BULLITT

I've got a continuous problem of water getting into the STI lights on my car, which also leaks through and fills the boot with water. Its really starting to annoy me now as I've had the lights off twice in the last 6 months and emptied the water out, dried them out and the second time I used silicone seal round the light lens and also sealed them to the car when I put them back on. They've been fine while I washed the car but after a day of rain the drivers side has filled up again and is letting water into the boot.

The lights are genuine STI parts bought new from a UK dealer.

Has anyone had the same problem or does anyone know how to stop it as every thing I used only seems to work temporarily.

alanbell

iTrader: (6)

I had the same with my classic, Lots and lots of clear mastic worked for me >>> in the end.

Darc174

iTrader: (13)

yeah i have had the same problem with the STI lights

BULLITT

I've been thinking of writing a complaint to Subaru UK about it as really, regardless of what car (Import or domestic) they are on, a new genuine part should not do this. Its not as if they were a bargain either, they cost me £162+ vat and I had to wait 3 weeks for them to come from Japan.

The dealer service was great from Monty's Subaru who ordered them in for me, but for Subaru to charge that much for something that causes this much hassle is ridiculous.

dan83590

I'd take them back matey. When you get the replacement items seal all the edges yourself before you fit them.

BULLITT

I wish I could, now that I've (in their words) "tampered" with them they can and will refuse a return. We do the same at the dealership I work at.

I'll write to Subaru and see what happens. I'm not happy about this, everytime it rains I have to pump out the water from the boot, in this country we get one dry day for every 3 weeks of rain so imagine how much water is in there when I can get round to draining it. Last time I took 2 and half litres out!

dan83590

****. Is the water leaking into the light cluster or into the boot, or both? A neat bead of semi dry mastic on the rear of the light could the trick, if you miss a spot and get a leak it doesn't mean you have to pick the whole lot off and start again. With the insides, dry it again and neatly smear clear silicone into the join between the lense and the rear of the light, it worked on my Lexus ones (I didn't choose them, they came with the car )..

I'm sure the originals would have been bedded into a black semi dry mastic. It's a case of noting where the cluster makes contact with the body..

ralphandcarol

Spend £40 on a new boot seal and at least that should stop the water leak filling up your boot, classic Imprezas are famous for this happening especially now that they are all over 8 years old and the original seal is past it's best.....................................unless you did not seal the rear lights properly in the 1st place.
Best way to find the leak is to take out the back seat and while someone is soaking the car with a hose you can be inside looking for the water coming in.

L3VL G

I dont like the sound of all this, ive just fit my set of STI rear lights at the weekend

Is it a very common problem then? I made sure i sealed it enough, well i hope i did, will soon find out with all the rain we've had. Is there anything extra i could do to provent any leaks?

Ste RB5138

I had to seal my STI rears twice, I didnt use enough sealant first time, got a water leak soon after so I had to take them out, clean them up and re-seal them using most of a can of Unibonds finest

BULLITT

Exactly what I did, I filled the gap between the lense and the back of the light with silicone seal and a nice thick bead around where the light unit is supposed to make contact with the body, there was loads on but the water must have found a gap somewhere.

The original (orange indicators) were sikaflex'd on and they leaked a bit.

Its definately coming from the lights or around where the lights make contact with the body. I spent the best part of an hour checking every seal and gap around the boot to see if it was coming in from anywhere else but it isn't. The boot aperture seal is in top condition, no splits, cracks of flat areas.

The point been that these lights are over £200 for the pair and they have a serious design flaw which they do know about. I work at a car dealership, not a Subaru one but still if we sold parts of this (lack of) quality we would be out of business.

StickyMicky

you need to add a LOT of sealant, i find it best to add it with the nozzle off as you will be using a full tube for the rear lights

the lights dont sit very close to the car and need quite a bit of filling.

BULLITT

Well, the letter to Subaru UK is in the post, will just have to see what happens now. Its upto them to sort it as these are genuine Subaru parts which were bought at an official Subaru dealer.

sarnyboy

mine are doing the same, gone all green inside now :-( what do people recommend for cleaning inside the light units??

how about drilling a couple of tiny holes up through the bottom, so the water can get out once its in

rb5 jeff

DO NOT USE SILICONE SEALANT ON STI REARS...

Speaking from past ball ache's with leaking sti rear lights. Mastic is the only reliable way to seal them for good...

Carafax IDL99 Sealant - White from Halfords Price £1.49

Job done

BULLITT

Thanks Jeff, I'll see what Subaru say and I'll try it

Andygreer

iTrader: (4)

Subaru will blag you off.......... ive delt with Adrian Hogg a few times nothing got done for me!!! on any issues

ralphandcarol

As above, you will be lucky if you even get an answer. If they do reply they will tell you that as they were not fitted by a Dealer then the problem is yours.

The boot lid seal does not have to have any visible faults to have given up the ghost.
If when you pull the boot release it does not pop up a good 3" or so then the seal has seen better days.
The bead of mastic (not silicon) that you apply will/should be at least 15mm in diameter, any smaller than this and they WILL leak.

sarnyboy

whats the difference between silicone and mastic?

StickyMicky

letters to subaru will not do anything, its a fitment issue LOL

not sure what sealant they come with when you buy brand new lights from subaru UK (if any>?)

but the standard lights have lashings and lashings of evil black stuff bridging the gap between the light and the actual car

my car came with sti rears as standard and the first time i removed them for a paint job it was a nightmare lol

sarnyboy

once the inside has gone green with mildue, whats the best thing to remove the green sludge before drying them out??

cillit bang or something??

BULLITT

I had the same thing, I just used a dry cloth to wipe it out. Just used something like a screwdriver (with the pointy bit covered) to push the cloth round inside where I couldn't get to.

I bendy pipe cleaner brush should have the same effect.

BULLITT

Well good news, I've had the letter back from Subaru UK and contrary to what KT Green have told me, ALL parts bought through UK Dealers carry a 3 years 60,000 mile warranty regardless of whether the vehicle is an import or domestic model.