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I had a problem with water getting into my trunk. I was told to use the Permatex Black sealant. However, after I did it I was told that foam sealing tape would be a better way to go. I have already had one day of rain and the trunk is dry, so we'll have to see how long it lasts. I'll keep everyone updated if it fails.

This is just for the surface of the body and the OEM seal. This is not for the housing to OEM seal, which may need to be done as well.

Materials Needed
- one tube of Permatex Ultra Black
- 1/2" end wrench or 1/2" socket and ratchet
- pliars
- rags

Step 1
Remove the plastic trim piece in the trunk, as shown below. It is held on by simple clips. Carefully pry it off.


Step 2
Remove the two push clips for the trunk carpet. Typically a pair of pliars will work for this. Pictures below show the location of the two clips.




Step 3
Pull back the trunk carpet to expose the tail light area. Remove the reverse light and the tail light/turn signal light from the housing. These are quarter turn fasteners.


Step 4
Using the 1/2" wrench remove the 3 nuts on each housing, these hold the housing to the car.


Step 5
Remove the tail light housing from the car. It might take a little persuasion by pushing on the studs from inside the trunk with the wrench or something similar.


Step 6
Clean the seal surface and the mating surface on the car with a clean rag.

Step 7
Apply generous amounts of the Ultra Black sealant to the seal as shown below.


Step 8
Spread the sealant around so its a nice even covering.

Step 9
Reinstall the tail light housing into the car. Be careful not to get the sealant on other surfaces. Continue to maintain pressure on the housing while tightening up the nuts in the trunk. (Tip: When putting the nuts back on, put the nuts over the stud and then slowly turn towards the left, you will feel the nut kind of settle into the threads on the stud. This will prevent stripping the nut)

Step 10
Make sure all the nuts are snug, but not too tight since they are just plastic.

Step 11
Reinstall the reverse and tail light/turn signal lights.

Picture of the end result from inside the trunk. You can see the sealant around the edges.



Repeat for the other side.

This shouldn't take much more than 30 - 45 minutes, but allow additional time because "shit happens."

nice write up! and yes... 'shit happens' and it seems to happen a lot to neon owners.

How much does that sealant run? and where did you purchase it from?

I really need to do this. I had some water get in when I washed my car, and now the rear floorboards are premaiced

I didn't buy the Permatex Ultra Black recently, but I believe it was about $5 for a tube. You can get it at Auto Zone, Advance Auto, Pep Boy's etc, etc.

I used about a half a tube, maybe a little more for both sides.

well I have jumped onto the leaky tail light bandwagon as well as of this week. I ordered new gaskets from the dealer and I will be putting them on this weekend.

you could always get the Mopar ATF RTV to do this too
5010884AA - RTV - $5.07msrp (every dealer stocks it)

So you are just sticking it to car housing, that would make it pretty hard to get off again right? I would prolly go for the gasket option since shit happens and may need to replace the taillights.

Yes you are sticking it right to the car. I don't think its that big of a deal. If youdid it this way now, you would need gaskets next time. Or gaskets now.

Personal preference I guess.

Great post! I did this fix last summer pretty much as you wrote it with a couple of exceptions...

The trunk carpet was completely removed so it would dry out in the sun and so I could remove the excess moisture from the spare tire well.

I used an exterior grade silicone seal in a caulking tube around the lights in the same fashion you did... on reassembly it oozed out around the edges.

I let the whole thing setup for a couple of days then had someone spray the whole area with a hose while I observed from inside... no leaks... and no leaks since.

Easy job. The hardest part was crawling into the trunk to watch for leaks. Managed to do that from a folded down rear seat since I'm too big to crawl in and fit from the trunk side (6' 240lbs)

I just hope the tail lights never need to be removed... will be a royal pita.

So I guess this is a problem with the 2nd gen Neons, too, eh ?

I will have to do this with mine.
I suspect that there is water getting in from somewhere ..... there is too much condensation and frost building up on the windows, FROM THE INSIDE.....
A sure sign that moisture is getting in from somewhere.

Thanks for the great write-up.

-Nick

Subbed. Doing this as soon as I get my aftermarket tail lights. Hopefully don't have to worry about removing the tail lights for anything haha

Those ebay gaskets are THICK! Like twice as thick as my OEM gaskets. Just replaced them about 10 minutes ago. Good stuff, thanks for the link. Oh and they don't come with the double tape, but as thick as the gaskets are, when you tighten down the screws, the tail lights are definitely sealed tightly.

illriginalized wrote:Those ebay gaskets are THICK! Like twice as thick as my OEM gaskets. Just replaced them about 10 minutes ago. Good stuff, thanks for the link. Oh and they don't come with the double tape, but as thick as the gaskets are, when you tighten down the screws, the tail lights are definitely sealed tightly.

Thanks for the update and the review !!


- Nick

NickKo wrote:

illriginalized wrote:Those ebay gaskets are THICK! Like twice as thick as my OEM gaskets. Just replaced them about 10 minutes ago. Good stuff, thanks for the link. Oh and they don't come with the double tape, but as thick as the gaskets are, when you tighten down the screws, the tail lights are definitely sealed tightly.

Thanks for the update and the review !!


- Nick

Not a problem. I should have taken pictures to show the differences. As you screw on the caps, you have to press on the tail lights firmly so that the caps can grab some threading. Tonight's been raining on and off.. so tomorrow morning before I go to work I'll pop the trunk and check, I highly doubt I'll need to go the perma-route with these gaskets.

Popped trunk this morning after a heavy down pour last night, trunk officially has no leaks. eBay gaskets are gtg!


By the way, this is the link to the tail light gaskets:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/290420862295?it ... 60&vxp=mtr

always nice to do

I am getting ready to do this, has anyone who has done this with rtv type sealant had to remove their lights after this, if so how did it go getting them out and all cleaned up again.
Thanks
Doug

The $20 extra for the gaskets vs the cost of a tube of RTV silicone is well worth it. If the silicone bonds well, you will hate life attempting to remove the tails, and then cleaning the mess up.

There is smart cheap, and dumb cheap. Gluing the tails on is dumb cheap.

Thanks,
That is what I was worried about. I will order the gaskets.

looks awesome, makes it tempting for me to throw them on the credit card which still needs paying off

How easy is it to switch between these and the old style tail lights again? just out of curiosity

IrishkaMok:

Country: Czechia
State/Region: Prachatice District
City: Ktis