Brake Light Seals, Keeps Filling With Water!!!

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chausse420

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I have two brake/tail lights, both on the right side rear that keep getting full of water. I live in the Willamette valley so it rains 13 months out of the year, LOL. I just replaced my brake light bulb that has been full of water Since I bought the car 6+ months ago, and it never affected it. Now it keeps blowing (probably because the RE Audio 12" in the trunk now). Does anybody know where I can get a seal for those two lights. One is on the trunk, the other is on the quarter panel. I called the dealership and they said they cant get the seal, neither can my dealership buddy, and im not paying 330 bucks for a new tail light assembly!!! If anybody can help, it would be very much appreciated!!! Sorry for long post, just trying to be as specific as possible. Its a 2001 Lincoln LS V8, Thanks in advance for all your help!!!
 
What do you mean cant seal it? If goobing black silicone doesn't work?? Indulge me, seems like most people to try the silicone said it worked short term, but not for very long.
 
Are the bulbs really burning out, or is it that one of the contact wires is melting into the plastic base of the bulb? I am having that problem right now with the rear turn signals. It is either an issue with the blubs or the socket, and I am slowly looking into it.

I haven't had any problems with water getting into the light assemblies (yet any way). I have had issues with water getting into the reflectors mounted to the trunk lid. I didn't try to find and stop the leak. Instead, I drilled a couple of small holes in the bottom lip of each reflector to drain the water out. So far, so good.
 
Tons of headlight assemblies on eBay both used and new for much less than retail.
 
Id say so... I've never had the problem, but if your sure its leaking around the edge of the lens and housing, and cant get silicone to seal it (more work than its worth considering its prob moldy at this point) then replace it... If you look in the for sale section up top.. a few guys are parting out LS's... if not ebay will surely have them cheaper than dealer
 
I've had water leak into my tails before. i tried silicone in every possible place and still had water leaking in. Never found the crack. Several brake bulbs later, i just ended up replacing it.

Save yourself the trouble. Just replace it. They're pretty cheap on ebay...especially for gen 1s
 
I am in class now and have been looking on ebay, im just affraid to buy one that is used and end up having the same problem a few months down the road becuase they are used as well, I'll look in the for sale section and see if i cant find some people parting some out with good quality parts.
 
I did exactly what Joe did, several years ago on both my quarter panel mounted tail lights.

I drilled two 1/16" holes in the bottom of the housings, so the water drains out. Havent had a bulb prematurely die since.
 
I ran a bead of clear silicone caulk between the taillight housing and the black gasket that seals it, all the way around the taillight. This fixed both of my leaking taillights for going on 2 years now.

Make sure to completely dry yours out before trying to seal them.
 
Old mechanics trick: seal per suggested above silicone or gasket sealer. Let dry real good. Spray all areas with clear spray paint.
 
I sealed with silicone. Repair lasted 4+ years and was still good when I traded it.
 
I have this same issue. I'm going to try the drilling of some holes. Related question: Because of this (at least I believe) my brake light connector is bad. When my lights are on it's fine, however when I press the brakes it doesn't get brighter. Yes, I have the correct 3157 dual filament bulb, so I know it's the socket (or maybe the wire). Is there any source to get a new socket without needing to get the entire harness?
 
Did you check the connectors? If you have water high enough to touch the bulb then you probably have corrosion inside the socket. Use a small file or some sandpaper to clean them.
 
Yeah, I checked the connectors, and I tried "cleaning" them. Didn't work, although I didn't use a file or screw driver. Just tried to use some electrical contact cleaner. I'll try that first, thanks
 
silicone sealant

yes the sealant sounds like it will work or how about a hot glue gun to seal the cracks?
 
Ended up using some RTV along the whole entire inside, underneath the rubber gasket, and voila. Worked like a charm, no more leaking at all! So much better than buying new tail light and brake light assemblies. Thanks for all your help guys!! Much appreciated!!
 
regiment1 said:
I ran a bead of clear silicone caulk between the taillight housing and the black gasket that seals it, all the way around the taillight. This fixed both of my leaking taillights for going on 2 years now.

Make sure to completely dry yours out before trying to seal them.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I did. I dried them out with an air hose, sat them in the sun for about an hour each to get as much of the moisture out as possible. Than I put a layer of black silicone in between the black gasket and the plastic from the tail light and ran it all the way around the tail light, and than i used a sharpened chisel, very small, to shove it down below the gasket, it worked amazing. I haven't had one leak yet, and its been about a month or so, maybe longer.
 
joegr said:
Are the bulbs really burning out, or is it that one of the contact wires is melting into the plastic base of the bulb? I am having that problem right now with the rear turn signals. It is either an issue with the blubs or the socket, and I am slowly looking into it.

I haven't had any problems with water getting into the light assemblies (yet any way). I have had issues with water getting into the reflectors mounted to the trunk lid. I didn't try to find and stop the leak. Instead, I drilled a couple of small holes in the bottom lip of each reflector to drain the water out. So far, so good.
Click to expand...

Joe, have you tried slathering some dialectric grease in the socket.. Usually when they melt like that, it's due to intermediate contact and the bulbs end up arcing.
 
blwnbyu said:
Joe, have you tried slathering some dialectric grease in the socket.. Usually when they melt like that, it's due to intermediate contact and the bulbs end up arcing.
Click to expand...

Not yet. Dielectric grease won't make the connection between the bulb and the socket any better. It would just seal out water and prevent corrosion. If/when there is a next time, I may replace the sockets and try the dielectric grease as a preventative measure. It's interesting that the OEM bulbs had no trouble, but the replacement ones do.

It's a 12V resistive load. I don't think there's any arcing going on. I do think that the resistance of the bulb-to-socket contact is too high, causing heating at the contact point.
 
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