Boot drain holes

[matpp]

I washed the car a few days ago and water has obviously seeped into the rear LH lamp as there was condensation inside. How does the water drain away from the boot opening.....on mine the water stands so I presume the drain holes are blocked.

Does anyone know where the drain holes are located?

Cheers,

[Sudesh]

i may be wrong but there is no drain holes as standard, you have to drill them yourself ... works for some people and not for others

common fault re the rear lights - fogging, water etc

lol he doesn't want to do that!

Think you picked him up wrong, it's not the lights thats being referred too, it the actual drain channels of the body of the car.

[kingsley]

Hi Mathieu, I also had a problem sometimes with condensation in the rear lights. I drilled 8 2.5mm holes, 4 on each side, in the bottom section on the corner under neath the lights. You can not see them. 1 in the corner L/H side of the fog light, 1 in the corner of the off side indicator light, then 2 more equally spaced between the fog light and indicator light, then the same on the near side. If you have a small battery drill you can do this without removing. Just watch you don't drill to far. I wrapped a piece of plastic tape around drill bit 2mm from the tip.

Take care Kingsley

[Sudesh]

Hi Mathieu, I also had a problem sometimes with condensation in the rear lights. I drilled 8 2.5mm holes, 4 on each side, in the bottom section on the corner under neath the lights. You can not see them. 1 in the corner L/H side of the fog light, 1 in the corner of the off side indicator light, then 2 more equally spaced between the fog light and indicator light, then the same on the near side. If you have a small battery drill you can do this without removing. Just watch you don't drill to far. I wrapped a piece of plastic tape around drill bit 2mm from the tip.

Take care Kingsley

Drilling a hole is not the solution, Ive been there done that and you will still get condensation at some point. The proper thing to do in my opinion is to replace the rear lens gaskets.

[matpp]

Thanks for the replies.....yes, I'm referring the the boot drain channels in the body of the car: in my opinion the lamp condensation is due to water lying in the boot shut lines without draining away. Are you saying there aren't any?

Sudesh, I was under the impression the lamp seals were NLA?

Cheers,

[Problem Child]

Anyone got the poart number for the gasket as my rar centre "honda" panel has condensation

[havoc]

Mat - I had this initially with my car, but it was due to a lot of 'dirt and stuff' accumulated between the top of the light fitting and the boot lip, which was stopping water from draining away around that lip.

Make sure that's clean first, then change light rubbers as suggested above.

[Sudesh]

Anyone got the poart number for the gasket as my rar centre "honda" panel has condensation

From memory, the centre panel does not have any gasket, so if you have condensation in there you may have a hole/crack or the seal/glue around the edges is gone bad in places.

[Sudesh]

Mat - I had this initially with my car, but it was due to a lot of 'dirt and stuff' accumulated between the top of the light fitting and the boot lip, which was stopping water from draining away around that lip.

Make sure that's clean first, then change light rubbers as suggested above.

Yeah would agree with that! Plus take your rubber seal off for the boot lid, and clean all down along there, amazing the amount of dirt and grit that builds.

[Sudesh]

Thanks for the replies.....yes, I'm referring the the boot drain channels in the body of the car: in my opinion the lamp condensation is due to water lying in the boot shut lines without draining away. Are you saying there aren't any?

Sudesh, I was under the impression the lamp seals were NLA?

Cheers,

There is no real drain channel as such, water basically drains behind the tail lights and out the bottom along the bumper edge. If your seals are real dirty, which they probably are, then worth cleaning them down, but replacing them would be even better!

Preparation though is really important, no point in just peeling off the old seals and sticking the new ones on. Take your time and clean everything down and also clean the body of the car around where the tail lights sit.

[NSXGB]

Part numbers for early lights here: http://www.acurapartswarehouse.com/Page_Product/PartDetail.aspx?catalogID=8&productID=5&yearID=13&doorID=2&gradeID=93&areaID=1&transmissionID=4&originID=-1&colorLabelIDs=-1&colorLabelID=-1&sectionID=5&idAndImageID=1287%20379298&isBigPicture=False

As has been said, if you are getting condensation in your lights it will be either the light is cracked, the seals have shrunk or the glue round the tail light casing is cracked.

