I’m at my car now cleaning some electrical connectors for some of the lights and found water in the tail lamp lens on the passenger side. The same was said for the set that was originally in the car. I got all the water out for now, but what is causing this? I’m not seeing a drain of any sort, although I did blow out some packed in dirt next to the fiberglass piece directly above the tail lamps and under the hood. Driver’s side lens is perfectly dry. I’m also not finding any water inside the trunk itself.
Water in passenger side taillight lens.
- Thread starter dm330
- Start date
Aspen500
Well-Known Member
Most likely the seal between the lens and reflector housing is broken. There are no drain holes, which would let water out of course, but also let dust and dirt in.
I actually checked the old lens and can see some of the tiny openings are where the gasket deteriorated. Has anyone ever dealt with this before with a correct fix? I'm worried the plastic tabs may break due to age and wonder if I'm better off giving the lenses a good cleaning and applying silicone in the vulnerable spots.
Justwondering
Well-Known Member
I've used silicone on my Chebby's headlight for a similar problem. It works.
Just don't let my brother help.
He will put on too much and it will look like crap.
It will dry, then you have to use your knife to scrape it off because you didn't go behind him and check his work. Sigh.
JW
Just don't let my brother help.
He will put on too much and it will look like crap.
It will dry, then you have to use your knife to scrape it off because you didn't go behind him and check his work. Sigh.
JW
Aspen500
Well-Known Member
With the age of the plastic it might be better to use the clear silicone on the seams. Like you said, separating the lens from the housing could do more damage than good.
I'm not familiar with how m-body tail lights are made. On my Aspen the lenses are held in by 2 tiny screws from the back and a mastic type of adhesive. When restoring them, I peeled them apart but it was a slow careful process. Since the mastic didn't seem to be made anymore, I used a white rope caulk type of stuff made for lenses. Far as I know it sealed but the car never sees water anyway so can't be sure.
I'm not familiar with how m-body tail lights are made. On my Aspen the lenses are held in by 2 tiny screws from the back and a mastic type of adhesive. When restoring them, I peeled them apart but it was a slow careful process. Since the mastic didn't seem to be made anymore, I used a white rope caulk type of stuff made for lenses. Far as I know it sealed but the car never sees water anyway so can't be sure.
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It does seem the silicone is the best bet. The manual says to use a wooden dowel to press the lens out of the housing and being sure to unlock the tabs, both of which I'm afraid may be too fragile to do at this point.
Mikes5thAve
Well-Known Member
I've always been more worried of the lens breaking because the seal is still holding.
Then usually that kind of tab if you only release one at a time things usually don't like to move.
Then usually that kind of tab if you only release one at a time things usually don't like to move.
Thats on my todo list for approx 1.5 years now.... the assembly is plastic clipsed together and of course - unobtainium.
So I drilled a small hole down below. Because the bottom side is perfectly sealed and in rainy times water was then running through the lights connectors into the trunk...
So I drilled a small hole down below. Because the bottom side is perfectly sealed and in rainy times water was then running through the lights connectors into the trunk...
Some of the old sealant gets squeezed over some of those tabs too, making it difficult to try to pry up. I'll be heading out to tackle this in the next hour and may take pics, but I will be applying the rtv sealant on all the tabs and around the holes for the light sockets, as well as around the foam outer gasket in those spots. I'll also do the outer lens border and plan on using a Q-Tip to remove excess and hope that the appearance of the sealant won't be too obvious. If the water is still an issue I'll probably drill a small hole or 2 at the bottoms of the lenses with a small tube inserted to help reduce the amount of dust that may make its way in.
On a separate note, my guy stopped out while I was draining the water from the assembly, saying he'll be hauling the old lady off to his place soon to finish up this phase of work planned. He seemed to expect to have it completed before summer.
On a separate note, my guy stopped out while I was draining the water from the assembly, saying he'll be hauling the old lady off to his place soon to finish up this phase of work planned. He seemed to expect to have it completed before summer.
So I’m about to head out and reinstall these. The gasket on the side that was filling with water was completely bare, no adhesive, while the other side is still sticky with adhesive. Pressure washed both housings and used rubbing alcohol to remove old adhesive. Hope the RTV sealant does the trick.
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LSM360
Well-Known Member
That butyl type sealant they used at factory becomes hard and very difficult to remove. I did actually separate a lens from housing once but it was quite the job. Leaving it out in the Sun helps a bit. Maybe a heat gun used carefully could help too. Took me so long to get the two separated without breaking anything and then to clean all the old sealant off. I resealed with black RTV. It was causing my sockets to corrode also.
Unfortunately I'll have to replace one light socket because it was so corroded the glass twisted off the post and the light base would not budge. As far as cleaning the old sealant went I had a pretty easy time removing it with alcohol. Hopefully the water problem is solved. I'll be able to find out next weekend since we'll be getting rain.
Yellowdart
Member
Leaking taillights were common when the LeBaron's were new. They were replaced under warranty, on my '78, when it was about a year old At the time, I remember perhaps half the Lebaron's on the road, had water filled taillights. Before the dealer did the replacement, they suggested that I should drill a hole to fix the problem!
GregG48213
Well-Known Member
I've actually had to drill weep holes for several of my daily drivers: either headlamp or taillight (including my R-body and M-body). Most recently on my '09 Charger to let water out of the headlamp housing.
Justwondering
Well-Known Member
Isn't it amazing .... I would say, we can put a man on the moon but that would be dating myself..
We can make reusable rockets, live in a space station for a year, carry around personal 'tricorders' and yet we still have water accumulate in lens covers...
If we had those 'flying cars' promised on the back of comic books in the 50's, they would also have water accumulating in the lens covers.
JW
We can make reusable rockets, live in a space station for a year, carry around personal 'tricorders' and yet we still have water accumulate in lens covers...
If we had those 'flying cars' promised on the back of comic books in the 50's, they would also have water accumulating in the lens covers.
JW
We had a good rain earlier today and it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow, but I went out to the dealership, popped the trunk and checked, both lenses are good and dry. If they're still dry come Sunday, gotta change out a ruined light socket and that will be all I do to it until I get it back. The tech said he's hauling it away soon to finish up the work at his place.
Oh, for the love of Pete! Went out last night and the passenger housing had some water, so I dried it out and took the last resort to drill a few small drain holes in the bottom. Grrrr.... It's a good thing I love these cars, though that probably wouldn't have happened if I hadn't driven the one my aunt had nearly 30 years ago.
Mikes5thAve
Well-Known Member
Sounds like the lenses didn't seal or its from condensation. Holes can't hurt.
