I’ve noticed there is condensation in my taillight. The light’s integrity seems to be ok - no cracks anywhere.
Should I be concerned? Or will this disappear on its own?
Condensation in taillight — normal?
Leadcanary
I’ve noticed there is condensation in my taillight. The light’s integrity seems to be ok - no cracks anywhere.
Should I be concerned? Or will this disappear on its own?
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I’ve noticed there is condensation in my taillight. The light’s integrity seems to be ok - no cracks anywhere.
Should I be concerned? Or will this disappear on its own?
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It will probably only get worse over time. I’d take it in to the dealer.
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Yeah I’m going to take it into the dealer and see what they have to say. This is so random though. It was fine last night. Today I park it outside and voila, there’s all this condensation that’s popped out of nowhere.
My only worry is that the dealer will ask me to make an appointment before they even see the car, and I’m going on a trip after that. Don’t want this problem throwing up warning lights and whatnot as has happened to previous gen accord owners who also got condensation in their taillights.
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I loathe the dealership's service department, but this is the kind of thing that I would take to them...
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this may be a noob question, but is the gasket a part of the tail light, or is it outside the tail light? I.e. would replacing the tail light fix the problem, or will it still end up failing because the gasket is external to the tail light?
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Yeah will go to the dealership. But if my past experience is anything to go by, I’m sure they’ll tell me they can’t even look at it till I make an appointment with them. If it is a replacement, they’re probably going to tell me that the part is backordered and it’ll get here when it gets here. I already have the side mirror that needs to be replaced and it’s been 3 months since that was ordered and that still hasn’t arrived or been replaced.
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The tail light is all one sealed unit, so changing out the tail light for one with a good gasket should fix it...
You could try to DIY this...
I haven't looked at mine, but usually there's just a couple screws and a plug connecting a tail light to a car. Remove the screws, tug vigorously, and it should come free. Unplug it.
Examine the gasket(s) between the clear lenses and the black plastic body. If there's an obvious problem, then fix it.
Remove the bulbs, so it'll "breathe," and set it in the sun to dry it out. Once it's dry, and glue or tape on the gasket is dry, then reinstall. Done.
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Hard to say not knowing how the taillight lenses attach to the back of the car. Might be a separate gasket. See what the dealer says.
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Thanks so much! I’ll see what I can do; my first inclination is to take it to the dealer and see what they say. Also I believe the light and housing will be one single sealed unit without bulbs, because it’s fully LED. So might be able to take off the connector, but won’t be able to take out any bulbs, so don’t know if the light will be able to breathe as such.
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Yep, that’s the plan. Will take it to the dealer and let them tell me what seems to be the problem. Hopefully it’s just cosmetic, because I’ve got a trip coming up and I read on these forums that people with the 10th gen had their limp modes activated when they got the same problem.
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Oh, duh... You're totally right.
Basically, that unit has failed, so I would simply show it to the dealer and have them order a new one...
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We don't know if the tail light and bulb are one sealed unit. Just because it is an LED bulb doesn't mean it's one unit. One thing is for sure, water is getting in there somehow, from rain fall, or washing the car. If it is one unit, there's a crack somewhere. Let the dealer worry about it.
This is condensation from the air. The warmer air condenses on the cooler surface.
Probably the entire LED assembly should be sealed. This could be asked at the parts department, if they have it in stock, if it looks like a sealed assembly.
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Yep, that’s the plan. Will update you guys about how it goes with the dealership (if they even see me lol).
one thing I’ve noticed is that it’s the outer shell covering where the condensation is. The inner light housing (brake light + turn signal) is behind another lens. So the condensation is between the two coverings.
IIRC, Honda has had issues with moisture getting inside taillights on at least one prior generation (10th?) Accord. It was typically the left one, and it caused problems...
There's at least one thread (or more) on this topic, so do a search to see how that was fixed...
UPDATE: Quick search found this. There may be more related threads...
There's at least one thread (or more) on this topic, so do a search to see how that was fixed...
UPDATE: Quick search found this. There may be more related threads...
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Thank you! Yes I read a few threads. 10th gen Accords were throwing up fault codes which is what’s causing me concern (going on a trip and don’t want to get stranded in limp mode on the side of the road). They all seem to have had the lights replaced under warranty, or replaced them themselves. We’ll see what the dealership says after I’ve had them take a look.
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I understand, but that much moisture would have to be in the air inside the sealed unit? Would there ever be that level of humidity inside the unit? If so, there would be condensation in every car, just depending on the temperature swing, and the humidity inside the taillight (humidity and dew point). That looks like a lot of moisture to me, more than I would expect from just condensation. It will be interesting to see what the dealer says.
What you see are tiny water droplets. Not that much water. That doesn't mean it's not harmful. If it accumulates on metal electrical connections, it can lead to corrosion and an electrical short circuit. The dealer can't say it's normal.
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