water/moisture in avensis tail lights?

Marco85

Have a 03 avensis that failed nct over water and moisture in tail lights. Dried them out with hairdryer and they still didnt look great so i got a lend of a friends and changed them over on friday. Today i checked the lenses and there was water and moisture in them since friday and i dont know how its getting in. Anyone ever have this problem with an avensis? Have the retest on tuesday morning and hopeing to get through it.

colm_mcm

Is there a leak in the boot too?

Run around the joins with silicone in the meantime, how did you dry them out? Did you out them on a rad or what?

I had taillights that used to fill with water from a leak somewhere in the tail gate that I couldn't find, the bottom of the taillights were over the bumper and not in the interior of the boot so drilling holes in the bottom of them did the trick.

Marco85

I dried them out with hairdryer. I will check the boot tomorrow to see if its damp or wet. There must be a leak somewhere,finding it is the hard part.

colm_mcm

Hair dryer won't really dry it out.

Marco85

What do u suggest?

colm_mcm

Put somewhere warm. I've previously put light units in the oven at 70 degrees to dry them out,

LordSutch

Amazing isnt it, this problem of water in the tail lights has been a curse in many makes of car for decades, so the Avensis joins the club :cool:

silicone sealant may indeed be the answer.

Marco85

Would that not burn the bejaysus out of them? Would the hot press do it?

colm_mcm

No, it won't burn them. Sounds odd alright.

Howjoe1

LordSutch wrote: »

Amazing isnt it, this problem of water in the tail lights has been a curse in many makes of car for decades, so the Avensis joins the club :cool:

silicone sealant may indeed be the answer.

Might this solve my problem?

Rain is getting into my Mondeo Estate. Worst spot seems to be above the passenger door (roof part). It spreads around the front and sometimes drips slowly through interior light:mad:

Replacing all the seals a big job? or could I get away with bunging a load of silicone sealant on ?

Avns1s

I don't think I'd be happy putting the Avensis tail light cluster in the oven at 70 degrees. Lot of plastic that I wouldn't be sure would take much more than that.

The avensis wouldn't be known for moiture in the tail lights. Headlights yes but not taillights! Have you taken off the cluster and looked for any crack. It may not necessarily be on the lens but perhaps where the lens is attached to the body of it if you catch my drift.

Have you water in the wheel well in the boot?? If not, it would just suggest it is getting into the light through a crack as I am suggesting. If it is getting in by the light fitting and going in through where the bulds are inserted, then there would be some water finding its way to the wheel well.

Marco85

Will check if theres water geting to the wheel well tomorrow. Would it be expensive to get sorted in toyota main dealer?

Avns1s

Marco85 wrote: »

Will check if theres water geting to the wheel well tomorrow. Would it be expensive to get sorted in toyota main dealer?

I would wait and see if you can find the source. Some silicone might work thought it needs to be applied properly and not layered on in lumps. In this case, if you find a crack as I mentioned earlier, you might be able to seal it. Alternatively, if you think that the water is getting in by the light cluster, you might be able to set it in a thin bed of silicone.

When you finish, there shouldnt be any silicone visible particularly on the outside.

Marco85

Will have a look tomorrow. Just seems strange thats its happened to both sets. Firstly my own and then when i put a mates in on friday afternoon. There hasnt been that much rain since and a bit of jew in the mornings. When i had the lenses out earlier the bottom part of the rubber seal was fairly wet.

Avns1s

Ok sorry, I didn't pick up on the fact that water had gotten into the two different sets.

Per chance, did the car have a tip on that corner?? As I said earlier, it's unusual to have water coming into the Avensis via the tail light seals.

Anyway, if there was no damage to that quarter of the car, you could get a new seal from your toyota dealer. Alternatively, you could set it in on a bed of silicone but be warned, if you need to take it out again once the silicone sets, you will find it fairly difficult to get the cluster off!

Marco85

No it hasnt been tipped to my knowledge anyway. Will have a look tomorrow for what you mentioned and will get hairdryer to them tomorrow evening and dry them out before retest on tuesday morning.

Avns1s

Marco85 wrote: »

No it hasnt been tipped to my knowledge anyway. Will have a look tomorrow for what you mentioned and will get hairdryer to them tomorrow evening and dry them out before retest on tuesday morning.

OK Best of luck in the test.

CJhaughey

Which Body is the car?
I have a Mk1 estate that leaked, The problem was the seal between the roof and quarter panel.
On mine you could see a tiny crack below the black trim on the roof seam the crack is tiny not even 1mm wide but it takes in water by capillary action and allows it to run down the inside of the rear arches into the wells each side of the spare wheel well, maybe on different bodies it affects different parts?
I used some stuff called Captain Tolleys Creeping Crack Cure to seal it.
Its a very thin sealant that finds its way into cracks by capillary action and seals them.
I just lifted the trim forward of the rear roof rail and put some sealant into the gap.
You can pop the rubber bungs out of the wells to drain them if they are full.

Senna

If you don't find the problem tomorrow, you could pick up some Silica Crystals packets in a diy store (i know homebase does them). Pack them around the lights overnight and they will pull all the moisture out for the test. But best to find where water is getting in and fix the problem completely.

Marco85

Cheers folks. Will give it a bash tomorrow.

Marco85

No dampness or wet in the boot anyway!