water in rear light cluster

[million miles]

the rear offside light cluster has accumulated some water,the screws to release the plastic lamp cover are below the lip of rubber seal of the boot lid and somewhat inaccessible,I don't want to remove the rubber boot seal and then have water in the boot. any ideas/suggestions? FYI my tool kit is limited to basic screw drivers etc. thanks in advance.

[AR]

Hi there, the screws that you see are only the fascia covers, not really that relevant to this. More than likely water is getting in somewhere. Could be the foam seals, could be that the lights were not seal properly. The only way I know that you can get rid of it is by drilling some holes at the bottom, preferably somewhere not visible,so the water can exit. You can also remove the bulbs and try your luck with a hairdryer, but once it gets wet it will be the same again.

Cheers,

AR

[Dave J]

I had the same problem, mine were really wet inside and took me ages to dry out! They are not hard to remove and as Ary said the screws only hold on the top cover. Pull up the rubber strip, remove the screws hold in the black plastic strips, pop out the grey plastic things that hold the carpet in place then pull the carpet back a little and undo the 10mm nuts that hold in the lights. I think there are 24 of the buggers in all, gently / carefully pull out the lights then dry them in the sun or in the airing cupboard. Once dry drill a few small holes in the bottom of the lights and refit, i used some silicon sealer around the seals and mine have been fine since :). I pinched all the info off Ary so it's thanks to him really!!
Dave.

[NSA]

I sorted the same issue with a few 2mm holes drilled on the underside of the lamp cover. It took two minutes and worked a treat. Maybe try this before dismantling the lamp?

[NSXGB]

MM, I'd suggest that before you attack with a drill, remove the lights and find out first whether the light casing is separating. If it is, some people have had success by resealing with a little silicone. If the the foam seals that go between the light and the car are not ok (they shrink apparently) you could spend loads on new ones or again get out the silicone.
I personally would leave the drilling as a last option especially if you are not confident, even though it seems like the most common cure for the symptom.
HTH.