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A few years ago I had to replace one of my taillights and never thought about the clarity between the two. I tried the cleaning process with the sanding and polish but as you can see the clear portion
is still cloudy compared to the other one. Could there be an issue on the inside? With my former 87, it was common that the inside of the housing required cleaning. Short of buying a new taillight, any other suggestion?
Yes, very common for these .2 lights to get moisture inside. distilled water works. diluted vinegar. I'm sure there are all sorts of methods folks will share to try to clean them up but they'll never look exactly like new and moisture will continue to make their way in. It's a persistent minor 997.2 owner annoyance.
The best way to prevent this is to install PPF, so that the seam between red and clear is sealed. I lost one light, replaced it, and installed PPF on both. No issues since, and we have lots of rain here during the summer.
Yes, very common for these .2 lights to get moisture inside. distilled water works. diluted vinegar. I'm sure there are all sorts of methods folks will share to try to clean them up but they'll never look exactly like new and moisture will continue to make its way in. It's a persistent minor 997.2 owner annoyance.
GTS, I pulled the taillight off and removed all the screws but see no way to separate the housing so I can clean the inside. From what it looks to me, this is a sealed unit that you toss if the light ever burns out. What am I missing?
Dont think you can clean the insides of the taillights Bob... when lenses have micro cracks,like I had, or dirt or discoloration, it's a replacement thing... I hoped to save by trying so many things cause I did not want to replace a fully working tailight.. ended up buying a new pair... by the way I'm referring to a 997.2 tail
Yes it separates.. or, at least, there's a way to get inside. If memory serves the female plug on the light end has a clip that allows access to inside the light. I've opened these on a pair of junk lights I modified and used at the track. I'm sure youtube can help.
Also be careful washing & drying. After really going at my M3 headlight with the blower drying, I got a moisture in headlight warning. I must have forced some water in. Since then I have gone easier with the blower, and no problems since.
I had the same issue with my 2010 C2S. The original light had lots of micro cracks and the clear plastic was coming separated. I took them apart, replaced all the gaskets and tried to seal the separation. I was getting lost of condensation, almost a cup of water inside every time it rained. I gave up and ordered new ones from suncoast parts, for $1,150 for the pair with tax and shipping.
Porsche has had tail light issues for a while - The 996C4S tail lights were notorious for developing vertical cracks at the top of the tail light lenses..
Annoying issue and most seem to have the problem.
a cup of water - thats alot. the new tails look great
put ppf on them to keep them new/better sealed.
Originally Posted by HartyWags
I had the same issue with my 2010 C2S. The original light had lots of micro cracks and the clear plastic was coming separated. I took them apart, replaced all the gaskets and tried to seal the separation. I was getting lost of condensation, almost a cup of water inside every time it rained. I gave up and ordered new ones from suncoast parts, for $1,150 for the pair with tax and shipping.
Moisture reminds me of a venting issue. Poor venting can cause that in numerous headlights/tail lights. Ford use to put a tiny piece of foam in the back of the headlights vent tube on the Crown Vics where I worked. It would'nt allow enough air to vent so they would fog up terribly.
I removed the foam from all of them and never had another problem.
12-20-2021, 11:46 AM
Taillights
