R3 rear light disassembly

[R1DSO]

All this social distancing is providing plenty of time for RX-8 odd jobs. Today I took out my rear R3 lights in order to replace the gaskets with a set of Essex Rotary enhanced gaskets.

My lights had the common slight misting issue, but also moss around the edges and a number of dead spiders (and what looks like white dust or dirt from a leak?!) actually inside the light housing:

18F919BA-D447-4125-9B55-38995A244E25.jpeg

26F906CC-0289-4658-B622-323CF8DF9AB5.jpeg

9FB63CDC-9BFC-4324-9AE8-FFB5F363A74F.jpeg

There was a fair amount of crap sitting on top of the OEM gaskets, but – once I’d cleaned them up a bit – they actually looked in fairly decent condition, bar some light cracking:

95EB14FF-F459-4D78-ADD7-823FDE39C00C.jpeg

F458AB8E-6E1E-4769-B179-F45082660F0B.jpeg

The OEM gaskets also look a fair bit thicker than the Essex Rotary replacements:

C62E55D0-3D29-4540-B6B8-28F4FED9F992.jpeg

Before I peel off the OEM gaskets, I’m wondering whether it’s worth sense checking if the lights could actually be leaking between the lens and the light housing ? And if the gasket Are (or are not) the culprit, does anyone have any tips on how to get those dead spiders out and clean the dust on the black bit behind the lens?

I think I can scrape some of the moss out of the sides with a razor blade, but it doesn’t look like I can get Inside the light through the bulb holes. Reading other threads, it sounds like the rear light lenses and housings are sealed more thoroughly than the headlights and can’t be separated with oven heat.

[PaulAV]

Rear lights are friction welded and can't be separated without cutting apart, l have rinsed my rear lights out with plain old water (although they are series 1 not R3) you can take the bulbs out and gain limited access, what ever way you go, you need to be careful not to scratch the inside of the lens.

[R1DSO]

Rear lights are friction welded and can't be separated without cutting apart, l have rinsed my rear lights out with plain old water (although they are series 1 not R3) you can take the bulbs out and gain limited access, what ever way you go, you need to be careful not to scratch the inside of the lens.

Well I’ve just purchased a Dremel, but as yet have no experience using it, so should probably leave my lights in one piece by the sounds of it .

From what I can see with the s2 light design, taking the indicator and reverse light bulbs out will only allow access to the inside of their respective enclosed lenses. I like the flushing with water idea, but can’t do this as it isn’t possible to remove the s2 LEDs.

I reckon the spiders must have got in as eggs and hatched inside the light housings! No idea where the white marks on the black bits came from. It‘s not looking like there’s an easy way of cleaning up either, though .

[untakenname]

As long as the water is distilled/deionised then the LED's should be fine as long as the lenses are left to dry out fully before refitting, a soaking in dilute IPA solution maybe useful to get rid of an moss as well, no more than 20% as it can react badly with certain plastics and cause crazing.

If you are going to take a dremel to the lights then practice on an S1 first as they are a fraction of the cost, there's a knack to it and a fine line between cutting through and melting the lenses.
Dremel make cutting wheels for plastic but I had more luck with a thin metal cutting disc.

Made a video of when I opened mine to upgrade the LED's


The lenses are ultrasonically fused and the best tool for the job is a Honda ultrasonic cutter rather than a rotary cutting tool but they are pretty expensive in comparison.

[kopite72]

Full disclosure here on the Essex gaskets,I had them installed on my R3 a few years ago and I still get misting.Btw I'm not being negative here I just think you need to know in case you fit them and discover they haven't worked as well as you thought they would have

[V8 Power]

One thing I have always done (not particular to RX8) is smear the gasket with silicone grease, in my experience that has always provided a permanent seal.

[geofftl1000r]

I made up some gaskets for my S1 lights and it made the issue much better. However the lens was coming away from the case so moisture was still getting in the edges.
I sealed around the edges by wedging the split open slightly and putting some clear silicone in the gap. I left the light near a radiator to cure while at work. Got home in the evening and the light was under table with a crack in the plastic lens. I suspect my grandson had decided to help me!

Second hand light seems to be moisture free!

