What is the quickest way to get this water out? and how do Identify where its coming from? Left and Right filled after I washed my car with a normal water hose no high pressure at all

 

the easiest way it to take it to the dealer to have them replaced under warranty.

 

Just noticed mine doing this yesterday for the first time too.

 

What did it cost to fix? As another out of warranty owner learning the price of things like this would be helpful.

 

I had so much water in my left taillight that when my bass hit you could see lil waves...it was awesome, but it had to go...

...took it to the dealer and had it replaced under warranty

 

not sure how much it would cost to replace out of warranty. i think i remember saying someone drilled some small holes in the bottom to keep the water out but i'd have to do a search to find that thread. if someone doesn't do it sooner i may look for that thread tonight.

 

i lied - here's the thread:

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tech-garage-22/water-tail-light-90139/

 

I had this happen to my right taillight - it was under warranty so they fixed it ... but my question is does anybody know if the new taillight is different?? I mean, i have an '04, so is the new taillight from a different year? in other words, has anything changed to PREVENT it from happening over and over again or will it just keep happening??

I want to get my taillights smoked, but i don't want to pay to get them done if they might leak again ...

 

wow, i have only ever seen it on the side with the key, never the other side...then again i dont really pay to much attention to anything

 

My understanding is that this is by design. I believe all modern lamp assemblies have venting. You will notice condensation when barometric pressures change (weather changes from humid to dry and vice versa). They probably aren't designed to be airtight. I think the humidity difference between inside the lamp and outside will equalize over time and clear out. If someone has condensation problems in Arizona where it's bone dry, I'd like to hear about it.

 

I was still under warranty so I didnt have to pay. The dealer charged 127 for the light and 17 to replace it.

 

I'm having the same problem for the first time, mine is an '04. I seriously don't think the problem with our taillights is by design.

 

I cut up my taillight so warranty is out of the question so I had to find out what it was and when I checked my taillight after a rain storm I noticed there is a channel of water that goes from the top of the taillight to right behind the reverse light and there is alittle angle for water to drain off but mine was filled with dirt right between the reverse housing and a screw used for mounting the reflector and I cleaned that out and so far it has rained 3 more times and have not got condensation yet
hope this helps

 

You can try inserting a sachet of dessicant into the lamp assembly. Hahaha.
I have the fogging on humid days BTW. I'm not alarmed. I see BMWs, Lexus, and others have the same problem on humid days too. They all must have defective lamps.

 

I recently had one replaced due to body damage. I don't have the estimate handy, but the whole tail light assembly was about $300.

 

secrets revealed!

condensation does not happen becos there is a suspected gap somewhere along the lines where the clear plastic cover is sealed. cos if u take out the lamp and fill extra water tru the bulb sockets, and wait for hours or days, you wont find any leakage.

it happens becos there is a leakage tru the sponge layer fr the inside. the thin black sponge gasket that sits between the light and the car body. when it rains or u wash ur car, water seeps tru the gutter lines of the boot and is spose to flo out somewhere, it will pass the tail lights. if the sponge gasket is leaking, water is gonna collect in cavities at the base of the bulb sockets. suppose u dont drive ur car at all... nothing will happen. in the case u drive ur car, when the bulbs illuminate, it will heat up the water in the cavity, causing it to become vapour and it enters the lighting chamber tru the bulb sockets.

so the solution is to make sure the sponge gasket is not leaking, u can see water marks if it is.

and dont allow water to collect in the lights for long a period, becos that will damage the silver paint in the light when soaked in water for too long. if u start to have a pool pf water inside, take out ur light asap and pour out the water, then service ur sponge gasket.

 

Had Both mine replaced only had 3000 miles on my 05 under warranty
Dealer said he had to see it to lucky it sticks around a few days after it rains.
Just another trip to the dealer.

 

I havent had this problem in my tail lights.
But!
I do have this problem in my headlight.

the diffrence is...... It was my fault.

when I was putting in my HIDs. I didnt put the plastic seal back in properly. So humidity came in.

