Tail Light Fog / Fender Strakes
 

So, I may sound like an idiot here, but I got two quick questions.

1. So the tail lights in my RX8, often get really foggy on the inside. Like its wet in there or something. I was gonna take them off and clean them, then put them back on and see it that helps, but today I walked past another RX8 and noticed it had the same problem. So now I'm a little thrown off. What should I do about the tail light fog / condensation?

2. I'm getting my 8 Fender Strakes as a late Christmas present. Should I just get them on ebay or something for like $50-60, or is there a specific website that has higher quality stuff that any of you would recommend. Let me know! Thanks!

:)

first and foremost do not drill holes in your tail lights no matter what anyone says on here it does not work.

is your car still under warranty?

Hahaha, ok. Um, I didn't get it from a Mazda dealer. I got it from a used sports car dealership, but yeah it's under warranty from there.

the dealership you bought it at doesn't matter. whats your mileage and what year is your car?

47k, 2004

if you search you will quickly find you are not the only one to have the tail light condensation problem. A simpler search will answer all the questions you may have

i don't think they will cover the tail lights under warranty. you are still under the powertrain warranty though.

what you need to do is buy a new set of gaskets. i'd recommend getting them from Rosenthal Mazda. you will not find a better price at your local mazda dealership. go ahead and order them for both sides and do them both. once you get them you can swap them out.

1. remove the plastic liner in the back of your trunk.
2. pull back your carpet to expose the back of the lights.
3. unplug the bulbs and remove them from the housing.
4. remove the 2 10mm nuts on the back of the housing.
5. remove the tail light housing.
6. peel the old gasket off.
7. dry out the housing thoroughly.
8. clean the body of your car where you took the housing off.
9. apply the new gasket.
10. perform steps 1-5 in reverse order.

if you have anymore questions, feel free to PM me. i have a few pics i could show you as well.

actually a simple search would suggest to drill holes in the lights, which will only make the problem worse.

^ I disagree, I had horrible condensation in both my tail lights. I searched and found out that the dealer will replace both free of charge under the B2B 50k miles warenty for the 04-05. Zach take your car to the dealer and tell them you have tailight condensation, they will either replace the gaskets or change out the lights depending on your dealer

Another update! Ok, I called Mazda yesterday. They told me if my car is an 04 and I'm not the original owner it probably isn't under factory warranty and it would cost $300+ to fix EACH tail light. So screw that.

So today my dad drilled tiny hair sized holes into my tail lights, and drained them out. The tail lights had a ridiculous amount of water in them, so bad to the point that it burnt out one of my brake lights. But he drained out all the water, dried it and then sealed the hole with silicon, i believe. Hopefully it will work.

well the water got in there somehow... so your going to need to stop it from getting in again..... i would do the gaskets like nuke said

That's the next thing I'll do if I see condensation again.

you would have to contact ur nearest mazda dealer to see if you have any bumper to bumper warranty left! if you do take it to them and they should replace them under warranty!

They said it had to be 4 years after the original purchase, so I'm going to look deeper into this, considering my car is an 04, it's probably up :(

my dad bought his rx8 from the nissan dealer and we had the rear taillight thing. We took it to Galpin Mazda and they replaced the taillights for free since it was a factory recall and was covered under the warranty that got extended to 80k or 100k miles by mazdausa(i dont remember which).

This part about not being the original owner is total BS. That dealer thinks you're an idiot and so they can lie to you as much as they want. Or else they are so stupid they don't even know when they're lying. Call Mazda and report the dealer. Won't matter but will make you feel better.

Your CarFax report (I assume you got one when you got the 8) should have the date of first registration at least, normally has the date of purchase as well. Don't just assume that December 2008 - 2004 = 4+ years. My 2005 was first purchased in August of 2006, so my 4 years isn't up until August of 2010, even though my '05 year would indicate otherwise. Alot of 8s sit on the lot well into the next year. It's worth a check.

Edit:
Nevermind, I missed the part where you intentionally removed the possibility of it being covered under warranty by doing what Mazda will call "unauthorized modification" :) And yeah, it will fill up again unless you replace the gasket. That is how it is getting in, not the silicon filled hole in the bottom. I had the same issue, covered under warranty, they replaced my entire taillight free.

OK, let me get this straight. You came on here, asked a question and were told specifically not to drill holes in your tail lights. Then you were given detailed instructions on how to properly fix your problem, with the invitation to PM any questions and informed of available pics if you wanted them. Last, you drilled holes in your tail lights. :squint: :banghead: :icon_no2:

So when the lights fill up with water again are you going to drill another hole or try to remove the silicon in the current hole?

I'm just trying to figure out your thought process on this issue.

The gaskets are shitty. What I did to permanently fix the problem was put a ring of caulk on the gasket when you press it against the body of the car when you put it back on, the caulk seals it completely. I haven't fogged since doing that.

Seriously... don't bother with a new gasket, just put caulk on your current ones.

Haha, my dad did it without my consent. But I doubt it would be a huge problem considering it was a hair sized hole that is now covered with silicon, so whatever. It was insanely foggy again last night, the left tail light doesn't have any condensation, and the right one has a little again. So, I'll go ahead and fix the gaskets, or get new ones. My car went into the shop today for the CEL right, and the carfax is in the glove compartment :banghead: so i'll have to wait a few days for that. Figures, my fender stakes came in today too.

Tell your dad not to touch your car. Seriously.

...it really isn't a big deal. The hole is sealed up now, It's like it wasn't there in the first place. No need for the immature prick comment over the internet forum that really does not help me at all. There really isn't much I can do now anyway besides change the gaskets, since the recall is up. But thanks for the "advice".

Do it.

Haha ok, i'll do that first.