2014 Tail Light Condensation

[2014Runner]

What's up guys? I picked up my '14 SR5 around Christmas and when I got home on the first night, I noticed condensation in my drivers side tail light. Got it replaced the next week under warranty without any issues.

This week I walked past the passenger side and, low and behold, more condensation! THEN I walk back to the driver side, more condensation in that one! Now I'm pissed and inspecting the headlights too and I find that there is some kind of clearing oily stuff dripping down the inside of the passenger headlight... WTF is going on here?? Seems a bit ridiculous.

Anyone else have problems with the lights and condensation?!

 

[jmitch7715]

Yes, both of my tail lights were replaced by Toyota because of this problem. It seems to be a growing problem with the 14s.

 

[USMCASA]

haven't seen it on mine but will keep and eye on it. thanks for the heads up

 

[Stimulant]

I am taking mine in to get looked at this Saturday. Take pictures to show them...

 

[diverscale]

bought a pair of OEM tail lights, and been using them in the worst condition ever for condensation (parking in a somewhat humid garage, and very cold temperatures outside). Did not get any condensation as of yet.

 

[Araj82]

I noticed the same thing with my 14 Limited. Both of the tail lights have lot of moisture. Took it into the dealer today. They are replacing both of them.

 

[uptheirons]

been having the same issue with my 2014 Trail Edition... have yet to take it to the dealer.

 

[Stimulant]

Yep, I took mine in and showed them pictures and all. They want me to bring it back in and they want to take the lights apart to check the seals. I will get a loaner, but what a pain in the ass for me. I am going to wait and see if there is a TSB at some point. I don't have time be dealing with it right now anyway. Really they should just change both lights!

 

[Araj82]

Took it to the dealer this morning. It took them 1.5 hour, and I had two new tail lights.

 

[diverscale]

update on this, finally my tail lights (bought from a dealer in USA, shipped to me in Canada, for a retrofit on my '13) developped condensation. The right hand light got it, even after letting it ''dry'' in my garage overnight, by removing 2 bulbs from their sockets... Seems like a common problem... anybody found the culprit?

 

[2014Runner]

We need to continue to raise awareness by reporting the problem to Toyota as soon as it occurs. Hopefully they lose enough money to find a fix and issue a TSB

 

[diverscale]

Just removed the condensing light from the truck

I was surprised to find that the light is not actually leaking, the culprit is the big neoprene seal that is affixed to the back of the light, that do not make firm contact with the body of the vehicle

The location of the leak on the seal is near the upper light bulb, toward the exterior of the vehicle. Water enters there then make its way into the light by the upper light bulb opening. The 2 screws holding the light are located toward the inner side of the vehicle making it prone to leak at this location (less pressure). Droplets were present near the upper bulb opening, and on the wire.

Having no silicon with me, I just torqued the bolts a bit more, to make a firmer contact. My fix will be to add a low-adherence silicon bead (to ease future removal) to the body of the vehicle where the neoprene sits. This should fix the other leaking lights of this thread too, since our lights are probably pretty well sealed. Changing over the lights assembly for new oens might result in the same leak a few weeks later.

 

[dekeman]

Thanks diver, can you provide a pic of the location?

 

[eddiebx]

Just removed the condensing light from the truck

I was surprised to find that the light is not actually leaking, the culprit is the big neoprene seal that is affixed to the back of the light, that do not make firm contact with the body of the vehicle

The location of the leak on the seal is near the upper light bulb, toward the exterior of the vehicle. Water enters there then make its way into the light by the upper light bulb opening. The 2 screws holding the light are located toward the inner side of the vehicle making it prone to leak at this location (less pressure). Droplets were present near the upper bulb opening, and on the wire.

Having no silicon with me, I just torqued the bolts a bit more, to make a firmer contact. My fix will be to add a low-adherence silicon bead (to ease future removal) to the body of the vehicle where the neoprene sits. This should fix the other leaking lights of this thread too, since our lights are probably pretty well sealed. Changing over the lights assembly for new oens might result in the same leak a few weeks later.

Glad you were able to find the source! I am not familiar with how it looks back there but is it possible to just buy a second OEM foamy gasket and double it up before you screw the taillight back in? I've done that in the past on other cars when trying to get poorly built aftermarket replicas to seal properly.

 

[diverscale]

Glad you were able to find the source! I am not familiar with how it looks back there but is it possible to just buy a second OEM foamy gasket and double it up before you screw the taillight back in? I've done that in the past on other cars when trying to get poorly built aftermarket replicas to seal properly.

Would be the best idea, but instead of that I would put weatherstrips like those to the chassis at the point of contact with the gasket. I would make sure that the joint in the weatherstrip is at the lower portion of the opening, to prevent leaks.

 

[diverscale]

Ok here is a fix I propose. This is what I have done to my lights.

