Originally posted by catabong:
Water got into my tail light several months ago. I have emptied it several times since but water keeps getting in and so the taillight either shorts out or burns out. I tried to seal it today with weatherstripping and i'm waiting to see if it will hold the water out.



Same thing happened here, the problem was that the RTV seal between the red lens and the black plastic case went blotto near the top of the assy.

What I did was remove the tail light assy from the car and got the thin, runny windshield RTV sealant and ran a bead around the joint of the lens and case, where the old sealant had failed. Then I put a vacuum cleaner hose on the hole, where the bulb socket plugs in, for about 15 seconds to suck the stuff into any cracks that led into the inside of the tail light. Finally, before it cures too much, smooth out the bead with your finger to flatten it out. Set it down in a position where the RTV won't sag and let it cure overnite and then reinstall in vehicle. If you reinstall it before it completely cures and plug the socket back in, pressure can build up inside the tail light and cause the RTV to be forced out of the joint and you'd be back where you started.

With all the really rainy weather we've had here in Eastern PA in the past week or so, I've had no re-incursion of water into the tail light since the fix.

Kurt

'95 Contour SE, MTX, Champagne '03 EB Expedition, Med Wedgewood Blue