Moisture in R33 indicator tail light

[sl33ek]

Hi guys,

After the heavy rains in sydney recently i noticed that the left rear tail light has moisture and a bit of water in it. It seems to be stuck there and have no idea how it got in there as there is no visible gaps.

Its in the indicator/revers light part, under the brake lights. Does anyone know how to get rid of this moisture? Its been trapped in there for a while now and doesnt seem to be going away. A friend of mine suggested drilling a tiny hole in it and park it outside on a hot day until it dries up and filling it up with sealant afterwards, will this work?

I've tried removing the tail light assembly but it won't budge, there were three bolts that appear to be holding it on but it even once removed it wont come off, anyone know how to remove it?

Thanks

[mitchy_]

the whole brake/indicator/reverse light assembly is one piece, need to undo all the bolts, and then just puuuuuuuuuulll.. its got some really stick sealant

ive just had both mine out, and one is back in, if you have any trouble, gimme a yell

[mitchy_]

the whole brake/indicator/reverse light assembly is one piece, need to undo all the bolts (about 6-7 i believe), and then just puuuuuuuuuulll.. its got some really stick sealant

ive just had both mine out, and one is back in, if you have any trouble, gimme a yell

[sl33ek]

Hey thanks Mitchy.

I only undid 3 bolts so that was the problem, I'll look harder next weekend for the other bolts.

And yeah it looks like its sealed with a ton of black sticky tar or something, hope that wont be a problem

Cheers

[Damo]

I have the same problem on the right side. Have tried getting the assembly off by removing the nuts/bolts with no luck. will have to use a hammer next time i think. Let us know how you go with it, i might have another look this weekend

[rinmak]

Same!

Right hand side aswell

Looks like a common design flaw then aye.

Maybe a howto + fix is in order :crazy:

[krzysiu]

take off the skyline thing in between. UNdo all the Bolts. Then use a hair dryer on the seals to loosen them then pull it off. Then what i did was use the hairdryer to dry all the water from inside the indicator till it was perfect. Then put it back in with some sort of sealant so water doesnt get back in

[mitchy_]

if any of you guys want, ill take some detailed, step by step pictures of how i did it on the weekend.

i took off the entire rear end pretty much, lights, covers off ther lights, rear bar, skyline middle piece, wing, and bootlid if anyone wants the DIY for that.

[sl33ek]

That'll be great for future reference

Just a bit of an update, I got rid of the moisture finally. I had another go at removing the tail light myself but I wasn't game enough in the end.

I borrowed my sister's hair dryer and gave it a good blasting. Once the plastic gets really hot, I let it cool down then start again, working my way from left to right. The moisture is all gone now

[mitchy_]

liar, it was your hair dryer... wasn't it?

[sl33ek]

lol I would never be caught admitting its mine

The only hair dryer i have is in the engine bay

[Topaz]

and I have a puddle in the bootom of my far right hand rear brake light of my R32 as well

freeqy!

I recently replaced the stop and tail light in there so it might have a small gap somewhere

[heartbrkr]

my 33 has it, but i just ignore it. i think a lot of r33 have this prob. only heard of drilling a hole to let it evaporate.

shall have to see your how to guide if you get round to it.

[mitchy_]

i just started a new project today.. (making the R33 bootlid level with the quarter panels) so while im taking photos of that ill try remember to do the lights aswell

[totoro]

yeah my R32 4dr have the same problem but it seem to go away after a sunny day by itself and my car is parked outside a lot....

also as a side note i noticed that the moisture is in between the outside plastic and inside plastic so didnt bother to drill holes cos the moisture will not effect the globes and wiring.... so no danger really, only aesthetics