Hi Bricksters,

After heavy rain I found a nice puddle in the trunk of my sedan, right in the middle of it ... not sure how this water got in. Carpeting in the trunk was soaked, with a visible pool of water on the driver side. A rear light bulb went out too although I replaced it recently on the driver side as well.

Tail-light assembly on the driver side ?

My car is rust free and I'd like to keep that way.

Thanks for any hints.

--
'89 244DL M47 165K miles

Check the foam gasket.I had the same problem.Turns out when I removed the taillight for cleaning and waxing behind it, I did not tighten the nuts enough for fear of snapping them.I then turned the gaskets around and made sure the nuts were nice and tight. No more leaks!Good luck,
Nelson

Bruce is right - suspect the tail light.

The bulb that went out, was it wildly discolored? That's an indication that the bulb was lit and hit with water. BLAM! Can happen on the lower outer bulb. BTDT.

While everything is drying out, put in a new trunk pad of multiple (20+) thicknesses of old newspapers. They will soak up any more leaks, and maybe give a clue as to where the leak might be.

Also put a folded up old newspaper down into the spare tire well, with the upper end tucked under the tail light cover. It it gets wet, you know. Do the same on the passenger side.

Look for plastic tubes up in back of the hinges. They are drains for the air flow vent below the rear window. If you have a sunroof, there will be "Y" fitting where the rear corner sunroof drains connect. Note tht the front drains are visible - just barely - out the pillar between the front door hinges.

Good Luck,

Bob

:>)

The bulb I replaced was all blue and white inside.

The tail light is original and the corner (red) lens is very old. It seems that the PO replaced the some of the other lenses on this tail light but not the entire assembly. Also a small hall was drilled in the red lens (to let water out ? ).

What should I replace? The gasket only ? The entire assembly ?

Many thanks.
--
'89 244DL M47 165K miles

Being too cheap to buy new taillights, I drilled holes in mine (2 in each side, I think), and have had no problems since.

Where did you drill your holes exactly? There is one already on my tail light from PO, but it does not seem to do the job.

Thanks.
--
'89 244DL M47 165K miles

Going from memory here, but if you take the assembly out and flip it upside down, the corner lens has sort of a flat j-shaped surface. I drilled two holes on the bottom, but towards the outside edge of the lens (ie so they are farther away from the body of the car). I think I drilled them about a third of the way from either edge, just to space them out evenly. Make sure you drill them on the bottom, and not on the outer/facing surface, as you could have trouble with passing inspection if there are visible holes in the lens. Also, crud tends to collect in there, it could be that the POs hole just got plugged up.

Good luck, I went through a lot of bulbs before I finally drilled the holes, no problems since.

The bulb hit water. BTDT

First thing is to drill the hole a little bigger, if you find that it isn't clogged up.

Water gets into the bulb chamber, then sloshes into the trunk. Replacing the gasket therefore has no effect. Was it the lower outer bulb? That's the one that leaks on mine.

Ultimately the whole unit must be replaced, I have never seen a way to find and fix such a leak. Only the backup lens is designed to be removed and replaced.

Remember that a tail light unit for 1986+ is not the same as older ones. The left side can be easily made to work. Right side is quite tricky. In either case you must use the newer circuit board. New part number begins with a "6".

Has to do with the conversion of the upper inner from a brake light to a fog light, and the change of the lower outer from a tail light to a tail/brake light.

Start surfing eBay, and caveat emptor.

Good Luck,

Bob

:>)

1) Tail light, with trunk open use a hose or large jug of water and pour it along the top and side edges of the light.

2) Is the gasket in place around the trunk edge? Is the drain channel around the trunk filled with debris?

3) Also look inside near the hinges, there is a clear plastic tube that I think acts as a drain for the ventilation system, are they in place?
--
Bruce S. near D.C.