Fogging tail lamp
 

So, I know this issue isn't something new for RX-8s in general, but was curious if this happened to be something that many S2 owners have come across, since I haven't seen any posts. I came out to my 8 the other night, and noticed that the driver side tail lamp looked like this :(:

http://i48.tinypic.com/2lvk9oo.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/2rxcol4.jpg


I subsequently removed the housing, and used compressed air, and time in the sun, to dry out the inside via the vents in the top/bottom of the reverse lamp fresnel lens. After the lamp was completely dry, I reinstalled the housing, after cleaning the gasket and then using some waterproof dielectric grease along the top edge of the seal to attempt to temporarily fix the problem.

So, with all of this in mind...are Series II 8's prone to the same tail light gasket failure that Series Is are, or would this be an issue with the housing itself? Seeing as my 8 is just outside of it's full coverage warranty now, I'd hate to hear that it's the housing, since replacement would be a pretty massive cost (I know they're around $800). Any other owners experiencing this, or would anyone else happen to have heard of this happening with Series IIs?

Thanks!

Woah. My car's been through a ton of rain and I haven't seen anything like that. My friends Series I however...well, we were going to open it one day and stick a goldfish inside. LOL

In NJ, they fail RX-8s during safety inspection for taillight fluid level too low...

So, while browsing through my paperwork here, I've found out my car was/is a CPO vehicle....would something like this be covered under the electrical section of that? I'm trying to figure out what I can arm myself with, before I go into the dealer. Getting this fixed as a part of the warranty would certainly be nice...


Yeah, that's what's so weird to me....I've seen it (and heard of it) on countless Series I cars, but never on Series IIs. There wasn't a ton of water in it (knock on wood), but it was enough to make me concerned.




Har har har

If it's CPO, they'll fix it with no issue. When my friend had (2) 8's, he had them change them numerous times. Finally he got tired and said F-it, and just left it as is.

The only issue with the CPO bit is that my car is outside the 12mo/12k mi initial CPO warranty, but is still well within the 7/100k part (it was a CPO with the previous owner, and I've been transferred the remainder when I bought the car)....I'm wondering if this would fall under the former, latter, or if they'd just take care of it seeing as the car is a CPO vehicle that's really not very old (it's an 09 with about 38,600 miles on it right now). I've been thinking about buying a new gasket and trying the RTV trick, but if I can avoid dicking around with anything that isn't OEM, I'd prefer to take that route. What I can't gather is whether this is a gasket issue, or the whole housing that's leaking....and a leaking housing would certainly suck when they're around $600 a side from Mazmart right now.

I'd recommend starting with the gasket for sure. As a matter of fact, I'll send one to you at no charge. Consider it a good will gesture from Mazda and from Mazmart :).

Paul.

Paul, you're the man! Seeing this post literally put a big smile on my face...thank you! My 8 is my baby, and keeping her in top form is mission critical for me. This is yet another reason that I'll come to you/Mazmart for everything I need...you have a lot of love for your loyal customers!

Seeing as you're deeply involved with Mazda, I have a question for you about this, as well: I know Mazda revised the tail light gasket at some point in time...was this done some time into the Series II production cycle, or should all Series II RX-8s have this newer style gasket? If my car falls into the pre-revision category (it was manufactured in mid-2008), this might have been the problem and fix everything up with the new one. This might also be of use to future owners that experience the same issue.

There has been no change in tail lamp gaskets for any MY Series II.

I have my own view as to why these leak and can be a pretty simple fix....just tight up the inner trunk nuts a little more, my new MX-5 when I looked the nuts were not more than finger tight from factory (and my 8) ....but do not fix too tight or you could crack same tail lamp body/bolt(s).

Unfortunately the gasket will shrink/flatten and deteriorate over time, particularly cars left out in weather...once that happens leaks or condensation occur.

Many car makers have this issue...even the all new Toyota (and Subaru) 86 (Scion).

this why I dont drive my 8 if its wet out.
actually I took my car out when its a bit cold and I had some condensation inside the cover too.

Thanks for the help on if the gasket had changed for Series II cars, Ash! I had actually made sure to tighten the nuts down to a definite snug amount with a small ratchet after doing the temporary fix, but a little moisture managed to creep back in...I assume this will be fixed when I replace the gasket with the one Paul's sending me. The original factory gasket definitely was showing compression wear, along with a few nicks (which might have been from when I removed it from the car, as it stuck to the paint a bit). We'll see how things go when I receive/install the new gasket. A few people mentioned stacking it over top of the old gasket, but I don't necessarily trust that. Hopefully all will be well with the new OEM gasket.

Unfortunately, I don't have a choice of whether to drive her in the wet or not right now...she's my only car. However, when the funds are available, I'm thinking about a new 6 so that she can take to the garage for safe keeping. With regards to the cold weather, I'm thinking that might be the issue these gaskets face; that of getting washed to stay clean (or just encountering wet weather) in the cold, putting excess freeze/thaw stress on the gasket.


At least I can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that I didn't go insane and drill holes in my tail light assembly...haha. While that's a solution for some, I just can't bring myself to wontonly destroy the car.

Yep, be careful NOT to over-tighten, ''pattern nut tighten'' like when doing wheel lug nuts, if you over-tighten Nuts you not only risk damaging the Bolts and or Lens Body, but also compressing the new gasket too much...

:)

I have the same problem on my 09 R3 and this is my second drivers side tail light from Mazda, I went back to the dealer and was told the bumper to bumper warranty was over and it would be $800.00 to replace the light they just replaced 3 months ago :( .

I did tons of web surfing but can not find out how to get a gasket for the S2 cars, can anyone provide that part number for me. I sure wanna try that before buying a new light.

F189-51-153A Gasket Lamp RH
F189-51-163A Gasket Lamp LH

Gasket comes with light assembly...you are lucky that they renewed the lamp as it is not meant to be done under warranty...see TSB Links for S2's.

Gasket is available from any Mazda Dealer.

Jason is excellent (see link)
http://www.onlinemazdaparts.com/part...&siteid=214264

Hm... I actually had a spider crawl in my left rear tail light and die a year ago. I was really puzzled because I thought the series 2 tail lights were sealed or something. Anyway, I took the light off to check but accidentally dropped it and cracked it lol... I installed it back and it would fog up after that obviously. I ended up ordering a whole new tail lamp assembly from mazmart (I think) and it was much less than $800.