If the casing glue has deteriorated, a smidge of decent clear silicone sealant round the join has been successful in the past (Dow Corning 781 is excellent stuff).

The gaskets are quite expensive @ ~ $100 per set + shipping etc. I've not tried it but maybe smearing some silicone grease on the gasket face of the offending side would be a good solution?

Cleaning all round the seals might stop the water collecting and stop the fogging but you will still have a problem so you will still need to fix the lens, seal etc. as they should be watertight.

I believe that there are some drainage holes on the hinge end of the boot lid, near the hatch struts but none at the trailing end. It is quite annoying that the water collects there when you wash it.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi, Mathieu.
As others mentioned, it is fairly common issue on our NSX.

Most of them were caused by the moisture inside the boot and the fatigue
at the form like gasket behind the tail light assy.

After you drove the car, park it overnight.
Open the boot and look at the back of the boot lid.
If you see condensation, you have wet boot carpet and it will cause condensation
inside the tail light assy if the gasket is already tired.


Tail light assy (inc. the centre piece) can crack, split including the area
around the reverse/rear fog square lens.
[Edit: The assy itself can also warp over many years and making it almost impossible
to create good seal even with the new gasket.]


It is possible that someone touched on the 10’s of the fixing nut and over torqued them
or didn’t replace the gasket after removing the assy.

Also, there is a tiny felt like washer under the nut behind the gasket.
Quite often, some of them were missing and allowing the evaporated wet air
to pass through under the fixing nut.

I have seen many NSX with hole drilled at the bottom of the light assy.
Personally, I won’t do such thing because it is hiding the issue and not fixing it.

By hiding the issue, it could lead to other issues such as false warning of ‘BRAKE LAMP’
inside the dash indicator due to green rust/corrosion at the brake light bulb terminal.



Depending on how you park the car (flat, up/down slope),
there is two critical drain holes/channel available on our NSX.

On each side, one at the front of the boot lid hinge and another one close to the corner
of the rear wing.


https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-sPXqqeWorpg/T3RImMHp6kI/AAAAAAAABVE/eRMbxXXWtbY/s400/IMG_0191.JPGhttps://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-lg0JKBt8Fuo/T3RIlo1z2QI/AAAAAAAABVA/0NZv08huO8c/s400/IMG_0190.JPG
If you kept your NSX very clean, you should be able to see the engine bay
through the drain hole near the hinge as indicated by the yellow arrow above.

However, most of the NSX would be like the next photo even the body panel and wheel looked great....
Among some of them, I even saw new shoot of some sort of plant in there.



https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-qPCG-4UpCyc/T3RIk6fkzMI/AAAAAAAABU0/HD6Ydbevj0U/s400/IMG_0185.JPG
By the way, if you are missing the rubber paint protector near the hinge,
it is very likely to be trapped in that channel.

On later models, Honda actually modified the shape of the metal tab where
the rubber parts sits so that it is very unlikely to disappear.



https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-52JsYdSCv4U/T3RIkHwlxQI/AAAAAAAABUk/nblyTmK9TmA/s400/IMG_0183.JPG
It is important to keep this section along the black trim clean.
The water will be drained along the body panel.

Quite often, you will see black mould like debris covering this area
creating paddle of water along the back of the boot.



Not sure about the current weather in your country but hope you are enjoying your NSX under the blue sky.
Always lovely food out there...

Kaz

[britlude]

the centre honda panel has a tubular moulding on the back that lines up with a hole in the back panel with a small circular seal, as such is vented to the boot. if this 'lamp' section has condensation then the boot is damp inside, the moisture won't be coming from anywhere else! easiest remedy for the condensation is to open the boot once you park it up for the night in the garage, that way the cars' engine/radiator heat will warm the garage, and dry the boot out.

as Kaz said, if there's any condensation on the inside of the boot lid then that is another indicator of damp in the boot.

stopping the moisture getting back in will be down to cleaning the boot seat, resealing/replacing the lamp seals. when i replaced mine, i took off seals 1/4 thick and replaced them with new ones 3/4" thick!