Its not Water that comes into it. its just the humidity and the hot engine that cause condensation inside my headlight.

after some time of doing this, the water has started to stain my headlight. It looks nasty. I'll have to take it into the dealer to get it replaced. I hope that they dont give me crap for my Turbo and say that they wont change my headlight because of that.

 

To answer your question...I am not completely sure if the new taillight is different, but this is what I CAN tell you. I also have an 04 and I had both replaced under warranty about 30,000 miles ago (a couple of years). I hadn't had any problem with the new ones until recently. The last time it rained here, I noticed the condensation in one taillight again. So knowing this little tidbit of information, my natural assumption is that they just replace them with the same part.

 

Yes, this is true, the water comes in through the sponge gasket that seats the housing onto the body and concurrently seals the bulb sockets into the trunk. The seals that hold the clear plastic lense to the lense housing are not where the water is coming through!!! I am turboed and will not go to the dealer unless I really have to

The channels of water that runoff from the trunk structure runs right around this gasket. In my case, grit carried by the water will slowly collect on the sponge gasket and will eventually start to offset the gasket enough to let water through where the bulbs sockets are sealed. Strangely, the grit will actually pocket in one part of the sponge gasket and open the seal to the socket housing. I believe the grit works its way through the sponge gaskets as it expands and contracts, gets wet and then drys. It ends up being just enough grit to open this seal for water to enter. That's why so much water can pool and get in there and can't escape.

Just clean off the grit on the gasket, pour out as much water as you can from the bulb sockets, dry out your lense with a blow dryer, and then reseat the now clean sponge gasket during install. I did this and no more water! Trouble is, I will have to do this again unless I can figure a way out to stop the dirt from collecting on the gasket and pocketing there. Possibly a full rubber gasket would fix this and would be better than the stock foam rubber gasket, or maybe two gaskets thick. Can anybody else confirm?

 

the taillights are FE01-51-150M (rh) mazda lists 261.65
FE01-51-160L (lh) 266.75

we change these all the time, ive got 10-15 pairs of these in the back, some leak badly others just condense....

 

Please do a CTRL-F (find) on "condensation" here.
You will discover that venting is by design.
http://www.smartmotorist.com/lig/lig.htm

So unless you have severe condensation and water accumulating on the bottom, stop driving up car prices by getting your taillamps replaced, please.

 

Oh I'm sorry I guess I should just deal with the fact that water condensation has been sitting inside my taillight for the past 3 weeks. Despite the fact that my car actually, you know, has a warranty that covers the manufacturer fixing problems caused by such basic actions as "parking outside", "driving in the rain" and "washing the car".

Sounds like I should take it to the mechanic and if it's a warranty issue they should replace it, right?

 

Endor, read what I wrote carefully before getting defensive.

Did you miss the part where I wrote, "...unless you have severe condensation and water accumulating on the bottom..."?

Condensation that doesn't go away in 3 weeks is severe, go get it checked out if you haven't. If you have a fever for 3 weeks, you go to a doctor. My comment is directed at the bozos that want stuff replaced at the slightest perceived abnormality, similar to bozos that go to a doctor every time they have the slightest sign of a cold.

I've seen my share of idiots on the car forums thinking that modern lamp assemblies are airtight, those that say crap like, "don't change your bulbs in humid weather because you'll get all the moisture in", or "seal all the holes with silicone".

 

If people want to complain to the dealer about every little thing wrong with their car, they have a right to, just like the dealer has a right to say "I'm sorry that's not covered" or "That's not severe enough to need fixing, see if it clears up in a week". They certainly won't give you a $300 taillight assembly if they don't need to, out of the goodness of their hearts.

Mostly I just object to your idea that it's somehow driving up prices. If anything it's doing the opposite, driving down resale values due to chronic problems, and putting a large amount of "slightly used" tail-lights on the market!