Taillight seals seeping / leaking road grime ?

[Mavidiesel]

Just got my Maverick a couple weeks ago. I’ve noticed when the roads are wet it looks looks like road grime is possibly seeping out from between my left tail light and the steel body panels. Anyone else experienced this? I’m wondering if a seal’s not set right or if it maybe it got splashed by passing vehicle?

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[Red Ryder]

I don't have my Maverick yet, but I do recall a post on this forum, where someone mentioned having their taillight housing out (maybe for an LED swap) and noting how "open" everything seemed. Maybe mentioned seeing the tire if I recall.

 

[Randy H.]

Maybe that's just your Maverick shedding tears of joy to be out of the desert; or for those of us who don't have our Mavericks yet....

 

[TCK]

Can’t be a straight shot from the tire can it? I need to look at pictures of the underside again.
In any event it beats my Sportwagen which started oozing wax out of the doors it’s first summer…clever sealer/dampener for Germany, lousy for California.

 

[Rflick]

After reading your post, I reviewed a posting by Obiewan54 - led tail lights upgrade video to see if Ford incorporated a perimeter seal on the tail light assembly. From the video, it appears as there are no perimeter seal attached. Having worked at Guide Lamp Div. GMC for 26 years I had the opportunity to view hundreds of different tail light assemblies and they all included either a black foam gasket or a vinyl lip around the perimeter of the tail light assembly. The type of seal varies with the the situation for each vehicle. These seals prevent moisture from entering or in the case of the Maverick truck, from leaking from the backside and being deposited on the sheet metal. I am not encouraged from the photo that you attached.

 

[Mavidiesel]

After reading your post, I reviewed a posting by Obiewan54 - led tail lights upgrade video to see if Ford incorporated a perimeter seal on the tail light assembly. From the video, it appears as there are no perimeter seal attached. Having worked at Guide Lamp Div. GMC for 26 years I had the opportunity to view hundreds of different tail light assemblies and they all included either a black foam gasket or a vinyl lip around the perimeter of the tail light assembly. The type of seal varies with the the situation for each vehicle. These seals prevent moisture from entering or in the case of the Maverick truck, from leaking from the backside and being deposited on the sheet metal. I am not encouraged from the photo that you attached.

There ‘s definitely a lack of sealing or something there. I took my truck the car wash Thursday, then drove it a couple more days on wet wintery roads and sure enough that back left taillight was packed again with road grime.

 

[nunucello]

After reading your post, I reviewed a posting by Obiewan54 - led tail lights upgrade video to see if Ford incorporated a perimeter seal on the tail light assembly. From the video, it appears as there are no perimeter seal attached. Having worked at Guide Lamp Div. GMC for 26 years I had the opportunity to view hundreds of different tail light assemblies and they all included either a black foam gasket or a vinyl lip around the perimeter of the tail light assembly. The type of seal varies with the the situation for each vehicle. These seals prevent moisture from entering or in the case of the Maverick truck, from leaking from the backside and being deposited on the sheet metal. I am not encouraged from the photo that you attached.

Is it possible to do a self seal job ?

 

[JASmith]

Is it possible to do a self seal job ?

Should take no more than a few minutes and a trip to home depot for adhesive weather stripping. Silly oversight, but not hard to fix.

While you're at it, you might want to seal the third brakelight too. Those seals failing on older Rams leads to water intrusion, and I think when I watched the one guy taking his out it didn't even have a seal. I replaced my old seal on my Ram as a precaution, and was easy peasy.

 

[Naranjita]

Should take no more than a few minutes and a trip to home depot for adhesive weather stripping. Silly oversight, but not hard to fix.

While you're at it, you might want to seal the third brakelight too. Those seals failing on older Rams leads to water intrusion, and I think when I watched the one guy taking his out it didn't even have a seal. I replaced my old seal on my Ram as a precaution, and was easy peasy.

Yes, I once had the third brake light gasket fail on an aftermarket product. I found out in the car wash. When water starting running out the back of my headliner, down the back window and all over my leather seats in Lincoln Mark LT pickup. Huge mess. At first I thought it was my sunroof.

It actually took me awhile to realize the source. Because it took over a year after install for it to do it. Living in Washington State, you half expect sunroof leaks.

 

[Skisail]

Can’t be a straight shot from the tire can it? I need to look at pictures of the underside again.
In any event it beats my Sportwagen which started oozing wax out of the doors it’s first summer…clever sealer/dampener for Germany, lousy for California.

Which would you rather have, a little easily cleaned wax rustproofing dripping out, or rust?

My 2000 Jetta still drips a little rustproofing wax on hot days, but it has no rust, even in super salty Northern Ohio.

 

[Aherpa]

Just got my Maverick a couple weeks ago. I’ve noticed when the roads are wet it looks looks like road grime is possibly seeping out from between my left tail light and the steel body panels. Anyone else experienced this? I’m wondering if a seal’s not set right or if it maybe it got splashed by passing vehicle?

Not saying the area should not have been sealed from road debris, but it might help to have flaps in place. From the picture, it appears they are not.

 

[kw86er]

The passenger side has a plastic shield that protects the inside of the fender from tire spray. The drivers side looks like it should have something and doesn't.

 

[nunucello]

Should take no more than a few minutes and a trip to home depot for adhesive weather stripping. Silly oversight, but not hard to fix.

While you're at it, you might want to seal the third brakelight too. Those seals failing on older Rams leads to water intrusion, and I think when I watched the one guy taking his out it didn't even have a seal. I replaced my old seal on my Ram as a precaution, and was easy peasy.

Thank You JASmith. And suggestions on what type of adhesive weather stripping I should look for at Home Depot ?

 

[Rflick]

Thank You JASmith. And suggestions on what type of adhesive weather stripping I should look for at Home Depot ?

After viewing the photos and reading the post by kw86er, the leaking tail lights might just involve the drivers side tail light. Without having our Maverick to work with, I would consider using some flexible foam backer applied from the backside if possible between the sheet metal and tail light to fill the gap. According to how big of a gap is would dictate the diameter of backing needed. I purchased this backing from local hardware store for a few dollars and is 1/2” diameter. If possible I would use a plastic putty knife to pack the backing into the gap around the perimeter of the tail light to seal it. Just a suggestion, maybe someone might offer other options. This diameter will compress to very narrow thickness.

 

[FriarPop]

If you take the taillights off its a straight shot to the ground, all the tire kickback is gonna get in there.

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