Moisture in taillights - confused about the fix

[wdb]

I have moisture in my right rear taillight. I also had moisture in the headlights, and I used silicone sealant to cure that - it worked wonderfully. I took the taillights off, expecting to do the same thing, but I found some interesting stuff.

1. The taillight assembly does not appear to be 'sealed' as well as the headlight assembly
2. Somebody drilled little holes in the taillight lenses

So I did my usual thing and searched the forum. I found two threads of substance:

http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/show...light+moisture

http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/show...light+moisture

I see where the hole-drilling fix is mentioned, and one of the former owners was a member here, so that mystery is solved. But I have holes and I still have moisture, so I'm still looking for a better fix. And the threads above have me a bit confused.

Are folks taking the taillights off, then sealing the taillight-assembly-to-body area using various means? Or are they taking the taillights off, then taking them apart, and sealing the taillight assembly itself using various means? Or both?

Thanks in advance for your help. The taillights are my last step prior to putting the SVX back on the road for the first time in over a year, so I'm pretty pumped.

[Earthworm]

New gaskets would be a proper fix.

[aust92pearl]

i had a similar problem and made some new gaskets to fix the leak between the body and the lights , one problem cured.

then realized while washing the car that it was actually the seal in the taillights that had presumably disintegrated
so i got some cheap brand little tube of silicon and carefully squeezed it into the gap between the red bit and black bit on the top half of the lights
now they dont get water in them
you can only notice the silicon if you look very closely
but i plan on slightly tinting the lights so it will be even less visible

[1986nate]

Originally Posted by Earthworm

New gaskets would be a proper fix.

+1

I used standard black RTV over the seals between the body and the gasket and it kept water from pooling in the spare tire well as well as eliminated the condensation in the tail lights themselves. (I heated up the tail light assemblies to get them apart so they could dry properly first as well.)

[wdb]

It looks like the answer is 'both'. In addition it looks like the proper answer is 'new gaskets everywhere'. If my car were in better shape I'd definitely be going the proper route, but it's pretty well worn so I think I'll use schmutz.

I also had a hard time getting all of the moisture out of the lights. I put them in the oven on top of our pizza stone (after I washed them thoroughly - one must always keep the wife happy ), set the oven controls on 'Warm' and 'Bake', and sat down with a beer and a Top Gear rerun. Presto.

[RojoRocket]

Just FYI, the "Packing" for the rear lamps only runs about $10 for both sides, plus shipping. Here is listing from subaruparts.com:
Quantity Part # Description List Unit Price Price
2 84940PA001 Packing $6.40 $4.88 $9.76
ships in 4-10 bus days
A common mistake is to tighten the nuts that secure them too tightly, cutting through the rubber, defeating the purpose. Why not do it right? I would plug the holes drilled previously, silicone around the top and replace the packing.

Glenn