Yes, we all know there is the drilling method, where one would put holes into his or her tail lights. Makes zero sense, since the tail light is supposed to be completely sealed. If water gets into, it carries dirt with it, which gets clogged inside the tail light. Not only that, the constant flow of water carries contaminants that corrode the chrome reflectors causing them to peal after time.


Fortunately, there is another way that only costs a few bucks and is more effective than replacing it with ANOTHER FAULTY gasket. I sealed my driver side tail light two years ago with the same process, and it still stays drier than the space between the legs of grandma.

Now that Hurricane Irene decided to wash out my passenger side (which I haven't sealed yet), I can show you the process.... ._.

Materials:
- Distilled water (a gallon)
- 3/8" foam weather stripping from hardware store. One sided adhesive only, not double.
- Black silicone sealant (RTV)
- Gloves for applying sealant
- Basic sockets and wrench to remove tail light.
- Search button to find specific procedures to remove tail lights (which I will not provide)

- First you have to remove your tail light using the search button and your tools. If the insides of your tail lights are dirty, rinse them with distilled water. Unless you want water marks, I would avoid using tap water. Shake the water out. Wipe down the plastic housing and make sure the surface is clean and prepped for sealing.


If you are able to remove the old rubber gasket from the housing WITHOUT tearing it, then do so. If not, then leave it. Apply the black silicone to the space where the gasket meets the hard plastic house. Go all around to make sure the space is completely sealed with the sealant. Reseat the gasket if you have removed it. Don't be afraid to be generous with the silicone sealant.

*Yes pics are huge, but the process is damn logical. Don't blame me for the necessity of clicking the images. RX8club decided it was a good idea not to imbed pictures in the DIY section...*

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1316381259

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1316381259


Next, you apply the sealant on the TOP surface of the gasket. Where it meets the body of the car. Follow the imprint, and make sure the sealant is thin and smooth.

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1316381259



Allow 5-10 minutes for the sealant to be semi-dried. Take your weather stripping individually seal off the sections. Sticky side against the gasket. Follow the sealant. There should be two sections- brake light, reverse and turn signals.

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1316381259

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1316381259

 

Once you are done sealing the tail light with the silicone sealant and weather stripping. It should look like this.

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1316381823



Before you slap the lights back onto the body. Clean the crevices where the tail light will meet the body. Remember the weather stripping and gasket forms a seal with the body, so if it is full of gunk, it will continue to leak.

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1316381823



You don't have to wear gloves. I didn't because I ran out and was too lazy to purchase more. Now I am stuck with a black plague ridden hand for 2-3 days.

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1316381823



Feel free to buy me a beer or two for saving you some money .

 

Hey bro this has to be the best fix! I'm just confused about two things tho. The first one is: Do you still keep the old gasket on? and in a way you are glueing it with the silicone? Or you completely throw away the old gasket?


My second question is: Once the silicone is dry, so you stick the weatherstrip to the silicone using the sticky side? Or does the sticky side of the weatherstip stick on the body of the car?

 

You should use the old gasket as I said in the first post. If you no longer have the old gasket, it doesn't seem like a problem since the weather stripping serves the same purpose and is better at it.

The sticky side of the weather stripping should stick against the gasket, not the body of the car.

 

Yes, very cool. I need to do this here very soon. Ideally before it starts to hit freezing temperatures.

 

Ok gotcha SayNoToPistons.. I just bought all the things you listed, and I'm ready to do this.. Now I just have one more question: I was looking for the same weatherstip that you used, I was looking for the FrostKing's brand and found it, but the title on the bag said "Vinyl Foam Weatherstip" instead of just "Foam Weatherstrip" like yours said. Do you think "Vinyl" makes a difference? or it don't matter? It's the only kind I could find in my local hardware store...

and yes slvrmzdrx8 I want to fix this too before the cold weather hits us here in Chicago lol

 

I just put clear RTV where the lens meets the black plastic. Never had the issue since.

 

Yeah, and im not sure what compications it could cause being that in Colorado its nothing for it to be HOT and sunny between 1:00-3:00 then be cold and breezy by 8:30pm.

 

I doubt it would make a difference. Go for it.


Unfortunately in most situations, the foam gasket is the source of the problem for condensation, not the seal between the lens and the plastic housing.