First, the leak was there:

between the 2 yellow handles

You gotta remove the light assembly first, which is pretty easy. Undo the bulbs from their sockets, then, using a 10mm ratchet, with an extension and a deep socket (must have a deep socket, normal socket won't fit, a wrench won't fit too), un-screw the two bolts. With everything disconnected, pull the light assembly ''strongly'' toward you.

Get some removable weatherstrip sealant like this one

apply to the mating area.

Then re-install the light assembly, taking care not putting it back all the way in by hand (you will damage the silicon bead). Then, using the bolts, screw the light in toward its full seating.

Let dry overnight in a warm place.

If water is present in the light assembly, it may take days, or even weeks, to fully evaporate.

Using real silicon, which is harder to remove, would offer a better seal, but I'll try this option since it's easier to remove if needed. Another option would be to use rubber-foam weatherstripping (adhesive tape type) on the chassis' mating surface, by making sure the joint of the weatherstripping is located at the lower portion of the light.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

We need to continue to raise awareness by reporting the problem to Toyota as soon as it occurs. Hopefully they lose enough money to find a fix and issue a TSB

Aside from the losing money comment, this is typically how TSBs, Recalls, and Campaigns are developed. When enough warranty returns for the same condition occur investigations are made, ect ect.

Just removed the condensing light from the truck

I was surprised to find that the light is not actually leaking, the culprit is the big neoprene seal that is affixed to the back of the light, that do not make firm contact with the body of the vehicle

The location of the leak on the seal is near the upper light bulb, toward the exterior of the vehicle. Water enters there then make its way into the light by the upper light bulb opening. The 2 screws holding the light are located toward the inner side of the vehicle making it prone to leak at this location (less pressure). Droplets were present near the upper bulb opening, and on the wire.

Having no silicon with me, I just torqued the bolts a bit more, to make a firmer contact. My fix will be to add a low-adherence silicon bead (to ease future removal) to the body of the vehicle where the neoprene sits. This should fix the other leaking lights of this thread too, since our lights are probably pretty well sealed. Changing over the lights assembly for new oens might result in the same leak a few weeks later.

This was actually an issue with the Scion FRS and Subaru BRZ, the TSB talks about not only the Neoprene seal being the culprit but also some bending of the sheetmetal (extremely rare) and cracking of the housing when installed at the factory (also less likely to be seen) the fix was installing a new neoprene seal; but that doesn't seem to fix all of them from what I hear (the other issue is that they reuse the old taillamp so many still have condensation from water still trapped inside the lamp, had a customer I tried to do right by and even over night, under our heater the light still steamed up a little and we were told it would not be warrantied.)
[MENTION=91955]driver[/MENTION]Scale While I applaud your fix, you should be careful because if the condition returns and you try to get the vehicle covered under a warranty and/or more than likely upcoming TSB/Recall/Campaign, it may be rejected because of this modification. Just something to note since I have a feeling there will be a TSB to address this as it is similar to the Scion/Subaru issue.

 

[diverscale]

diverScale While I applaud your fix, you should be careful because if the condition returns and you try to get the vehicle covered under a warranty and/or more than likely upcoming TSB/Recall/Campaign, it may be rejected because of this modification. Just something to note since I have a feeling there will be a TSB to address this as it is similar to the Scion/Subaru issue.

If it works, why wait for a TSB? It takes 30 minutes to fix this kind of thing, 1H if you are not mechanically inclined at all. And it's not like it will void your warranty if your transmission fails...

If you go there, and use your warranty coverage, they will only change over the lights, and the problem will likely come back.

Anyway it's everyone's choice, never I would wait for a TSB, nor take an appointement to the dealer to wait 3 hours to get this simple work done. I do not have enough free time for this.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

If it works, why wait for a TSB? It takes 30 minutes to fix this kind of thing, 1H if you are not mechanically inclined at all. And it's not like it will void your warranty if your transmission fails...

If you go there, and use your warranty coverage, they will only change over the lights, and the problem will likely come back.

Anyway it's everyone's choice, never I would wait for a TSB, nor take an appointement to the dealer to wait 3 hours to get this simple work done. I do not have enough free time for this.

I understand and like I said I wasn't knocking it at all. But if they come out with a recall it could end up being anything from new Neoprene Seal to a whole new tail lamp. You're right it won't void your warranty for the rest of the vehicle, nor should it. I was just merely point out that should you or anyone do this fix it may make getting updated components under a future fix difficult.

That being said I applaud your repair and I think its a clever and ingenious fix for a currently un-addressed problem with the '14 4Runners (to be honest its probably along the lines of what I would have done had I come across the issue on my own hypothetical '14 4Runner.) I'm not trying to advocate against mods or anything, nor am I saying people should hold out until a fix comes out (if Toyota decides it needs to be fixed, which these days is somewhat iffy), I just felt it should be mentioned in case others follow your repair as a stopgap measure and then find having a TSB or Recall being applied to become more difficult.

 

[diverscale]

Update on the fix I tried.

Humidity took a few days to evaporate, then no more sign of humidity, condensation or frost, even with colder temps we got. Seems like it's working for the last over two weeks.