TL-Ridaz96

Yep, I got those annoying water condensed inside my back tail light and I'm wondering what kind of glue to use to seal up the "cracks." I really hope that I wouldn't have to open up my back tail light to reseal it, but if I have to, at what temperature do I pre-heat the oven to and how long do I leave the light in the oven for?

Any input is much appreciated.

Thanks.

TL-Ridaz96

Better yet, do you guys know any place that can open up the tail light and clean / fix them for me?

daemonicus

i'd actually recommend getting a heat gun and using that instead of the oven method. if you want to remove the condensation, take out your tail light and put a hairdryer on high blowing inside on the tail for about one hour and then proceed to seal your lights up. that'll get the condensation out but also keep them warm long enough to seal the cracks. as far as a sealant goes, go to an auto parts store and buy "seal-all". it works great and dries clear.

Petie

Don't use silicon sealant!

A lot of people do this but the silicon actually attracts more moisture.... there is some special headlight/taillight sealant stuff (by Nissan I think) that works best, but I forget what it's called. You might want to try a search.

Ray from NJ

Remove the tail light and attach a wet/dry vac hose to one of the open light holes. Suck the air through the tail light from the remaining open holes. Replace bulbs. Use the blue RTV slicone sealant from your local auto supply to re-seal the tail lights to the car. Carefully remove the old gasket, wash and dry. Apply the RTV to both sides with a heavy bead of sealant. Install.

desired_speeds

i just noticed my driver side one has water in it today. Its also the side that has the bad tail light gasket, so maybe thats teh reason why

paz840

iTrader: (2)

here's the link for the nissan sealant Petie mentioned--------->link

this stuff works great btw

Nedd

I had the same problem, this is the step by step guide NABA2002 sent me and it worked perfectly.

"ii first signed up. now wat u just mentioned happened to about 75% of the tls i know. the reason for this is there are seals between the lights and the metal body of our cars, in most cases that seal is old and no longer functions as it should. wat i did was i went down to my dealer and bought the taillight gasket , part number...33503-sw5-a01. when i did mine i got 2 of those because eventualy u will have to replace the other one too so mite as well do it now. they cost like...20 buks for both? so wont put a dent in ur pocket either. when u get that just remove the tail lights and swap out the gaskets. i was getting ALOT of water in my trunk i mean the whole wheel hole was full of water. wat i did with that was i opened one of the rubber holes and kept it that way and then i took off the rubber lining around where the trunk closes and cleaned all the gunk n dirt out of there and put that back on.... after bout 4 months? no water as of yet so try that and if u need to no how to remove the tail lights i can give u that info and some pics if u want so just pm me ltr if u need anythin. ltr"


MY ADDITION: REMOVE THE TAILIGHT AND USE A HAIR DRYER TO BLOW DRY AND REMOVE ALL MOISTURE BEFORE REINSTALLING THE LIGHTS"
Nedd is online now Reply With Quote

Altitude

I just used alcohol to help evaporate the H2O , Dump some in swirl it around, drain it out then wait a half hour while you take out the other light . Then I used thicker neoprene and made a new gasket. Once the light was in i used some clear silicone to seal and make a ridge where the trunk lip meets the black plastic part or the light to deflect it all away.
A clean job, cant see anything even with the trunk open and its redundant with the silicon barrier between the lip and the light.

TL-Ridaz96

thanks for all the inputs.

Nedd, you lost me there. I dunno what's a headlight gasket is. Do they have the tail light gasket too? If you could, can you post some pics in this forum or send it through my pm of the dyi instructions, it would be great. Thanks.

I've never open up a headlight or a tail light before, and I certainly don't wanna damage my JDM tail light either. daemonicus recommends using a heat gun, what's the temperature settings on it? Don't want to melt it.

Oh man, hopefully I can get rid of all the water inside the light before I decide to buy a gold fish and let it swims in it.

Thanks again guys!

TL-Ridaz96

With the Nissan Sealant, the black thing is the stuff that goes in between the junction of the back & the front part of the Tail Light right? No heat required? I hope it comes with instructions.

paz840

iTrader: (2)

Unfortunately, it doesn't come with instructions, but you will need to heat the sealant. I just stretched it out and laid a thin bead of the sealant between the two parts of the headlight and put it in the oven for 5 minutes at 200 degrees. That made it soft enough to close the headlight assembly completely. The sealant dries within an hour, but I think it takes 24 hrs to fully cure.

Nedd

You can go to http://www.acuraoemparts.com/delray...=All&vinsrch=no
and search for part number 33503-sw5-a01

Nedd

You can go to http://www.acuraoemparts.com/delray/...All&vinsrch=no

and search for part number 33503-sw5-a01

TL-Ridaz96

hey thanks for the diagram it really helps. I think I have the seal gasket base on my tail light already.

I've decided to go with the safe way out. I'm planning to shake or drain all the water out and then blow dry it. My only concern is that what type of seal would I need to get to seal the 2 parts of tail light that joined up.

Forgive me for asking too much questions, I like to get at least a thousand words to fully paint the picture of what I'm about to do.

Thanks guys!

TLDavey

Thanks for the info. Gonna attempt some problem solving on this same issue on my 97 2.5 in which the trunk and lights started filling with water after Inspire tail swap. There is a huge gap between my car body and the tail light itself!

TLDavey

Well, I discovered yesterday that it's because my friend who did the swap failed to transfer the gaskets!!! Anyone know if rice will draw out the moisture in the tail light, similar to how they draw it out of iPhones? Gonna try it...