Here's a New One: Dead Moth INSIDE Tail-light

[CJFusco]

Car is a 2007 Cayman S. Spotted this today during routine cleaning:



Yes, it is INSIDE the tail-light assembly. So many questions come to mind: how did this happen? How do I get it out?

Any thoughts? Although it's barely noticeable, I'm going to obsess over it every time I look at the car.

[sc_rufctr]

Pull the bulb and try to blow it out with compressed air. OR... Long tweezers?

No idea on how it happened. You' think the lights would be sealed.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

it went in through a drain hole or slit. Take the light out of the car and you can get it out either by shaking in the right directions or with water pressure. Did this with a new/used tail light I got for my S60 that had surprisingly big bugs in it.

[Eric Coffey]

I'd advise against using water. If you are going to obsess over a dead moth in there, then (the potential for) impossible-to-remove water spots would drive you nuts as well. Should be easy enough to remove the housing (1 bolt), take out the bulb, and shake it out/blow it out. YMMV...

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Good call on the water thing, it will depend on what water you have. The lens I got off eBay had the bugs but was also dusty on the inside. I put some Dawn in there and warm water and sloshed it around. Then just let it sit in the sun for an afternoon, it came out great. No spots but I could see how other water would leave spots.

[wildthing]

It will eventually disintegrate if you wait long enough.

[rusnak]

Can't you just vacuum it out? Try rubbing alcohol to clean the inside of the tail light when you need to do that.

[scottmandue]

Get a baby praying mantis and put it in there!

I would start with just removing the tail light, pull out the lamp(s) and see if you can shake it out (Like when you lose a guitar pick inside a acoustic guitar) before trying water/compressed air.

[Cooper911SC]

I have had 2 of these in the last year and a half on our 2005 S Type R. Strange place to find the buggers.

I just pulled the tail light and shook the dead bugs out.

Cooper

[john70t]

Originally Posted by wildthing

It will eventually disintegrate if you wait long enough.

(Off-roading will speed up the process.)

[fanaudical]

Isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) can cause polycarbonate to "craze" (open up lots of surface cracks) - I don't suggest putting that in your lenses.

[CJFusco]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

Get a baby praying mantis and put it in there!
.

And then a spider to get the praying mantis... and then a bird to get the spider... and then a cat to get the bird... and then a dog to get the cat...

I will try shaking it out; failing that, the next logical step sounds like it would be the vacuum method.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

maybe get a Dremel tool and cut a window for him to fall out.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by Shaun @ Tru6

maybe get a Dremel tool and cut a window for him to fall out.

Jeez, Shaun, he lives in Connecticut, not Kentucky!

[onewhippedpuppy]

Pull the lens, vacuum him out. If the nozzle is too big, tape a piece of tube/hose into the vac nozzle for a good enough seal and then stick the tube into the bulb hole.

Distilled water does a good job of rinsing out the inside of lights without leaving behind spots.

[mattdavis11]

If you didn't find a name for the car in your earlier thread, The Moth, would be appropriate.

[pavulon]

Mothra works too!

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

Jeez, Shaun, he lives in Connecticut, not Kentucky!

We didn't have washing machines in the front yard but did live on a dirt road, couldn't see our nearest neighbor and pulled ticks the size of grapes of the dogs and put them in a jar of gas, when I lived in CT.

Some of the best years of my life. Simpler times.