Zre tailights fitment

[pezzie]

I've been having issues with water getting into my tail lights and decided to track down how the water was getting through.

I have noticed gaps around 2/3mm which allows water to leak into the tail lights. The foam piece isnt enough to keep the water out and gets soaked if it rains.

The areas which have the leaks are the following.

Can someone take pictures for me of their tail lights just incase i havent put them in correctly. I wasnt able to take pictures of my own car since i've put silicone in the gap to seal it up. i dont like how it looks though <_<

[Branno]

I just removed/fixed/installed the tail light in mums ZRE. What year is yours? I found the black foam on the back of the light was soaked when I removed it. Best think you could do is put some silicone in the small gap between the outer plastic and the inner fitting if you know what i mean, there is about a 2-3mm gap all the way around. Fill that, it won't be visible when you re install your light.

[pezzie]

mine is an 08 just like your mums. red as well. its also worse in the left taillight. Yeah i filled the gaps with silicone already. Its not that visible, but i was hoping i could make it fit properly.

[Branno]

What do you mean it doesnt fit properly, how so?

[69.NIX]

I find this a bit hard to be believe.

I've had stockies and after market tails on my car and never noticed a this "gap" of which you speak of.

Might sound like a stupid question but : Did you get the car brand new? If it's second hand, maybe the was some repair work done that didn't quite goto plan / fit.

Can you post up some pics (of your car) with these gaps.

[pezzie]

fit properly as in no gap. I went to the dealers to check out some other corollas and noticed that they actually have no gap. They sit absolutely flush so water doesnt leak into the tail lights. It just drips down and out the car.

The car was bought at an auction so i have no idea if it was in an accident or not. I know that i didnt have an issue with it until i removed it to do the jdm tail light mod.

I'll take pictures when it doesnt rain in melbourne because i've taped up one gap and put silicone on the other. It has stopped the water entering the lights. i just dont like how it looks.

*i went out to take pictures and noticed a little bit of condensation still getting into the lights. I guess the lights might possibly be damaged because the gaps on both sides are different sizes. i'll get a set of L.E.D lights for the car instead. lol

Edited July 13, 2011 by pezzie

[chicken]

fit properly as in no gap. I went to the dealers to check out some other corollas and noticed that they actually have no gap. They sit absolutely flush so water doesnt leak into the tail lights. It just drips down and out the car.

The car was bought at an auction so i have no idea if it was in an accident or not. I know that i didnt have an issue with it until i removed it to do the jdm tail light mod.

I'll take pictures when it doesnt rain in melbourne because i've taped up one gap and put silicone on the other. It has stopped the water entering the lights. i just dont like how it looks.

*i went out to take pictures and noticed a little bit of condensation still getting into the lights. I guess the lights might possibly be damaged because the gaps on both sides are different sizes. i'll get a set of L.E.D lights for the car instead. lol

are your taillights aftermarket copies? could explain the fitment problem.

[pezzie]

nah they are the factory lights. Looking at them now, i think they are damaged because they have different gaps in different areas

[Branno]

Okay, here are some photos of when I did the headlight fix. Ill show you what I mean about the gap. It will be outlined in yellow.

appologies for the large photos. In the last photo where you see the red outline section, that is where the foam was completely soaked. I struggle to see how the water can get in from the top or bottom. I have come to a conclustion that the water comes in from the side section which partly wraps around the side of the car. It is as the high speed of the water passing forces the water in.

[pezzie]

thanks branno. in my case my whole foam piece was wet. I might just seal the whole tail light and put plumbers tape around the globes. it depends on how bad it is from now on. however this does give me an excuse to get LED lights.

Branno, it stopped raining and i went to have a look at what you are talking about. I see this very small gap which could cause water to enter. Initially i thought water entered through the light globe holes. thanks heaps!

Edited July 13, 2011 by pezzie