[Chris B N]

if you leave the boot lid up
activate the lock by pushing down the latch with a screwdriver or bar to fool the switch and turn of the boot light
just unlock the boot as normal to release the lock.
Might just save a flat battery

[britlude]

oops, forgot about the pesky boot light!

[matpp]

Blimey, thanks guys for all your replies.....information overload!

Coincidentally, the LH rear lamp (the only one with condensation) was removed by my local bodyshop company....there were 2 small dents in the rear LH panel when I bought the car: repaired and now perfect for €50. After returning the car, I noticed that the seal on the bottom left of the lamp was sticking out compared to the RH one so I removed the lamp, cleaned the body work and reinstalled the lamp so the gasket sat correctly.

All drain holes are clear (I found the small rubber boot closing thingies in there), the boot is bone dry and the area between the boot seal and lamps was thoroughly cleaned.

Maybe I overtightened the nuts (unusual for me as I normally have a "good" torque feel).......anyway, the rear lamp will now be removed again and I'll check for any cracks in the lens and seal accordingly.

Do the rear lamp gaskets actually make a seal or do they hold the lamp snugly in place?

Oh, and I'll remember to clean the car pointing downhill in future!

Cheers,

[matpp]

Do the rear lamp gaskets actually make a seal or do they hold the lamp snugly in place?



Stupid question now I've taken the lamp out to have a look!

I unscrewed the black cover that fits onto the top of the lamp and sits on the boot landing panel (the part highlighted with screwdrivers on KAZ's photo above) to have a closer look and it appears the water ingress has come from the top outer seal of the lamp itself. I've re-sealed it with silicone and now I come to replace the cover and it's 5 screws, the outer lip refuses to sit flush with the recess in the top of the lamp leaving a gap. I've undone the screws and and refitted about 10 times but the outer lip still refuses to sit in the central part of the lamp recess and pops out each time, even after using masking tape to keep it flush before re-fitting the screws.

It would appear the black cover no longer follows the exact contour of the lamp.

Has anyone come across this before or does anyone have any bright ideas?

A very frustrated,

[Sudesh]

Stupid question now I've taken the lamp out to have a look!

I unscrewed the black cover that fits onto the top of the lamp and sits on the boot landing panel (the part highlighted with screwdrivers on KAZ's photo above) to have a closer look and it appears the water ingress has come from the top outer seal of the lamp itself. I've re-sealed it with silicone and now I come to replace the cover and it's 5 screws, the outer lip refuses to sit flush with the recess in the top of the lamp leaving a gap. I've undone the screws and and refitted about 10 times but the outer lip still refuses to sit in the central part of the lamp recess and pops out each time, even after using masking tape to keep it flush before re-fitting the screws.

It would appear the black cover no longer follows the exact contour of the lamp.

Has anyone come across this before or does anyone have any bright ideas?

A very frustrated,

From memory there is also little tabs in there, and guides, that the black cover sits into, these can break if not being careful and with age maybe they have gone bad. hard to explain without photos. I'll see if I have some.

[matpp]

From memory there is also little tabs in there, and guides, that the black cover sits into, these can break if not being careful and with age maybe they have gone bad. hard to explain without photos. I'll see if I have some.

Thanks Sudesh, are you saying these tabs/guides are separate to the lamp and black cover as no other parts came away when removing the cover? I've taken the cover off again, there are 4 small tabs on the lens designed to keep the black cover in place.....these look intact and like new and 6 small tabs on the black cover itself....again, these look undamaged in any way.

It's as if the black cover no longer follows the exact contour of the lamp.......each outer edge fits OK but it pops out from the centre.

Cheers,

[Sudesh]

Thanks Sudesh, are you saying these tabs/guides are separate to the lamp and black cover as no other parts came away when removing the cover? I've taken the cover off again, there are 4 small tabs on the lens designed to keep the black cover in place.....these look intact and like new and 6 small tabs on the black cover itself....again, these look undamaged in any way.