 

Did this today. Lowes Item number 354700 RTV, Lowes Item number 66679 foam sealer 3/8 X1/2 x10.
Let it sit for a day if possible i RTV the crap out of everything and i mean gobs.
after i let it sit, install was a little bit harder due to the thickness of the sealer but still able to tighten untill not able to on the nuts.
i washed my car and before i started to detail i let the hose sit full blast in the gap of the trunk and body. 5 mins later no water in tail lights..... ya worth it thanks a bunch.
o and total cost was $5.51 and i kept the old nasty gasket on, just baby wiped it and RTV every part of the outside contact points. The more RTV the better :-)
IF you drilled holes in the bottom to drain water this could help you...
O ya forgot the mention I drilled like 3 holes in the bottom of the brake lights in 07 because they were full of water... as some of the members did.
So what i did was buy a small Tube of 1 HOUR SHOWER silicone (sealer clear) mold resistant heat crack proof flexible ect.... So just ad a tiny dab of the 1 hour shower or w/e silicone sealer you want and dab with finger to force into the drilled hole, 1 hour later re-do if you want to add more into the hole. Let sit for a night and it helps if you do this same time as the RTV, for less down time. Enjoy this was a well thought out and for 5 mins on 10 GPM hose ya i'd say it works.....

 

Sebtown glad it worked! it worked for me too, this is the best fix no doubt.. The only downside I had from all of this is that the chrome housing inside is all peeled and theres no chrome anymore on one of my tail lights.. I might need to buy a new one or come out with a fix to that..there just isn't any way I could open the tail light apart and that sucks

 

Well I wouldn't say the drilling method is "retarded" because I did it myself + new gaskets and I haven't had a drop of water in my tail lights since, and it's been about 2 years now. And the holes aren't visible.

 

It is retarded because it's unnecessary. RTV fixes it without messing with new gaskets or drilling. With drilling you can also get condensation in the tail light depending on what type of environment you live in.

 

I live in a pretty humid environment where it can rain quite a bit and it worked for me. It was quick and easy so whatever floats your boat I guess.

 

I live in Florida and it's still the rainy season here, so I'm assuming I should let all the condensation disappear from the housings before I perform this fix?

 

Tail the tail lights off, remove the bulbs, rinse (not fill, just enough to swish around inside) tail light assemblies out with RO water, allow them to dry, apply generous amounts of black RTV to the factory gasket on the assemblies, and reinstall the tail lights. Once the tail lights are reinstalled, apply black RTV wherever you see any gaps in the trunk area where the trunk closes on top of the tail lights. Voila.

 

I just picked up a Rx8 last week and did this but I used the existing gasket (that had failed) and cut it in the middle to let water drain between both light fixtures and sealed the whole thing with RTV. after 2 days condensation was gone and looks great.

 

I presume the RTV is good enough, but the foam most definitely helps in situations where the RX-8 is exposed to outdoor elements at all times.

 

in my climate its good enough... now if I didn't live in Nevada..say in Florida or something... it would be a whole other story. Im just cheap and lazy... its rained once and no condensation to be seen.

 

What a long time consuming job, when it is so simple to just drill a 1/64 hole in the bottom of each lamp. This keeps the condensation from forming and works just great. You do need to chamfer the hole. Fixed mine just fine..LOL

 

SNTP...Noice DIY mate!

Happy New Year yall!!!

 

Cool story, bro.


Thanks "mate"!

 

I did this about a week ago, and when I removed the tail lights the gaskets were in horrible shape- just cracking and falling apart. One side was stuck against the car, and I ripped it removing the lamp. The other side came out intact but the gasket was so dry rotted I could not save it.

So I followed all other directions in this post. I picked all the pieces of foam gasket off, made sure it was nice and clean. Used gobs of that RTV stuff- put down a thick layer around the edges, weatherstripping, then went back and went around the weatherstripping edges with more RTV- and it did not work.

It looks better than it did, but there's still water in there. Since I'm not willing to buy new gaskets, it looks like I will be drilling soon.

Maybe this method does not work unless you have an old gasket to hold that weatherstripping in place.

 

New seals are cheap from rotaryfx.com

 

maybe if you used two sets of new seals it would prevent this also?