[cmyk]

I picked up my car from the body shop on Friday after quite a bit of body work (including OEM blacklines and CSL trunk install) and it's been raining off and on ever since. This evening I noticed condensation/moisture inside the passenger side tail light. I opened the trunk and pulled back the liner a bit and the whole area is soaked.

I've had issues with condensation in lights before but never in this car. Previously in my old beater Volvo that had this issue I just drilled a 1/16" hole in the bottom of the light to drain the water out. Obviously I am not going to do that with my new blacklines.

I'll be taking the car back to the shop to address the issue this week but I wanted to see if there was anything I could do to either narrow down the cause or keep the problem from getting worse before I brought it in. Or if there is an easy fix out there I'd be willing to do the work myself as honestly I am a bit skeptical of this shop, despite their glowing reputation.

Help?

[JustinGTP]

OEM blacklines?

[cmyk]

Originally Posted by JustinGTP

OEM blacklines?

Yes, OEM.

[cmyk]

It was worse this morning (now there is standing water inside my lights, not just condensation). I am not able to take the car back to the shop until later this week, so if anyone can help me figure out a way to temporarily fix this until it can go in I'd appreciate it. I am worried I'm going to short out the lights or something (or that the water is going to make its way into my trunk).

[ndog14]

Do you have the originals? Put them back in until you can take them back, and take some pictures before you uninstall.

[cmyk]

Originally Posted by ndog14

Do you have the originals? Put them back in until you can take them back, and take some pictures before you uninstall.

I asked for the originals back but they kept them. Otherwise that's what I'd do.

I'm starting to think that the problem is more due to how the trunk was installed than the lights. They did not align the trunk properly and there is a large gap on the passenger side (same side as the problematic light). I'm thinking too much water is getting into the rain channel due to that gap and splashing up onto the light through a small gap in the trunk liner. I've thought about wrapping the inside of the light housing in teflon plumber's tape temporarily. Maybe that would work?

[BlackBB6]

Did they say why they wouldn't let you keep your original tail lights?

[cmyk]

Originally Posted by BlackBB6

Did they say why they wouldn't let you keep your original tail lights?

They "forgot" a lot of stuff. Like they "forgot" to tint my back window. And they "forgot" to clean out all the glass in my car from the broken windows. And they "forgot" that electrical tape is not a good way to secure hood latches.

So my guess is they just "forgot" to give me back my original lights. I will have them return them when I go in later this week. If they don't have them anymore, I guess they'll have to get me another set. In hindsight I should have just left the tail lights alone and installed the blacklines myself when I got the car back. Oh well.

[ndog14]

Originally Posted by cmyk

They "forgot" a lot of stuff. Like they "forgot" to tint my back window. And they "forgot" to clean out all the glass in my car from the broken windows. And they "forgot" that electrical tape is not a good way to secure hood latches.

So my guess is they just "forgot" to give me back my original lights. I will have them return them when I go in later this week. If they don't have them anymore, I guess they'll have to get me another set. In hindsight I should have just left the tail lights alone and installed the blacklines myself when I got the car back. Oh well.

Why do you keep going back to that place?

I don't think that happens to just you, but everyone that goes there.

[cmyk]

Originally Posted by ndog14

Why do you keep going back to that place?

I don't think that happens to just you, but everyone that goes there.

Agreed. Not happy with them to say the least. I would rather pay someone else to fix their mistakes (and I will), but I already have an appointment with them later this week to have my back window tinted (they can't screw that up -- they have a tint shop nearby that handles all their tinting, so they won't be touching the car again).

I am making a list of issues that I will bring to their attention at that time. But yes, you're right, I will not allow them to touch my car. I just think they should be aware of their shitty workmanship (the BBB will be aware of it, too).