How Do You Change The Brake Light On A 2017 Ram With A Sealed Casing

In one case the lord's day sets, our tail lights are used to alert drivers backside us of our presence on the road. However, 1 of the most frustrating situations a driver can face is when those lights don't work also as they should. Typically, these problems are related to condensation inside the light housing. It's extremely rare for h2o or condensation to find its style within of a tail calorie-free, merely it does happen occasionally.

Whether it's due to a cleaved seal or a fissure in the tail light itself, condensation within of a tail light tin prematurely wear out the light, burn the bulb and make the light useless. The near common source of water leaking inside of a tail light is when the seal that is designed to protect the interior parts from outside elements breaks, allowing water or condensation to form on the within of the light.

Office i of ane: Removing water from the tail light

Materials Needed

Boxed end wrench or ratchet wrench
Flashlight
Heat gun or hair dryer
Marker
Needle nose pliers
Replacement tail low-cal seal
Replacement light bulb
Safe equipment (prophylactic spectacles & gloves)
Screwdrivers (flat and Phillips head)
Foursquare cardboard box and a flat piece of paper-thin the same width as the box
Waterproof silicone

Step 1: Disconnect the vehicle's battery. Before removing whatsoever parts, locate the vehicle's battery and disconnect the positive and negative battery cables.

Note: This step should always be the first thing you do when you piece of work on any vehicle.

tail light viewed from inside the vehicle

Step ii: Remove the tail light. To remove the light, follow the verbal steps listed in your vehicle service manual.

The instructions listed beneath are general steps for removing the tail low-cal on nigh vehicles:

Remove any covers that are behind the light in question.
Remove the electrical harness or lite bulb "pigtail" from the calorie-free.
Remove any clips or bolts that are securing the light to the vehicle. To remove these clips, apply a pair of needle nose pliers and press downwards or pull up on the clip depending on the location of the zipper.

removing the housing

Step iii: Remove the tail lite from the vehicle. Once the clips or bolts have been disconnected from the light, you'll need to remove it from the vehicle.

But pull the low-cal with two hands, making sure that whatever electrical harnesses take been removed from the light housing.

light bulb after tail light covers have been removed

Step four: Remove the light bulb. After the tail light has been removed from the vehicle, you'll need to remove the light bulb within.

To accomplish this step, follow the instructions listed in your vehicle service manual.

inspecting the seals for leaks

Step 5: Expect for the source of the leak. The epitome above shows the location of the seal betwixt the outer cover and the inner cover.

This seal tends to wear out due to exposure to elements such equally lord's day, hot weather or cold weather climates.

inspecting the light bulb seal

The other source of the leak may be coming from the light seedling itself. In the image above, you can encounter an orange O-Ring, which is pressed inside the housing where the lite bulb inserts to the tail lite.

Sometimes this O-Ring will be pinched, frayed or damaged, which causes water to seep into the tail light. If the seal is damaged, you demand to buy a new light bulb and O-Ring and reinstall.

filling the light housing with water

Stride half dozen: Fill the light housing with water. Once all electrical components have been removed from the tail calorie-free, a good style to observe the source of the leak is to make full information technology with h2o and pressure examination the housing.

Fill the light housing with water, and wipe all residual water from the exterior edges (especially where the seal is located). Using either an air hose connection or your rima oris, blow air into the housing and look for air bubbling or water coming from the seals.

bubbles coming out of the seals

In the image higher up, you tin come across that bubbles are beingness forced from the seal. Once y'all find the surface area that is leaking, marker the starting and ending locations with a marker. This will tell y'all where to apply caulking to seal the leaking gasket.

light housing in a cardboard box

Pace 7: Dry the inside of the tail calorie-free. The best method to remove condensation from the inside of a tail light is the indirect drying method.

Put the tail calorie-free in a cardboard box with a peak. Refer to the image above for an example of this setup.

Basically, all you want to do is identify the tail light inside of a cardboard box with the open hole where the light bulb is inserted facing towards the back.

Once the light is inside the box, cutting a circular pigsty the same diameter equally the stop of a oestrus gun or hair dryer on the other side of the paper-thin box. Insert the tip of the heat gun through the hole.

piece of cardboard cutting off box

Yous don't want to accept direct heat on the tail light, as the plastic housing may melt. To avoid this, place a piece of cardboard or heavy paper in between the lite and the heat gun. Refer to the image above.

One time everything is set in place, turn your heat gun or pilus dryer to the everyman setting. Shut the lid of the box and identify a small piece of tape over the lid. Later running it for 5 to 10 minutes, check the tail calorie-free to encounter if the condensation has been removed. If non, wait a few minutes more, only exercise not let the heat gun run for more than xx minutes.

Step 8: Repair the leak. Once the tail low-cal has been cleared of condensation, you'll have to make up one's mind how to repair the damaged seal.

Nearly motorcar owners will choose to utilize a waterproof caulking compound to seal the gasket. Others decide to accept the headlight or tail light completely apart and replace the unabridged seal.

The method for completing this step will vary based on the materials y'all use. However, if you're using a waterproof silicone, the instructions are rather unproblematic.

Run a small dewdrop of silicone along the edge of the seal. Using your finger, shine out the dewdrop and make sure to work the silicone inside the cracks of the gasket or seal. Let the silicone harden overnight.

Pace 9: Reinstall the repaired tail light. Simply reverse the installation instructions to reinstall the tail light or follow your service manual instructions.

These are general steps for reinstalling a tail light:

Insert the new light seedling and securely fasten the light bulb to the back of the tail low-cal.
Insert the tail light into the housing.
Tighten all clips or bolts that hold the tail light onto the vehicle.
Secure any electrical harnesses and reinstall whatsoever covers that were removed.

If you've read these instructions and notwithstanding don't feel 100% confident in completing this repair, delight contact one of the local ASE certified mechanics from YourMechanic to complete the tail calorie-free lens replacement job for you.

The statements expressed to a higher place are only for informational purposes and should exist independently verified. Please meet our terms of service for more details

Source: https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/how-to-remove-water-from-a-tail-light-by-timothy-charlet

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