Tail light lenses not sealing after new seal install
 

I’ve just gone through the annoying task of replacing the tail light seals

I just went out in the dark to make sure all my new bulbs were lighting ok

While looking, I could see light escaping at the inboard corners - lenses are not hitting the new rubber seals

I tried multiple times to refit the lenses. If I start at the inboard screw, I can get the light leak to disappear but as I continue with the other screws the light leak returns

The lenses are original to car

The new seals are genuine Porsche parts. I am not at all impressed by these. They were very very loose fitting. I did glue them with weather strip glue. I think I did it right

My guess is that the original lenses formed a shape over time and other than squeeze some caulk in there, I could try new lenses or buy new seals and start over

Anyone deal with this before? I can see how it is possible to not even know this problem exists until you notice water behind the lenses...

Any advice welcome. Thanks

Did you remove the tail light unit to replace the seal?It is important ...
Ivan

Yes I removed them, cleaned them etc.

I ordered some new lenses and a tube of silicone sealant just in case and will see if that helps when they get here Sunday

Not sure what’s going on here as I also have this strange issue
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/1036938-gap-normal-between-tail-light-porsche-reflector.html

Try tightening the screws in a different sequence.
Or, as a last resort if you are going to replace them, try some reshaping with a heat gun.

Yea gonna try tonight. Gonna take them out and analyze everything, especially the way my new seals are installed. May need to slice off the glue and do a re-do

I thought of something else..(funny how something like this can keep one up all night)...those little rubber/plastic washer things that join up with the captive nuts might be screwing up how the entire light housing sits in its spot

I ended up buying m5x.8x20mm screws instead of the 16mm screws which made threading into the captive nuts much easier BUT I reused those rubber/plastic washer things and instead of trying to stick them back on/into the captive nuts where they reside (they kept falling off), I pushed them on to the threaded portion of the screws —-I’m thinking they are not sitting right once everything is right and maybe not allowing the housing to pull fully into the body by just a few mm

I’m talking about the screws that hold the housing to body not the lens screws

And I’m not sure how that would effect the way the lens seals but sometimes it’s something small like that that has a chain reaction and causes issues.

I’m gonna toss those things as I can’t see what their purpose is. In fact, I bought a new captive nut cause one had thread damage and it didn’t even come with that little rubber/plastic washer thing

I had the same fitment issues after replacing the seals and lenses; annoyed the hell out of me.
I ended up grinding the inside flat spot of the screw seats down a few mm with a Dremel. This allowed the lens to get closer to the gasket. I also used a heat gun to gently align a bit of the twist in the lens.
PS I also removed the plastic captive washers as the indent in the seat was gone once I ground down the seats so they would sit proud if I left them on.

Wow. Thanks for letting me know I’m not alone. I thought I might be an idiot (I still might be)

I bet many people who have replaced lenses and seals have this issue. Unless you really look at the lights closely at night, you won’t notice it especially if you live in a dry climate

New lenses did nothing. Maybe even worse. I’ll have to carefully try some butyl tape around the edges

My conclusion is the new Porsche seals are not perfect. I’m certain I installed and glued them as perfectly as they can be given how loose fitting they are