DIY/Article: tail light gasket replacement on the cheap!

[Dxs]

Disclaimer:
The following is provided as a GUIDE ONLY, and neither myself nor Ozhonda take any responsibility for the outcomes of someone else doing the following. You follow these steps at your own risk!

Tools: (many may not be required)
Foam
Scissors
Razor blade
Prepwash/wax grease remover
Spanner
Socket wrench
Chalk
Rag



Background:
I noticed the other day that i had quite a bit of water in the spare wheel well in the back of my car.

I tracked down a source of the leak to the passenger tail light gasket. These gaskets are made out of a pretty much foam substance. They work by going between the tail light and the body and a basically squashed between the two to form a seal. Seeming as though my ef8 is 16 years old it looks as though parts of the gasket are basically staying squashed/lost its elasticity hence no longer forming a seal. Even after a few days around 100ml got into the tail light itself.. which eventually goes into the wheel well.

I heard from bsracer from crx au that these gaskets cost 50 bucks each from honda! **** that I said. So I went down to clark rubber to find some similar foam. There were various thicknesses availble, one was even close to the original gasket size but I ended up deciding to go with a foam around 160% of the orginal gasket size to make sure a good seal was formed.

I took the original gasket there so i could compair sizes, but the guy there ended up cutting a couple of new ones himself with various tools he had, eg some power cutter and hole punches etc. In the end I purchased 2 foam cut out of the gaskets for $5! (honda would have wanted around 100 for 2!).

I basically took the new foam gaskets home (i only needed one but got another just incase). Trimed them up a bit to perfection, punched holes for the threads with a phillips head screwdriver, cleaned the contacting surfaces with a prepwash/wax grease remover and then bolted the light back onto the body. Bolting it on obviously requires a little bit more force, but basically just do up the nuts untill you can no longer do them up.

Pics:


1. The original gasket, note how it remains squashed = seal dead
2. Original gasket with new one.. new one is thicker
3. New and old side by side
4. Old one on top of new
5. New one placed on tail light


So yeah 5 bucks and a couple of hours is better than paying 50 bucks and most likely waiting for the order to come in from honda!

-Dxs/Dan

[kayot1k]

hey dude, im starting to get some serious water leak. similar to the situation you have above mentioned.
i have an ek civic hatch.

have you noticed any more leaks after this DIY ?
i need to do this asap as its raining like no tomorrow down here in sydney

[Dxs]

i am pretty certain that this has fixed the tail light leak.. the days after i did the replace i did not notice any water from that area at all. And there is no reason why it would leak.

I have a leak from another area that i am half investigating at the moment, which is in no way linked to the taillight gasket. So water is still getting in every so often.

But anyway, as i said it should be a straight fix because the gasket is pretty much the same as stock. If it does leak i will let you know.


edit: leaks can be a bitch, sometimes you think they are coming from one spot.. but often there might be a water line/river along the inside of the plastics of your interior, so the source is different. Bla, but yeah, if you have a look at your taillight from the inside it should be easy to tell if there is water coming through the seal.

[kayot1k]

cool, thats the thing but ay?
ill hate it if, after i do the seal fix i still get a water leak from somewhere either from the tailight or something near it

thanks anyways on this diy , ill hit clark rubber soon enough.

[SiReal]

nice one. simple yet effective

[Limbo]

yeah i think i should do it too am getting abit of water also.

[Dxs]

just thought i would update

seems as though there is now some moisture back in the taillight..

the gasket seems to get real squished and loses its elasticity (for use of a better term).

I am going to now used a more dense foam.. i am thinking something similar to those things people use in the pool.. i am sure they are not porous etc

[JasonGilholme]

those foam noodle things???

[Dxs]

yeah..

but just a similar foam
they feel less aerated


rubber might also be a viable option

[Rasputin]

Make sure that it's 'closed-cell' foam. Not open cell.
Open cell is spongelike, and will let water through.

I can vouch for this method, as i used a simpler, more ghetto method with just strips of foam going around the outside, and it's worked perfectly. Just make sure the foam will be thick enough to create a tight, squished fit.

Good info.

[c00lman]

Dxs, you didnt mention how the foam was "SEALED" back at the tail light? when i took my tail light off, i realised the original honda foam has some seal thats sticking it to the tail light...can you use any seal?

[Dxs]

mine did not have any sealant
just the foam as a sealer

just goto an autostore and look for a sealant that is resistant to water that is similar to what u have found on the light


maybe someone with an EK can add some info