I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: Rear light gaskets
Like most Mk3 owners I’ve got the issue of water ingress into the boot. Seems to be running in via the rear light clusters. I’ve tried sealing with some butyl tape which has marginally improved it but the issue remains.
After researching and speaking with my local Mazda dealer it seems they don’t sell the gaskets as a standalone part for the Mk3, only for the 3.5 onwards (I have a 2008 mk3). They apparently only come with the light units at £220 + VAT per side. Does anyone know if the later light gaskets for the 3.5 will fit the Mk3? This site seems to indicate that they will but importing them from Germany seems like a hassle.
The other option is Tiger Seal-ing them in there, but thats obviously a lot more permanent than I was hoping for.
The part numbers I found for the Mk3.5 gaskets are below, my local Mazda dealer will do them for about £15 each all in.
NH42-51-153a is the right hand
NH42-51-163a is the left hand.
Yeah I saw a video on YouTube (this one)of a guy repairing his with that, it looked like it would be impossible (or at least difficult) to remove the lights in future though. Also he didn’t seem to remove the old gasket before applying - not sure how well that would work as mine is covered in 14 years worth of dust and muck.
With how often the Mk3 seems to have this issue I’m surprised that there isn’t a gasket available.
You’d need to carefully clean your gaskets with a soft brush and apply the sealer to the bodywork after cleaning that. The beauty of this product is that it does not stop you from removing your lights in the future. As for NC1 issues…I had my tail lights out over this winter to do some work and they were almost like new, and my car is an ‘05/Launch Edition. So I can only presume it very much depends on how the car has been treated during its life.
Thanks, that sounds promising. I haven’t had much look with finding gaskets that will fit so I’ll more than likely give this a try.
I’ve only owned the car for a few months. Its the PRHT and I bought it in bad condition bodywork wise and have had a lot of restoration work done (front and rear arches, underbody overhauled etc). The car has only done ~55k miles but originally came from Scotland so I think it probably lived a hard life in the wet up there.
This is (hopefully!) one of the last issues I need to sort. Unfortunately the water ingress has caused some rust damage to boot floor (its actually holed in a couple of places) so I need to get he lights sealed and then the boot floor patched when I know the leak is done.
The 3.5 gaskets are quite firm and about 5 to 6mm thick and have self adhesive on 1 side. The material seems to be some kind of neoprene closed cell foam which you could probably source from Amazon or ebay.
Unlike the crappy gaskets on some of the other through body fitment the light gaskets shouldn’t degrade too much.
Worth taking the light units out and cleaning the mating faces of the gasket and bodywork. You might be able to plump up the existing gaskets with careful application of a hairdryer or hot air gun.
Silicone grease ( not sealant) will stop water tracking through any small gaps and allow the gasket to move and mould into the required shape.
