Check your fluid level... in the tag / license plate lights!

I decided what I'm gonna do is blow all the moisture out of it, glob the living crap out of the connector with some dielectric grease, put it back together and see if that stops the issue.

If it happens again after that, I'll take it to the dealer again.

This style of light has been used on the Tundra since 2012 so I don't understand why it has problems. On top of that, the driver's side one has been dry as a bone through everything. It's just the passenger side that keeps on doing it.

 

Fired up the compressor, blasted the snot out of both the lens and bulb holder. Carefully wiped the bulb with an alcohol pad, and then slathered dielectric grease all around the seals, and put copious amounts down the back of it where I think the water is coming in. Like a pea-sized glob and change. A decent amount oozed out as I clicked the connector in. Yup, pretty well caked with that goopy shit.

So we'll see. Based on my testing it seems like the lens and main seals are totally OK, and if you have a leak it's getting in from behind the connector, not because the housing itself has an issue.

I'll keep the OP updated as I have more info.

 

Why try to waterproof something with grease..?? I'd use silicone...(after the housing is all dried out, etc) at least if "firms up" and will solve any water intrusion you may have....?? Obviously H2O is getting in from the back end where the plug fits into the socket... seal that MF'R with silicone rubber....!! Problem solved for 13 more years..!!

 

Interesting

 

Bump again... yup, it still leaks.

Driver's side is still dry as a bone and has been from day 1.

I have NO idea why the passenger's side leaks constantly. I'm gonna swing by the dealer tomorrow maybe, cause I am genuinely stumped at this point... and if they give me a replacement, this will be the 4th housing!

 

I applied clear silicone to the wiring to the bulb. No more water. In my case it was not the housing but some trickle leak from the wiring.

 

If you wouldn't mind, could you take a picture or something to show me exactly where to put it? I don't wanna take it all apart and goop up something that won't do anything haha.

 

@jmn69 and I exchanged some notes about this sometime in April. Turns out for both of us the water entry was from the wiring itself into the plug and into the bulb socket through the connector. What we did was to silicone seal the wiring harness upstream where the 2 wires first go into the plug. That was where the water was entering.

Mine has been water free since April.

 

Do you think there would be a benefit to the dealer replacing the harness as well as the housing and bulb?

 

Thanks a bunch! That shit is a bitch and a half to get out, but I'll have to get around to it soon, before I risk it freezing and cracking the housing or some shit like that.

My first move is going to see if I can beat a new harness out of the dingleberries at the dealership service dept.

Clearly that has to be the failure point, and since other 3rd gens do not have this issue, sounds like it probably should!

 

That harness is only a few feet long, and easy to replace. Hopefully they do not try to fight you on it.

 

My drivers side is doing this too...

 

I'm going to add a goldfish to mine

 

You pictures are WAAAAAAAAAAAY out of focus -- and sort of useless --sorry to inform you

 

I know you've been having a shitload of problems, but is this seriously one of them too?

 

Holy Shit. Water in the license plate light? Seriously?

What's next? a TSB for a hood shimmy or water leak in the 3rd brake light...oh wait..

 

My guess is this is flying under the radar because of overall costs. Harness replacement might actually put a spark under someone's ass.

Dealer has to shell out a hefty bill for a soaked interior? Yep, that gets someone's attention. Hood shimmy requiring subcontracting out to a 3rd party body shop for a couple hundred bucks? Yep, bean counters notice and try to get to the bottom of it... or at least they should. As much as people like to shit on Toyota and bitch about things, you'll notice a lot of big points (aside from the howling diff I think?) have all been TSB'ed out before 2016 is over. Control Arm noise, 6AT shifting, drive line vibration, etc... Sure they could have been a little faster in terms of month-to-month fixes, but I think a lot of that is caused by shitty personnel at a dealership level not communicating as they should.

This one, service writers just keep replacing a $2 housing over, and over, and over, and over without stopping to think "hey, maybe it's not the fucking housing if this is the 4th one I've replaced on the same truck!". Because apparently all you need to be a service writer anymore is a pulse, no requirement for any active firing neurons. I'm willing to wager there will be a showdown tomorrow over getting this wiring harness.

 

If you really want to get noticed, you could start the Lemon Law process. I'm pretty sure you would have a case since you have repeatedly gone back for the same reoccurring / unresolved issue, and you are the original owner of the vehicle.

 

I dunno, I don't really want to do that because I love the truck otherwise. Technically under PA law I meet all the requirements except the bolded one:

• It has a nonconformity (a defect, or condition) the nonconformity is covered by the manufacturer's express warranty (✓)
  
• The nonconformity SUBSTANTIALLY impairs the use, market value, or safety of the car (Depends on what we define "Substantial" as.)
  
• The nonconformity is not the result of an accident, abuse, neglect, or alteration of the car by persons other than the manufacturer or its authorized dealer (✓)
  
• You reported the nonconformity at least once to the manufacturer's authorized dealer during the Pennsylvania Lemon Law Rights Period of 1 year or 12,000 miles whichever comes first. (✓)
  
• You gave the manufacturer or its authorized dealer three opportunities to repair the nonconformity. (✓)

Could I argue that moisture inside a tag light would cause me to fail inspection & thus substantially impair use and/or market value? Probably. Again though I don't want to go nuclear on these people's asses out of nowhere. I'm gonna go there and only use such a force escalation if necessary. Really if they just get me a damn harness and it fixes it, I'll be happy.

 

Its good that they are addressing problems via TSB's but I am curious if those issues are now corrected for the 2017s or if the bean counters will have their way and force you to complain and then TSB again.