It's as if the black cover no longer follows the exact contour of the lamp.......each outer edge fits OK but it pops out from the centre.

Cheers,

Yeah that sounds like the tabs!

I have seen this problem on another members car here, besides those tabs, the only thing I could think off was the light or possibly that black cover, may have warped over the years; and with them being together for so long, they canged contours together; taken it apart has just caused one to possibly fall back in line.

Did the back cover look out of place before you re-installed the light and torqued it up?

[matpp]

Yeah that sounds like the tabs!

I have seen this problem on another members car here, besides those tabs, the only thing I could think off was the light or possibly that black cover, may have warped over the years; and with them being together for so long, they canged contours together; taken it apart has just caused one to possibly fall back in line.

Did the back cover look out of place before you re-installed the light and torqued it up?

I think the black cover maybe warped as you suggest......wouldn't of thought it could be the lamp assembly. I haven't even re-installed the lamp yet........I want to get the black cover to line up correctly before. The whole point of this exercise was to make the lamp waterproof and now I have more gaps than before!

I'll try heating it with hot water to see if this helps it line up correctly.....or maybe I should put it in the freezer?

[Sudesh]

I think the black cover maybe warped as you suggest......wouldn't of thought it could be the lamp assembly. I haven't even re-installed the lamp yet........I want to get the black cover to line up correctly before. The whole point of this exercise was to make the lamp waterproof and now I have more gaps than before!

I'll try heating it with hot water to see if this helps it line up correctly.....or maybe I should put it in the freezer?

The bezel being out of line doesn't stop water getting in, its basically there to finish the light off and make it look nice.

If the seals don't help with condensation, then only 2 other options.
1. Try and reseal the lamp
2. New lamp!

[Sudesh]

I'm sure you've already checked, but make sure there is no damp in the boot 2. Take everything out, tool kit etc and give it a good clean down.

[matpp]

New bezels and seals fitted and everything lines up like new.....and no more condensation.

Although I did find some condensation on the inside of the boot lid the other day then realised it came from a wet umbrella!

Thanks for the advice.

Cheers,

[scottg]

According to their site they only ship to the USA?


Part numbers for early lights here: http://www.acurapartswarehouse.com/Page_Product/PartDetail.aspx?catalogID=8&productID=5&yearID=13&doorID=2&gradeID=93&areaID=1&transmissionID=4&originID=-1&colorLabelIDs=-1&colorLabelID=-1&sectionID=5&idAndImageID=1287%20379298&isBigPicture=False

As has been said, if you are getting condensation in your lights it will be either the light is cracked, the seals have shrunk or the glue round the tail light casing is cracked.

If the casing glue has deteriorated, a smidge of decent clear silicone sealant round the join has been successful in the past (Dow Corning 781 is excellent stuff).

The gaskets are quite expensive @ ~ $100 per set + shipping etc. I've not tried it but maybe smearing some silicone grease on the gasket face of the offending side would be a good solution?

Cleaning all round the seals might stop the water collecting and stop the fogging but you will still have a problem so you will still need to fix the lens, seal etc. as they should be watertight.

I believe that there are some drainage holes on the hinge end of the boot lid, near the hatch struts but none at the trailing end. It is quite annoying that the water collects there when you wash it.

[NSXGB]

You will have to contact them, I've not ordered from them but I remember speaking with someone at a meet who had got stuff delivered to the UK. I usually order from Tim Poliniak in the US who matches those prices. Have a quick search, his contact details are on this site. Another alternative is Nic Terrey, another Acura dealer sed by many.

I usually just use acurapartswarehouse as an online parts database, just for reference purposes.

[Problem Child]

You will have to contact them, I've not ordered from them but I remember speaking with someone at a meet who had got stuff delivered to the UK. I usually order from Tim Poliniak in the US who matches those prices. Have a quick search, his contact details are on this site. Another alternative is Nic Terrey, another Acura dealer sed by many.

I usually just use acurapartswarehouse as an online parts database, just for reference purposes.

Yoour local HUK dealer can get them and theyre not that much more than shipping in from across the pond. They are one of my projects for the winter