Boot Leak
 

I have water coming in through the passenger rear light fitting as far as I can tell. I have removed the fitting and cleaned things up but the seal is not great and continues to let water in. Anyone sealed this fitting before and if so, how?

I've read non setting mastic is the thing to use rather than silicone sealant which sets and makes the fitting difficult to remove. Is this correct?

Cheers :)

I did this on both classics. Guess Subaru still haven't got that bit right. Yes. Non setting mastic is what I used too.

I havent had my rear lights out yet ? Is there a rubber seal then that gets compressed when you tighten the light in ?

Coming from lr background ive heard a lot about water ingress

Ive used spray sillicone and normal grease on door/boot seals before and its done the trick

If theres a seal kinda fitted to metal as well as spraying or greasing the part of seal thats visible its always worthwhile to pull the seal off and grease/sillicone spray the lip of metal and mounting face if the seal so water cant get in by going under the seal if that makes sense

Best stuff for sealing things up that you are sure you wont want to take apart is sikoflex ... It doesnt leak but is near impossible to take apart again if used

Captain tolleys creeping crack is another product people use , ive not used it but many have and its supposed to be great ,, afaik its real thin and you pour it where roughly you think the leak is and it finds the gap and seals it

Ive used ordinary clear bath sealant before to test if an area is leaking and seal it to test ,, easily removable

The lights are sealed in with a thick black chewing gum type sealant.
It stays quite fluid and it re-seals if the light is refitted. But they normally dont seal completely and slightly leak.

Best solution is a tube of black mastic and use twice as much as you think you need.
Just squirt it on top of the old stuff.

On the bug (and I assume all newages as the lights are the same) there wasn't any black mastic stuff. There's a sheet of a rubbery foam probably 5-8mm thick that goes over the back of the lens with holes for the wiring. That is then just crushed between the lens unit and the bodywork when the lamp is screwed in.....

Makes it very quick and easy to swap the lamps over, did mine in 10 minutes and never had any leaks through the lights :)

Just googled and found this, best photo i could find....

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTA2NlgxNj..._id=8800005007

Yep, mine had the rubbery foam which probably could do with replacing.

if the rubbery foam looks like its tired or deteriorated badly and its replaceable its prob worth finding some good cond 2nd hand or new ones

if the rubber can be taken off the light I would as stated above remove the rubber and give it a liberal spray on the fixing side before refitting of this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUTOGLYM-S...item1e701537e3

or give it a smear of grease along inner surface channel - can use grease on outer edge as well but silicone is a bit easier and not so messy - silicone usually works for minor leaks or grease if its more major as its that bit thicker

quite often the rubbers just get old, dry out get hairline cracks and get a bit stiff and brittle - a good wash with hot water and fairy liquid followed by a spray with silicone or wipe with grease will do the trick and its cheap and easy to try

Light fitting removed and the compression seal is better than I remembered. Smeared with grease for good measure and refitted. I'll make sure the car gets wet tomorrow .... :nod: