from this guide here: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26217

Thanks. Yeah, I saw his thread and website while researching the problem I was having.

[Agent 86]

Great News!!!

Yo, at FT86 Speed Factory made the decision to give me a credit for the total cost of my defective Valenti tail light.

As it turns out, my tail light actually had a leak between the red lens, and the housing.

After a full day of rain on Friday, I got off from work to find the light filled with roughly 2 oz of water.

When I got home, I removed the light and I did something I had not tried before. I circulated the water inside the lens around the circumference of the light and discovered the water was exiting the lens at 2 locations between the red lens and the black portion of the housing. Emotion USA/Valenti said that they tested my light for leaks and found no leaks. Their determination was that I improperly installed the gasket.

I now know that was not true. So, I have been trying for weeks to solve a gasket problem that did not exist!

Anyway, I made a video showing the leak and sent it to Yo at FT86 SpeedFactory. Yo quickly got back to me and he was pretty upset that Emotion USA had deceived him regarding their findings.

Like me, he believed Emotion USA had actually tested the light for leaks and that the gasket was the point of failure.

The decision by Yo, has taken a load off my mind going into the holidays.

Now I have to decide if I will go with Tom's Tails or another set of Valentis. I really like the Valenti. If I get the Valentis, how likely is this to happen again?
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