Taking a survey...yes, on the tail light water issue
 

1a) If one or both of your tail lights collected water/condensation inside, what production date was your vehicle (found on VIN sticker on driver door jam)?
1b) On the flip side, if your tail lights never had a water issue, what is your vehicle production date?


2) If you got it replaced by warranty or new tail light order, when was this? Did the gasket and or new tail light fix the problem?


Just trying to get a good sense if Mazda ever fixed the issue, because my 05 tails are perfect right now, but the car never sits outside either....so I'm worried the problem may develop in the future.
My warranty is expiring in a month. I can't really claim any water issue if the plastic is absolutely clean
But if I can get a sense that gasket or complete replacements will fix the issue...I will try my best the wet the tails like I was washing my car thoroughly...


- I know the new TSB overrides replacing and/or repair of the tails, but I would still like to try since I'm under warranty. Knowing OEMs I'm sure they didn't let this issue go on for several model years....hence the survey (any 06+ with water issues?)

Thanks!!

1- doesnt matter,everybody gets it

2- no

in short, this will happen again. to fix, u will need to seal the sides with silicon sealer(any gasket sealer will do)

this thing is casuing mazda too much money(each light is like 3 hunxred bux), and instead of using sealer to fix the problem, mazda decided to just do the u are on ur own aka *this is normal* rofl. sad
i had mine replaced by dealership 4times. go figure

1 - ditto, doesn't matter, most of us have had it.

2 - I got both replaced under warranty a couple years ago and the new thicker gaskets have eliminated any further condensation. If you're out of warranty I would recommend first getting the new gaskets vs. using silicone. Finishlineperformance.com and Tommy will help you out.

+1 on that advice.

1. I honestly never had this problem for the 5 years I had the car, but it may be because I'm in socal. It was an 04

had it in both sides on a 2005 what i did it was drill little holes at the bottom of each light,anything i did before was useless(out of warranty) this seems to work like a charm you get little to nothing of condensation ... right now im running a brand new tail light and an old one due a rear end hit,im afraid im going to have to do the same to the new one after a couple of washes

You got both replaced or both repaired? old TSB states to add the new gasket...

Anyway, I'm still under warranty for one month (less since it expires on Christmas)....but my tails are perfect at the moment.

Will Mazda still honor a repair or replacement for this issue?

BTW, I also noticed some water spots at the top of my headlight clear housing...my headlights also fog up on the inner corners any time I wash the car. Anyone have this issue? I may want to take it in for warranty also...

no, a new TSB was released for this "non-issue", basically saying "fuck off", we can't fix it.

d'ya think?

"Seems it never rains in southern California ..." -The Mama's and the Papa's ;)

Yeah, I know
but I've seen socal 8's with the issue too. :cwm27:

1a) both tail lights
1b) July 2005 build

both tail lights were replaced under warranty in December 2007.
My car was at a body shop for about a week to get some minor bumper damage repaired, the car must have been left outside while it rained that week and when I picked it up both lights had condensation in them.
I drove directly to the dealership to show them and they subsequently ordered two replacements. I believe the procedure was to replace the gaskets but I am on very good terms with this particular Mazda dealership so my issue was corrected to my satisfaction and have not seen the problem return. (then again, my car almost never gets driven in the rain nor left outside at night)

At the time they replaced both of my tailights, to include the gaskets. Now I believe they dry out the lights and then apply the new gaskets.

Yes, it is my understanding they will still rectify the tailight condensation issue. Bring a copy of the TSB with you and take a picture of the lights just in case they dry out before you can get in for service.

Negative, the new TSB states that it is NORMAL to get condensation in the lights.
let me find it for ya...

Here is a quote from the TSB:


http://www.finishlineperformance.com...6-09-2086a.pdf



That is Mazda's nice way of saying "F YOU !!!. I have never owned a car other then my RX-8 that couldn't keep condensation out of it's tail lights. Hell, my 1972 Mercedes still doesn't have a drop of water in it's lights after over 30 years!

Yeah this is another BS issue with this car and if your drill them and you live in a humid environment it will return eventually. It will dry out again but not if it is humid or wet outside.

The real fix is to cover the factory gasket and the mounting surface in black RTV (or similar) and put it back on. I have had both rears replaced twice in my 100k (yes even with the "updated" part) and it returned again. The last time I was out of warranty so I did the RTV fix and even on the worse humid, rainy days it does not return. This isn't rocket science, they just don't seal worth a shit.

Wow; I guess Mazda got fed up with the volume of replacements/repairs required!

Concur that I have not had a similar problem with any other vehicle since the 70's!

Condensation may be a natural phenomenon, but keeping it out of tailights ain't exactly rocket science!!

I have had 6? taillights. 4 have had condensation. 1 only lasted a month. 1 hasn't. I have seen tons of cars of all makes/models with water in the lights both front and rear.

I saw that new TSB when it came out. It is total BS for Mazda to say that condensation is normal in the taillights of any of their cars. Just trying to screw the buyer.

In case you guys didn't notice there are TWO TSB's pertaining to this.

One is the TSB for a condensation "haze" (where they kindly tell you to fuck off) then there is ANOTHER for actual water in them like most 8's i've seen here that have a full inch or more of water sloshing around in them.

I've had 2 RX8's and I had both tailights replaced on both cars at some point.

Do you store your car indoors? ourdoors? half/half?

My car has always been an inside car for the first three years and outside for the last two. The first few tail lights were when the car was garaged and the last one was a couple months back as an outside car and the RTV did the trick on that one.

So you use the updated gaskets + RTV and you had no probs right?

This weekend I tried to wet the crap out of my tail lights & headlights ...no luck to get water or condesation inside :(

That's kinda like Mazda saying "It's perfectly natural to mix water and electricity in a small enviroment". :shocking:
Instead of saying "we used cheap-ass gaskets and when the nuts loosen over time as the gasket seats, it creates just enough gap for water to leak in. Once the water dries, you'll notice water spots on the inside of your tail light. But no worry, you can always trade the car in for a newer model where Mazda spent 3 cents more for a thicker gasket".
I took my sons' tail light out and dryed it out with a hair dryer and it left all kinds of water spots on the inside plastic and chrome. So then I just filled it half full of water and took the car back and got it fixed under warranty. Now the warranty is expired, it rained for 2 days and the left one has the same problem. I been told by another owner to use soft water or water from a Mr. Clean car washing gun to spray on the inside of the lens and THEN dry it out for no water spotting and just install it back with the same gasket but use 100% Bathroom Silicon on both sides of the gasket. Job will start tomorrow morning and I'll post the results.
...Rocket

yea i have the same problem right now on my 04 Rx-8 Grand touring . but im replacing my completly and getting the new LED tailights for christmas. Alittle gift for my car ha. but It pisses me off everyday i go out and look at my car and there is condensation and water in my tail lights i think that it looks tacky and thats why im replacing mine and getting the newer technology.

thinking about doin a new paint job too.. cause in the st. louis area there is not one that i have seen that will look like my RX-8