Condensation & Water in Tail light
 

Anybody else have trouble with water in the tail light? Can't figure out where this is getting in other that the seal. Only way to fix it would be to replace for $340.00 with the possiblility of it happening again. Have you heard of this being a problem with the RX8's?

Remove trunk liner, remove lights, put some silicone sealant around the light and reinstall. $15 max! 1 hour of work > $340.00
Or you can just send me the $340.00 and I will send you some silicone sealant ;)

+1 on silicone sealant others will say drill a hole and others will flame you for this thread

change the tail light gasket

Thanks. I'll give it a shot & keep my 340. By your profile pic it looks like you have plenty of silicone to lend !!!

If you count my 3rd legg then yes ;) but I know plenty of chicks that do ;) lol

Water in tail lights? Never heard of this before.

change light gasket or drill 2 holes on each side (what i did)

As stated, it's an easy fix. Also, there are tons of posts on this issue. If you do not feel confident, I'd be happy to fix it for the low price of $299.95, no need for the $340 :lol2:

I took mine out, dried it, and put some weather stripping (tip from someone else on the forum). No moisture yet.

i have the exact same problem! =/

have to be goddamn kidding me

I removed the entire light and there was absolutely NO water around the gasket or anywhere else other that inside so I......ended up drilling a small hole in the lowest point of the light and within 3 days all the condensation was gone...forever hopefully. Moving to the mountains so regretfully i will have to kiss my baby goodbye for a 4 wheel drive something or other.

^I know its a little too late, but drilling into the lens is a bad idea.
Its best to drill underneath so the holes aren't visible.

Now Jon....i am a female but a smart one. Who would be so stupid as to drill a hole in the lens? Of course it's underneath where it's not visible !!

My apologies... but there are some people out there (even men) who would/have.
My fault for assuming you did ;)

ya i dont know if i want to do that.
maybe ill try to fix the seal on the tail light. any recommendations on which product to use?

Silicon sealant

But then again, if you don't want to play with "silicon"... as I prefer the real thing... you could always buy a new tail light gasket for $29 and be done with it.

I had the same problem on one of my tail lights, all I did was... took it out; cleaned the gasket as it had bunch of dirt on it, and once I put it back I made sure to tighten the nuts little extra (but not to the point of braking the light or the bolts). Never had problem after that.

If you just want to buy a gasket and not mess with anything else here is a link...

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...=3&catalogid=2

Best damn thing I read all day

More like Darwin :lol:

I think this is the first time I've ever disagreed with Jon. Drilling the tailight at all is a bad idea.

You may solve your immediate 'standing water' situation, but you're obviously opening it up to future humidity/cooling condensation.

There's an improved Mazda gasket now, and/or just use silicone after you've dried it out.

I've had both of my tailights replaced (when that was the TSB procedure) and since the new gaskets were installed I've not had a condensation issue.

[and btw, this subject has already been discussed to death!]

haha well I was a genious and sealed my taillights with silicone and found out one still leaks and now I cannot get it off of the car to reseal it, apparently silicone sealant is also a pretty efficient glue....

Its OK Huey... I don't mind if people disagree with me, as long as people don't start acting like idiots and "attack" for no good reason.
This is something I decided to do about 4yrs ago and have never had a problem since.
If I ever need to do it to the other, I won't hesitate to do it again.
Its my car, my choice, and looking at all the possible "downfalls" with doing this, I see none (if done correctly).
Again Huey, I respect you and will never think differently for disagreeing, its only on how you handle it.

I agree... its the only topic on this thread that'll make my blood boil whenever I see people use it just to attack others (including myself).

Hi Guys, gals! I'm new here and this is the first thread I have come across in my search that has led me to a question I need to ask. I plan to keep searching, but I just had a question based on what was said. I saw you reference a TSB... I assume technical service bulletin? Was this for the 2005? I read a reference to a TSB mentioning a trunk adjustment?

That being said... a bit of background... the car in question is a 2005 Rx8 automatic Shinka. Its my mothers car. She bought it new. Its always been kept under a carport. She now has aquarium in her passenger taillight.

The car had no water issues the first year she had it. Then she started to get intermittent light fogging. It was mostly the passenger side, but a bit of fogging occurred in the driver side as well. She went to the dealership many times, only to be told to come back when it was occurring... AKA the kiss off. She is a VERY nice person and did what they said, never arguing the issue. This happened over and over during her Warranty period. She even took in pictures of the condensation. She would take the car in in the morning and the condensation would be there. Then amazingly by the time they got it back in the bay it was gone, so they would send her away again. She said use a hose, it will fog, and was told that is not how they do things. WOW. So if there was a bulletin back when she was going in they blatantly ignored the issue.

So this new Mazda gasket... I guess I should pick it up and swap her over to the new ones? are the $26 per or for a pair? Or is this something the TSB was to cover? Where should I check for a crack in the lens if this was a trunk issue? If there is a crack I assume a new lamp, rubber cushion, and a trunk adjustment to prevent this from happening again?

Sorry for all the questions, I just want to be armed with knowledge so she can go fight. I have her pulling all her visits complaining of the light condensation during her warranty period. Worst case I will throw that in their face. Honestly I think they need to replace the darn lamps and make sure they have the NEW gaskets. Check the trunk and add the darn rubber cushion. Now if I can get Mom to fight for it!

Ok thank you for your help! As I said above, I will continue to search!

Have you thought of taking digital pictures of it when it happens and to make sure you get the license plate in at least one of the photos so they know it's your vehicle? Other folks on here have had luck getting the gasket replaced under warranty.

My 2005 with 43K miles finally had the passenger tail light go. It is definitely turning into an aquarium.

My mechanic said he would install the new Mazda gasket for me free of charge when I take the car in next for an oil change. He's charging $52 for the gasket, which is about what one costs from Mazda according to the threads on here. I am thinking of taking a hair dryer to it before taking it in and hopefully it's not damp outside.