Condensation in the tail lights?

Re: separating the center lens, I was able to do that easily by letting it sit in hot water for awhile. I then ran an exacto knife blade between the lens and the back to cut through the sealant, which the hot water had softened.

So, where I circled in the picture is where the water is leaking into the trunk?

There is a lot of condensation in your center lens there.. Take it out and look at it very carefully to make sure it is sealed. If its cracked, replace it.

The center lens has a vent hole already, make sure it is not plugged. Also, there is no center lens gasket, instead, there are 4 black rubber washers that go over the bolts, replace them all. I have the same gap between the lenses, but no condensation, the gap is for expansion and should not give you much trouble, if in doubt, run a bead of clear silicon neatly along it.

Doraemon said:

So, where I circled in the picture is where the water is leaking into the trunk?

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No. The gaskets behind the tail light assemblies is where the water is going in. The gap you circled is normal, and is sealed by the tail light gasket. As nikey22 said, the center light does not really open into the trunk bay, except for the bolt holes. But, the bolt holes are largely filled by the bolts themselves, so I doubt you're getting any water through there.

My center light still fogs badly too, and unfortunately baking it to open up and re-seal is about the only permanent solution available, other than ordering a new one.

Okay, I finally got the center piece off (It took awhile because my sockets are not tall enough... I had to use a wrench to pry it loose, use my fingers to loosen it more until I can use a ratchet socket screw to reach it....) I can see a slight little crack on the surface of the lense, but it should not be able to get very much (if any) water/moister into the lense. I don't see anyother holes or openning to get water in except for the a round hole in the back of the lense where it matched up with a hole in the center of the back of the trunk.. (please see the blue circle). I assume that is where the light coming through from the trunk to light up this piece.







So, do I point the blow dryer toward the small hole in the back of the lense? I don't really see any other location where the moisture can sip through....

You could try making a paper funnel (cone) and taping the large end to the blow dryer and the narrow end to the spot you have circled. Run the blow-dryer on a low setting with heat. If there is a gap between the front and back sections, the large hole on the left should allow airflow. This might work. If not, the center piece will have to be boiled open.:frown:

Thanks for the advise. Does anyone have an instruction on the "bake open" procedure? Thanks..

Instructions on how to do it are located here.

Here is another side on how to open the center light. http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67292

After I open it.I remove the ACURA and replace it with NSX logo.

Warning to Doraemon - They are joking about using a blowtorch! Do not use a blowtorch, acid, angle grinder, etc! Boil it open and use a putty knife or plastic scraper to remove the old glue! Reseal with Permatex RTV Silicone Adhesive!

Sometimes you have to be extra cautious when dealing with a potential language barrier. Sarcasm doesn't translate well.

Sh!t, I melted my lenses with the blow torches.. NOT....


No problem. I understand these guys are just joking...:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

I'm having the same problem. I'm going to buy all new tail light seals, but first I need to get the water, yes, water... out of my tail light. It's weird because it's in so deep, I don't know how to get it out! There's water in between the inner and outer lenses. How do I get this water out???

When you have them out, pour the water out.

Try drilling holes in the bottom or side and pointing the drilling hole section so that the water can evaporate up out of the hole.

DanRC30 said:

I'm having the same problem. I'm going to buy all new tail light seals, but first I need to get the water, yes, water... out of my tail light. It's weird because it's in so deep, I don't know how to get it out! There's water in between the inner and outer lenses. How do I get this water out???

Click to expand...

Okay, the tail lamps dried out. However, the center one doesn't want to go away. I removed it and no matter what I do to dry it, I see the water coming back after the lense get cooled down. I end up sending it to Erik to get the ACURA to NSX change while getting the water out for good. I had also had my mechanic replaced all of the gaskets for the tail lamps. So far so good, but the car hasn't seen water for some times. I will wash and wax the car tomorrow. I will report back the result. Hopefully the condensation is gone for good.:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

Well, I came up with my own solution. Had to drill a small hole in the tail light to drain the water out, and then to get the condensation out, I put it in the windshield of another car so it sat in the hot car in the sun all day. That cleared up most of it in a few hours. One more day in the sun and it'll be clear. The heat from inside the car combines with direct sunlight really does the trick.

angkorwat said:

Here is another side on how to open the center light. http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67292

After I open it.I remove the ACURA and replace it with NSX logo.

Click to expand...

Sorry but it looks like you made the letters out of electrical tape.

Update... After switching out the gaskets for all of the taillamps, and installing the center lamp from Erick's mod, I took the car and had it for a quick external detail job (wash and zymol wax) done. I am glad to report that the moisture didn't came back. Everything looks great. I have to give a big shoutout to Erik for a great seal job he had done for my center piece. Thank you Erick!!!:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

I replaced my taillight gaskets on April 2009 with new ones from Acura. Moisture is back on my passenger taillight. I just noticed it this week. My trunk used to get wet before I replaced the gaskets and condensation used to be horrible on both lenses. After replacement of new gaskets, problem solved. What I've noticed so far are just a little condensation on the top upper right of the passenger taillights. My trunk and the other taillight is dry though. I'm wondering if the passenger gasket is a bad one.

I noticed that if anything in the trunk is wet like the carpet or even a wet jacket or something, the moisture will make its way to the tail lights when evaporating.

Also, I coated all of my gaskets with petroleum jelly just to add to keep the moisture out. Seems to be fine.

DanRC30 said:

Also, I coated all of my gaskets with petroleum jelly just to add to keep the moisture out. Seems to be fine.

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Petroleum jelly is bad it most likely broke down the foam of the gasket. Buy new ones and try again with out jelly.