Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

I've somehow got water into my indicator and reverse tailights (from rain or from washing the car). Just wondering if there was an easy way to get the water out? Sometimes it fogs up from the inside. The water just stays there as you can see a small pool at the bottom of the light (probably won't see that in the picture).

Thanks..

post-28076-1146458675.jpg

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/115674-water-in-the-tailights/
Share on other sites

Yep have the same problem on my 33. I took the spare tyre out and found a nice puddle too. Skylines have been suffering from this since the R31. I tried a weather seal to no avail. Will prolly silicone the bastards up like I did with my 31.

I took the lining off behind the lights and took the bulbs out, i tried to dry it out with a heatgun. It probably would of worked but it would take an eternity(and probably ruin the plastic too from the heat). I was given a suggestion to drill a small hole in the corner of the lenses....but I don't want to do that. I might try to shove a rag or something in there next time and try to soak it up.

It's a bit of a bummer.

Lol mine has the exact same problem too. A friend has suggested to drill a small hole at the bottom to let the water flow out. What do you guys think about that?

I don't like the idea of drilling holes into my car..... plus by drilling a hole it'll probably make an entrance for dust and dirt to get inside the tailight, then it'll be even more of a pain to clean out :

yeh I had a leaky tail light (water would fill up in the indicator), i tried sealing it but that didn’t work so i ended up drilling a hole (closest to the boot) in the bottom. Haven’t had water in the boot since. I wasn’t too keen on drilling a hole either, but then again i wasn’t too keen in having water in the boot which would eventually lead to a rusty boot. As for the inside of the light getting dust and dirt haven’t had any problems. The indicator was slightly water damaged in the first place (slightly darker) but it’s hardly noticeable.

-michael

Had this problem after car came back from panel beaters for minor rear end damage. They had'nt sealed them up properly.

I proceded to take them off and fix it myself with a tube of silicon sealer.

The key is to ensure all the old sealant is off and both the light and car surface are fully cleaned of old sealent, with something like myths or grease and wax remover. When you run the fresh sealant bead onto the light, use plenty so that the surface of the sealant sits quite high. This will helps it seal nicely when mounting to car.

Now, there are two bolts, in between and above and below the two afterburners on each tail light unit (mounting side!). Make sure your silicon bead runs inside these two bolts, so your bead sorta looks like a figure 8 as opposed to ab oval. Also from memory there are thin rubber washers on each bolt, presumably to seal them from water, make sure you get new ones if need be. I would also put the sealer "join" at the bottom, just in case it sets with a minute gap, perhaps put a bit extra down there.

If anyone wants pics of the back of the light unit let me know so I can post up. Otherwise, this is an easy job that should be done in less than a day, getting all the old sealant off can be a bitch though.

Just thought I'd add that I did this about 3 years ago, and haven't had any leaking issues at all since. And you can tip excess water out when unit is removed, put in hot water cupboard with light sockets pointing up overnight, all condensation/drops should evaporate fairly quickly.

I might take the easy way out and drill a hole in it then.

I've tried to take the whole assembly out but the sealant is holding it on like something stupid, I'll end up breaking it.

Drewr33, I haven't heard of anyone that can repair cracks in plastic, i'd say you'd be in for a new lens (if they're available as a seperate part, I'm not sure). Please correct me if i'm wrong.

Thanks for the reply's guys :O

I guess I'll do the same as soon as I get my hands on a drill. Hope I don't drill too big of a hole. Lol.

I'll be slightly off topic but does anyone know what I can use to remove double-sided tapes on rubber as I just removed the window visors which came with the car. Currently they're just stuck there looking ugly as ever.

I guess I'll do the same as soon as I get my hands on a drill. Hope I don't drill too big of a hole. Lol.

I'll be slightly off topic but does anyone know what I can use to remove double-sided tapes on rubber as I just removed the window visors which came with the car. Currently they're just stuck there looking ugly as ever.

You could use turps. It'll softens up double side and gets it off really well. Just do whats recommended and try it on the rubber in an inconspicuous area first to make sure it doesn't eat the rubber. I'm pretty definite it won't hurt the rubber, just don't rub on clear plastic (it fogs it up really well....permanantly).

You could use turps. It'll softens up double side and gets it off really well. Just do whats recommended and try it on the rubber in an inconspicuous area first to make sure it doesn't eat the rubber. I'm pretty definite it won't hurt the rubber, just don't rub on clear plastic (it fogs it up really well....permanantly).

Pardon me but what are turps are where would I be able to get them? :P

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • For once a good news  It needed to be adjusted by that one nut and it is ok  At least something was easy But thank you very much for help. But a small issue is now(gearbox) that when the car is stationary you can hear "clinking" from gearbox so some of the bearing is 100% not that happy... It goes away once you push clutch so it is 100% gearbox. Just if you know...what that bearing could be? It sounding like "spun bearing" but it is louder.
    • Yeah, that's fine**. But the numbers you came up with are just wrong. Try it for yourself. Put in any voltage from the possible range and see what result you get. You get nonsense. ** When I say "fine", I mean, it's still shit. The very simple linear formula (slope & intercept) is shit for a sensor with a non-linear response. This is the curve, from your data above. Look at the CURVE! It's only really linear between about 30 and 90 °C. And if you used only that range to define a curve, it would be great. But you would go more and more wrong as you went to higher temps. And that is why the slope & intercept found when you use 50 and 150 as the end points is so bad halfway between those points. The real curve is a long way below the linear curve which just zips straight between the end points, like this one. You could probably use the same slope and a lower intercept, to move that straight line down, and spread the error out. But you would 5-10°C off in a lot of places. You'd need to say what temperature range you really wanted to be most right - say, 100 to 130, and plop the line closest to teh real curve in that region, which would make it quite wrong down at the lower temperatures. Let me just say that HPTuners are not being realistic in only allowing for a simple linear curve. 
    • I feel I should re-iterate. The above picture is the only option available in the software and the blurb from HP Tuners I quoted earlier is the only way to add data to it and that's the description they offer as to how to figure it out. The only fields available is the blank box after (Input/ ) and the box right before = Output. Those are the only numbers that can be entered.
    • No, your formula is arse backwards. Mine is totally different to yours, and is the one I said was bang on at 50 and 150. I'll put your data into Excel (actually it already is, chart it and fit a linear fit to it, aiming to make it evenly wrong across the whole span. But not now. Other things to do first.
    • God damnit. The only option I actually have in the software is the one that is screenshotted. I am glad that I at least got it right... for those two points. Would it actually change anything if I chose/used 80C and 120C as the two points instead? My brain wants to imagine the formula put into HPtuners would be the same equation, otherwise none of this makes sense to me, unless: 1) The formula you put into VCM Scanner/HPTuners is always linear 2) The two points/input pairs are only arbitrary to choose (as the documentation implies) IF the actual scaling of the sensor is linear. then 3) If the scaling is not linear, the two points you choose matter a great deal, because the formula will draw a line between those two points only.
×
×
  • Create New...