[untakenname]

I used a 12mm adhesive neoprene sheet to make the gasket a few years back now and it hasn't leaked yet, cost around £4 from ebay for the sheet iirc.
A sharpie to trace the original outline and then a craft knife is all that's needed and is a 10 minute jobt, made each side two seperate gaskets rather than the one piece oem as the water seems to get into the lights via the centre channel clogging with dirt.

[warpc0il]

the water seems to get into the lights via the centre channel clogging with dirt.

[R1DSO]

As long as the water is distilled/deionised then the LED's should be fine as long as the lenses are left to dry out fully before refitting, a soaking in dilute IPA solution maybe useful to get rid of an moss as well, no more than 20% as it can react badly with certain plastics and cause crazing.

If you are going to take a dremel to the lights then practice on an S1 first as they are a fraction of the cost, there's a knack to it and a fine line between cutting through and melting the lenses.
Dremel make cutting wheels for plastic but I had more luck with a thin metal cutting disc.

Made a video of when I opened mine to upgrade the LED's


The lenses are ultrasonically fused and the best tool for the job is a Honda ultrasonic cutter rather than a rotary cutting tool but they are pretty expensive in comparison.

Love the custom job you’ve done on those lights – they look awesome . Thanks for the video. Watching that, I can confirm that I definitely don’t trust myself with my new Dremel enough yet to split my lights open. This could be a job I tackle a few months down the line, though!

I don’t think I want to risk the soaking route. Partly as, whilst I know some LEDs are waterproof, I assume there’s a chance that the s2’s LEDs are not and I’ll be looking at an expensive replacement if I bust them.

But also as there doesn’t seem to be a channel with enough space to drain liquid with dead spiders/dirt etc. out of. So, I think the liquid would just move the spiders and dirt around inside the light housing, without being able to flush them out.

[R1DSO]

Full disclosure here on the Essex gaskets,I had them installed on my R3 a few years ago and I still get misting.Btw I'm not being negative here I just think you need to know in case you fit them and discover they haven't worked as well as you thought they would have

Thanks for the heads-up. Annoying to hear, but I guess I could always go back to OEM (or make my own gaskets as suggested by untakenname) if I have the same issues.

I don’t have any silicone grease in my toolbox currently, but will try adding at a later date if I’m still getting issues .

[R1DSO]

made each side two seperate gaskets rather than the one piece oem as the water seems to get into the lights via the centre channel clogging with dirt.

It sounds like that’s potentially how moisture (and dirt) got into my lights – there was half a bird’s nest of crap wedged into the top of both of my lights when I took them off:

204E5962-0573-48EB-BEAB-B8EC3BCB3330.jpeg

[R1DSO]

One thing I have always done (not particular to RX8) is smear the gasket with silicone grease, in my experience that has always provided a permanent seal.

Whilst I don’t have any silicon grease on me, I might try smearing a bit of this on the gasket:

BDE5C518-1943-467D-97C9-89F60BBCFB35.jpeg

[warpc0il]

That would likely damage the gasket material

Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk

[Goobie]

On mine I used hot water with bleach mixed in a huge washing up bowl, working it in and along with a soft paint brush. Dipping the main bottom of the light in the shallow bowl and the brush to soak it then just working the brush along the tiny gap, after a couple long hours left me with this.

55B6622A-97C1-482B-961C-1E1034666921.jpeg

68EA3DB0-149F-4881-8AC0-B970C5FA5A12.jpeg

22263384-4F1E-4A7A-A3D2-84022A09742A.jpeg

D0ED8F93-ADDC-490A-905A-17D0E030B895.jpeg

[Goobie]

The hot water with bleach trick works well with the number plate lenses too.

6CBD532E-AC15-4EA1-864D-8E37C1B81A4E.jpeg

046905CF-A866-41E4-A104-AEB86751D1D1.jpeg

C0EEAFE9-9531-4F0D-BD38-A2EEEC28174D.jpeg

36BA3CAB-9F67-44B7-8055-79C320304FBC.jpeg

9811C8EA-DDB6-40F9-AD1C-835D5D5A56EA.jpeg

F7887500-86EE-42FB-96AD-5979B10CB6F1.jpeg

[warpc0il]

In case you're wondering, the answer is "yes"
viewtopic.php?f=30&t=47505

[R1DSO]

On mine I used hot water with bleach mixed in a huge washing up bowl, working it in and along with a soft paint brush. Dipping the main bottom of the light in the shallow bowl and the brush to soak it then just working the brush along the tiny gap, after a couple long hours left me with this.

