Rear light seal

[Pastry]

Got water coming in to the boot where the compressor is stored (OS behind rear arch) Ive searched forums and heard a few possibles, checked all the relevant drain tubes (tailgate latch, sunroof, fuel cap) it seems to be coming form the rear OS light cluster or the hatch seal (via the spoiler?)

So I'm gonna try to reseal the OS light cluster, theres a void pretty much all round it and the perished remains of some rubbery substance.

To reseal it is this the stuff I need?;

strip caulk

if it is anyone know if price here is ok (seems cheap enough but i dont need 60 foot);

http://www.buylowest.co.uk/products/3M_3M_SCB_STRIP_CAULK_3M_SCB-184441-0.html

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Mine was done with the proper stuff from a bodyshop, they gave me a bit the right length. It's a wire-cored mastic stuff.

I've known people use everything from bathroom sealer to bits of rubber before. I had water coming in from a hole in the bottom of the well, it's been filling from the sunroof draain so they drilled a hole to let the water out.....[]

 

[wolfie308]

The 3M stuff certainly looks like it would do the job, not dear and you could sell the unused strips if you wanted.[]

I've never seen the strip that Paul mentioned and it certainly wasnt original fitment on my car. From experience, I'd receommend this...

http://auto.frost.co.uk/search?w=dum+dum

When you remove the cluster from the car, you'll be able to see where thew mastic fits in the channel round the edge. Make a sausage about 3/8" diameter and fit round outside. I f you warm the unit from inside the car with a hair dryer as you tighten up the 6 nuts, the excess will squeeze out the sides and removed with a plastic knife. Any residue can be wiped off with White Spirit.

DO NOT use silicone of any sort - it sticks like s**t and can't be easily cleaned off. If you ever needed to get the cluster off again you'd be knackered.

 

[nick3814]

I'm in the process of creating a clear lense conversion on the rear of my S2 and have a donor set of lights I am modifying before I take the ones off the car. The lights I'm working on both had some sort of a rubber gasket that pealed off the rear of them, were this came off there is a channel around the rear of the light, I have filled the channel with a large bead of black auto sealant (its like sikafix but made by Granville) this bead has now gone off and is very flexible and plyable so hope fully should make a good seal, might be worth a try []

 

[appletonn]

I inadvertently bought a whole roll of the stuff from an OPC, so if you send me your address and a stamp, you can have some gratis![8|]

 

[Pastry]

cheers for the offer i've pm'd my details.

theres already 2 holes in the bottom of the well, currently grommeted, i thought they were standard but perhaps ive had the same maintenance as mr mcnulty.

its not a big leak i just like something to do on a sunday, most of the ingress is caused by washing it so much

 

[berg944]

Rear light clusters often leak between the lenses. Rock the car while looking at the lens, you will see any water move.

A quick fix for this is a 1mm hole drilled near the bottom of the lens from the outside.

Water runs out but not in and its too small to see.

Mike