Black gunk solvent: UPDATE.
 

Anyone know of one? I want to clean the old stuff off a "new" light I've bought to replace the o/s one that I CANNOT stop leaking, there's always water in it, despite having removed it and thoroughly dried it...and not just a little either. But I can't see where it's coming in, so have bought another.

I've scraped the black stuff off and will replace it with Carafax, but can't remember what solvent I used the previous time.

Thx.

my memories just as bad. lol have you tried white spirit or petrol

We use PF-SR sealant remover at work (aviation) it's very good stuff

I'd like to know how you went about getting the old one out , did you manage to do it without breaking anything .

Sorry I can't help with a sealant remover

Right pain in the balls to remove them aint it?

It was luckily quite cold when I did mine, so left them to harden then cut most of it away with a blade, then I'm pretty sure I used some good old V Power.

PS if you need some PF-SR I can send you some.

Thanks, I'll try white spirit first, then contact you if necessary.

getting the old ones out: not easy, but remove all FIVE nuts, then firm pressure on the screw heads that protrude into the boot, in opposing pairs, using a wood block etc to help push, eventually starts it moving.

Once it starts, you can pull from the rear too.

White spirit works a treat, brushed on with a small paint brush, left for ten minutes, re-scraped and then wiped off with paper towels.

This story sounds very familiar. I'm in exactly the same situation, offside STI classic wagon rear light leaks. I've had it out and resealed twice with no success.

The last time I took it out, while off the car I found if I sprayed water onto the face of it with a hose, it still managed to get into the housing somehow. The only conclusion I could come to was that it's get in through the seal between the upper segment and lower segment of the light. I put a small amount of butyl sealant over the seal between the segments and it stayed dry for a bit, but didn't last long and has recently started leaking again.

So, replacing seems to be the only option. I couldn't source a new or 2nd hand replacement for just one side from anywhere in this country, so am currently waiting for one from Japan, sourced from Yahoo Japan auctions via www.jauce.com.