Well you got a better result than I did. I read your post after spending a chunk of the afternoon cleaning off the old gaskets and glue from the rear of the lights + running a knife wrapped in a wet wipe along the gap in the lens cover. But I found some sections were too narrow to even get a razor blade in, so there was still a bit of moss left In.

Then I went to screw the lights back in place and bust one of the plastic fixings in the back of the light that holds the bolts in place .

I was actually being very careful to not do this. As per the Essex Rotary instructions, I was lightly tightening the nuts whilst pushing the bolts in tonight, before torqueing them down tomorrow after the gasket had had a time to settle.

But, I realised that I’d left off a metal bracket that was fixed on the back of the RHS light and bust this bolt’s plastic fixing unscrewing it :

B91EE6D0-0EC4-4186-B9B4-171191FD2AF5.jpeg

I’ve now got to work out how to get the bolt out without cutting it. I tried holding the end of the bolt with pliers whilst using a spanner on the nut, but couldn’t hold the bolt from spinning.

If I can get the nut off without cutting the bolt, I’ll have a go at fixing the free-spinning bolt back in the back of the light with superglue – it’s this one:

A043E2C0-45A6-44AA-A5AE-383A9E182F5C.jpeg

The back-up plan is to cut the bolt and buy another pair of lights from a breaker. However, I’m starting to get more tempted by the idea of cutting off the lens and getting those spiders out now that the light is already damaged!

[R1DSO]

If you are going to take a dremel to the lights then practice on an S1 first as they are a fraction of the cost, there's a knack to it and a fine line between cutting through and melting the lenses.
Dremel make cutting wheels for plastic but I had more luck with a thin metal cutting disc.

The lenses are ultrasonically fused and the best tool for the job is a Honda ultrasonic cutter rather than a rotary cutting tool but they are pretty expensive in comparison.

Out of interest, how did you seal the lens to the body of the light once you’d installed your LEDs? And did you need to tidy up where you’d cut first? Presumably, a polishing attachment on the Dremel would do this quite well .

[PaulAV]

You could try cutting a slot in the end of the bolt so u can use a screwdriver to hold it whilst undoing the nut

[R1DSO]

You could try cutting a slot in the end of the bolt so u can use a screwdriver to hold it whilst undoing the nut

Love that idea, thanks Paul . I’ll give it a go today. I expect my new Dremel should do the slot cutting duties well too .

[PaulAV]

Certainly will, just hold the nut steady with some mole grips if you have some, the other option is to grind two flats on the end so you can use a spanner on the flats (would have to be small though, or an adjustable spanner)

[R1DSO]

Certainly will, just hold the nut steady with some mole grips if you have some, the other option is to grind two flats on the end so you can use a spanner on the flats (would have to be small though, or an adjustable spanner)

The thin end of the bolt inside of the car turned out to be too thin for my dremel cutting saw, so I pulled the light away from the free-spinning bolt and cut into the other side.

The nut was so stuck on, I then managed to snap the bolt in half trying to unscrew it! My (unproven) theory here is that a bit of the new gasket got stuck in the nut and stopped it from spinning, which led to the plastic fixing busting.

0B05764E-9BCA-4BC8-AEEF-0675279737E8.jpeg

So, I’m now on the hunt for a replacement stud bolt + nut thingy to fill the 8mm plastic hole in the light and then pack with glue.

25EB78AE-480F-416B-987D-43F449D982FD.jpeg

This is proving a little tricky without being able to go into a B&Q and scan what’s in store. I’m scrolling through online product pages without really knowing what I’m looking for . An alternative solution could be to get a standard bolt and 3 nuts and grind two of the nuts down to fit the hole in the plastic.

[R1DSO]

drill and tap the knurled stud and screw a bolt through it, then glue it back in.

[PaulAV]

I would suggest, a 6mm bolt and a penny washer and a couple of nuts, along with some epoxy glue(or you could use epoxy putty) stick the bolt to the washer, once set, stick the washer to the light housing I would recommend using some masking tape or similar to hold the bolt in place whilst the glue sets. Tescos sell gorilla glue epoxy I believe, all you have to do is source a bolt and a nut (possible scavenge one from the engine bay temporarily)