just got BD JDM Tail lights HELP!

[iampetro]

thank you mr Fedex for seeing my note and coming to knock on my bedroom window.
i did not wanna sleep through delivery 2 days in a row

anyways clearly theres no going back to sleep on christmass morning so i opened em and went outside, moved my car in the car hole and started looking.

pretty easy to see what had to come off and out but once all was unscrewed and i tried to pull, nothing

theres some kind of magic flubber holding it in. i tried hammering on the back with some stuff but i dont wanna break anything.

as for the product/service
a big super +1 to 5 mile imports
- quick email response
- absolutly excellent condition of my used part
- would have shipped here in a day had it not been a huge storm in NS the day it left (by ground) and of course it was a friday, stupid weekend

having your SLI expert advice would really help thanks alot :smile:

[Huffer]

This is from my post on NASIOC.com regarding wagon taillights, but it's essentially the same:
1. Pull the rear trim away from the body of the car - this involves removing the plastic grommets etc. You will want to have the hatch open and all your junk removed.

2. Get your hairdryer or heat gun and slowly begin to heat the glue around the seams

3. at the same time (maybe a friend can help) remove the 4 or 5 nuts that are screwed onto extremely long bolts that come out of the light (if you have a replacement you can see where they are located. At this point it helps to PUSH on the light while the glue is being heated, this allows the nuts to have no pressure on them from the light-side.
The nuts should be hand-tight only, no tools should be required.

4. Once all the nuts are removed, you should now be able to pull from the outside and push from the inside.

5. Watch out and try to save as much of the black glue as possible.

6. Heat up the glue on the new light, remove any nuts that are on the bolts, install and PUSH on the light while finger tightening the nuts down over the bolts.

Done!

[97legacygt]

My tail lights were the same way. To get them out, somebody I work with had to cut them out with his glass urethane cutter tool. I would imagine that you could work at it with a utility knife or something. They are not going anywhere in one piece if you don't cut them out. And also make sure you put some sort of sealant there when you put them back in or they will leak leaving you with a little pool by your spare tire. I used just normal silicone so I could get them back out easier when I need to take them out.

[Huffer]

Cutting them out shouldn't be necessary. I've done it several times now, all you need is a heatgun to soften up the glue.

[97legacygt]

I wish I would have known the heat gun trick a few months ago when I was getting the rust fixed. Would have been a lot easier.

[d1giPhux]

Or just pull / push on the inside like a mofo.. thats what i had to do. You could also take a box cutter blade and just slide it in between the body of the car and the light and cut away the rubbed crap that is holding it in..

[Huffer]

Trust me. The hairdryer/heat gun technique requires no effort or sweat. No need for "mofo" strength, blades, cutting, dremels or any other kind of tool bar the socket wrench used to take the nuts off and the screwdriver to pop the harness free.

[d1giPhux]

Yeah.. true that... it just requires a hair dryer or heat gun.. which requires money, or asking someone the odd question of 'can i borrow your hair dryer to do something to my car... :smt005 '

but your right.. of course it would help since its going to melt that sealant / black goop crap thats holding it in.

hell.. you could also go in the opposite direction too i bet and use a can of compressed air and freeze the goop / pull it off when its really hard.. but who knows! LOL

[decke48]

heat gun and some weatherstrip adhesive and your good

[iampetro]

thanks alot guys, just got inside from the install.
went very smoothly.
i used the hair dryer :grin:

i'm a little worried about my weather seal but we'llhave to wait and see...

[Huffer]

Yeah.. true that... it just requires a hair dryer or heat gun.. which requires money, or asking someone the odd question of 'can i borrow your hair dryer to do something to my car... :smt005 '

but your right.. of course it would help since its going to melt that sealant / black goop crap thats holding it in.

hell.. you could also go in the opposite direction too i bet and use a can of compressed air and freeze the goop / pull it off when its really hard.. but who knows! LOL

$10 heatgun: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... mber=96289 (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=96289)

Borrowing a girls hairdryer: FREE

Using compressed air to freeze the adhesive is pointless - if you heat up the adhesive you can reuse it without destroying it or the lights. It also means you don't have to add any additional weatherstripping.

[99SUS SFD]

DEFINITELY make sure that your tail lights are sealed. I neglected to inspect mine closely and had a trunk full of water before I knew it. The spare tire was under water. All the carpet was mold, same with the particle board underneath. Destroyed everything in my trunk and ruined my old fire helmet, luckily my gear washed fine.

I bought some marine silicone and sealed the shit out of them, good to go now.

[iampetro]

so i checked this morning and i have some small ice build up in the trunk.

how should i re-seal them without taking them off again.

it was kind of a pain to work around the carpet

ice didn't mare it to spare it seems to be very small/slow leak.

i'm wondering if anyone knows of a good goop to buy or another idea?

thanks guys :smile:

[decke48]

3m weatherstip adhesive. works wonder. most autoparts store have it. may have to ask. and you should remove the lights to apply it

[99SUS SFD]

As much as it sucks, remove the tail lights to do it right.

I bought some simple marine grade silicone sealant, put it around the trim where the old sealant was, installed and voila, no more leak.

[NoMorePossibilities]

Hmm.. The hair dryer quite possibly would have saved me a good 15 min of pulling-- but after breakin a sweat and the light not budgin', I looked inside the trunk and saw where the light LATCHES in, pushed that part 1st, and voila. :smt021