Leaking Rear Tail Light R33

[mercyseat]

Since I've imported my R33 coupe it's had a very slow leak which looks like it's coming from the internal seal of the RH tail light inside the boot.

 

A slow dribble around the seal.

 

Problemo is I can't seem to get the light out to re-seal it back in.

 

The little bugger is stuck, my mechanic even tried heat lights to soften the black gooey sealant to no avail.

Was considering cutting it out with a knife but scared of breaking it.

 

Are there any secrets to removing these puppies without breaking the tail light?

 

Just don't want water/ rust to start inside my boot when it rains heavy.

 

 

[ausdrift]

I did this maintenance about 5 years ago. From memory the whole tail light unit unbolts and pulls out, so no need for cutting anything while on the car. Then the real fun begins of heating and prising apart the 2 halves, scraping the old seal off and applying the new sealant, either genuine Nissan stuff or you could probably use some kind of silicon sealant. Then refit

[Hadouken]

Just silicon over it.

I also had trouble getting it out back in the day and just yolo'd it and whacked silicone all around the seam and black stuff.

But the reason your tail light fills up is because the factory putty stuff in the water channel seam of the boot is deteriorated and letting water run down there.

Chisel out and reseal

[jmknights93]

@kingtube69 went over this on his car. Perhaps he may be able to point you right direction. 

[mercyseat]

Definately can't get the thing out even after unscrewing it. Its fixed in pretty tight.
It leaks through where the black sealant already is.

I'll checkout the boot channel seam area and see if that putty stuff has deteriorated.

Ive got a spare pair of blue tail lights as a worse case scenario. Its mainly the LP2 trim thats the issue if stuff breaks. Not the easiest colour to source when buying spare parts.

Cheers