moist inside rear taillights

[ChopsJazz]

Having recently replaced my tail lights, I'm not so certain that the mounting gaskets have anything at all to do with moisture inside the lenses. The gaskets simply make a rattle-free, leak-proof seal between the body and the lights themselves. IMO, water intrusion could only come from a crack in the lens itself or from moisture in the trunk coming in through the lamp sockets.

Just my .02

 

[nsxrtd]

Well it rained a little on thursday and friday mornings, moist is back on one of the lights. I noticed it today. If drilling a tiny hole is no problem, I might just go ahead and do this since I will replace them in the future for an 05 anyways. better yet the whole car for an 05. hehe!

 

[GreyHoundSteve]

augh, the classic tail light moisture problem. When i bought my 91 you could let fish live in those tail lights and they were bowed severely and the prevous owner kept a wet cover in the trunk that caused mold to grow on the trunk carpet. It stunk something awful and even now after the trunk carpet has been out for 3 months and the entire car got repainted .... i can still smell it!

I bought a nice set of pre-owned tail lights from a member here, 4 new oem tl gaskets, all new nuts (the old ones were rusted), new bulbs even and a week after i have the car back from paint i have the beer can look inside both lenses again and the trunk has nothing in it at all and the car has not been in water since the work was done.

I dont know wtf is going on with them but it sucks.

IMO this is one area where Acura really messed up. There are hundreds of posts about this on prime and m sure there will be hundreds more. A real PITA problem if you ask me. I will probably drill them this summer and just call it good enough. Ive already spent about $1,000 trying to fix this problem and its just been a big waste of money so far.

 

[swerve2007]

hi guys,
how can i take the tailights apart without breaking it all to pieces? the rubber gaskets are cementing the lens and the back piece pretty well.

 

[Thunder]

Hello Swerve, if you remove the tailights, the old gasket tear because they are too old, it is better to replace them by new gasket, I had water also in my tailights, the former owner had made holes in the plastic and because of that, there were many dirtinesses inside glasses, I was obliged to buy new tailights and 4 new gasket
it is necessary well to clean the black plastic (adhesive) then to dismount the higher plastics (screw), to stop well all the holes around glasses with silicone, then, you should not have water problem more, I paid $ the 93 new gasket (S of S)… it is not expensive!
another trick, I always leave the open late trunk when my car is in the garage!
I hope to have helped you

 

[swerve2007]

hi,
the original gaskets are still very strong but are deformed allowing gaps to form. i cannot simply pull them apart without damaging plastic pieces. is the hot water an answer?

 

[OLDMNSX]

3M Plastic and Trim Adhesive is actually a better product for sealing up tailights. It sticks better and longer than silicone. It also hardens to bond the pieces together and is clear. Most auto body paint and supply stores carry it. It works good for a lot of the other plastic parts in the NSX that have become cracked or broken.

WD-40 works great for getting the adhesive removed from the old gaskets.
Brad

 

[swerve2007]

i am not talking about the gaskets that seal the assembly to the bulkhead, but the actual foam/rubber seals that join the lens and black-plastic housing. the housing and lens have tabs that fit together and as is, even deformed, the seal has still enaugh strength to prevent me from removing the lens without cracking/breaking the tabs. of course there are plenty chemical compounds out there that will literally dissolve the gasket but will do damage to the lense.
i did search on the subject and closest i got was dissasembly of the center-section with the use of hot water- is the gasketing the same then and will the hot water soften it up to the point of safe dissasembly?

 

[NSXFRIEND]

Let water gently pour over the lights don't spray it directly, this helps keep water out most of the time.

 

[swerve2007]

please do not take this wrong way, i am not trying to be an asshole-
i greatly appreciate your posts and opinion etc. but some people here on the forum have dissasembled the lights in the past (including led bulb conversions) so i am just asking how they did this. i understand you personally may not want to take the lights apart, but i do. i want to fix the problem for good, not interested in half-measures, silicone beads, tape, not washing your car. furthermore, had i been an idiot i would have already ripped things apart and mess things up, not ask questions.
i have examined the assemblies carefully- the issue are the gaskets, not the lenses or back-pieces- they have not deformed over time as some people suggest. you can actually push the pieces together and the gap will dissapear. the item at fault are the rubberized foam seals which had either stretched or lost some of the holding power. the fix is definitely a replacement with other type of adhesive, something not elastic, not silicone.

so- anyone who actually did take their tailight assemblies apart without breaking the tabs- how did you get the rubberized foam gaskets to 'disengage'?

thanks again.

 

[Thunder]

Http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67292

 

[swerve2007]

yes, thats the same one i found, like i said in my previous post.
i'll figure it out and post the results.