3rd Brake Light Water Leak

Big rain storm in SF/Bay Area of California. I will check in the morning to see if there is any water leak from the 3rd brake light that some people have been experiencing. I wonder if anyone has this problem with the 2018 Tacoma.

 

Pretty sure it was mostly contained to the 2016s.

 

While you’re at it might as well check the 100s of other things people are on here bitching about

 

I have a leaky 1 two! I just ordered a new lamp the whole fixture from trdshop.com... probably can order from other places as well. It's a stock replacement. Mine actually has a crack in it and the weather stripping that keeps the water out has a small split. So instead of messing with it I just ordered a new replacement. I know I'm getting some moisture in the cabin. Not enough to cause any mold smell but some. After a hard rain my widows fog up on the inside sometimes.

Replacement was like $115... hoping once I get the replacement to rebuild with brighter LEDs there's a few writeups on how to do it here.

Here's the crack where the water is leaking into the lamp... hard to say if it was my fault... prolly was.


OMG... is that a scratch??? I want my money back damn-it.

 

Shit. My 18 fogs up all the time... did leave the rear window open a few times overnight though..

 

I didn’t see any signs of a water leak and I didn’t find the other things that people are bitching about. I will look a little harder later.

 

Don't mean to resurrect this shit, but, as of a week ago I noticed every morning (I am in HUMID and hot East Texas), that I have a metric fuck-ton of moisture on all of my windows and windshield, leaving the seats and floors damp as well, even my thick textbooks are waterlogged, cue the mildew smell etc. I take it to the dealership when I get off work one day, they have it for two days, I have to call back to get a reply. The service guy tells me it is definitely the third brake light causing the leak, he ordered one, however they are on backorder and he has no timeline of when they can get my truck fixed. So I asked him what the hell I'm supposed to do about the moisture and mold risk in my truck, and he says, "well I don't know if its supposed to rain this weekend or not" I told him it doesn't have to rain for this to happen, humidity is 90%+ every night here. And he said he can get back to me on Monday with a response to that when his service manager is in... In the meantime he can "hook me up" with a rental car. So, any ideas on what I'm supposed to do? I am super worried my cab is going to have mold in it by the time this is fixed. I have damp-rid tubs in there already, and they only help a little bit. Maybe I should take it to Toyota's larger dealership an hour away in a larger city? Not sure what that would accomplish, but they have better reviews..

 

I have a 2017 DC 4x4. Rained all day yesterday, got in it at 5pm turned on the A/C, all windows were fogged up so bad it took 10 minutes of heat to clear up and smelled slightly stale. Thought it was wet mats? Rained again all day today, 5pm windows fogged and smelled like mildew bad. Got home and read this post. Checked and no cracking on light but noticed gap where light gasket was not pressing against the body. Started raining hard again so I got in the truck with a flashlight and its freaking raining in my truck from the headliner! At 19K miles, bought it at 14K from Autonation. Taking it to the dealer in the AM. The dealer better fix it right and get all of the wet carpet & seats dry and like new...pissed!

 

These cases are becoming very frequent recently. Hope the dealer can get it fixed, it’s a known issue

 

I have the same issue. Almost $700 to replace brake light!

 

Yeah yeah yeah old thread old problem I know, but I'm out of warranty with 50k on my 2017 and the dealer won't touch it. What are my options? Silicone on the top of the light? Replacing the housing and gasket? If so, how do you even access it. I can't find a single directional thread on the housing removal

 

You have to pull the headliner down, if the housing is not cracked or broken I would consider automotive Butyl Rubber Tape

 

Remove the headliner and put the tape on the back of the light in the cab of the truck?

 

Butyl Rubber Tape is usually used to seal windows or lights, I believe it would work much better than RTV.

 

Out of your pocket? You would think this would be covered under the warranty. Sorry to hear about your troubles.

 

Do it right and order a replacement part. Don’t just put RTV or tape on it. The old part is no longer available and they replaced it with a new part that has the correct seal. I swapped mine out. You just need to drop the rear headliner. The nuts are a pain in the ass so I used a magnet tool to ensure I don’t accidentally drop it down the seats.

 

Using Butyl Tape is not some half ass Billy Bob repair, if you have to remove the light assembly anyway there is nothing wrong with using some around the opening for insurance. I refurbished 25 year old tail lights and that stuff was still soft and pliable.

 

True but that’s if they actually do the job right. I would much rather trust getting the replacement part then worry about if it was sealed correctly.

 

If i were doing the job on my truck I would replace the parts too but use Butyl Tape as insurance that it would never leak again.

 

Totally agree. Just wished Toyota would own up to their mistakes and fix it regardless of warranty or not. I was unlucky and had to pay out of pocket and do it myself since stealerships wanted to charge $500 to drop the headliner. Ridiculous