quickie for those who've changed their tails
 

i'm meeting an org member to swap taillights tomorrow, 2kse black for 2k2 clear. i want to know what kind of stuff the factory sealant is. is it like a silicone gel or is it more like rubber?

thanks.

Whatever it is, its a very sticky black gooey stuff.

I used stuff from autozone....it's a back silicone that they have in a tube with an orange stripe on it.

The factory stuff is a black sticky 'rope'. I can't think of the name, but it's the same stuff that's used to seal the front windshield. Any auto parts store has it. Sticky, but pretty easy to use.

i don't think you need it. Enough will still be there to get the things sealed up. Mine have been on for a month practically with no issues.

You def won't need as much of the silicone. Most of it stays on when you pull out the lights.

The best advice i can give you is bring a heat gun or a blow dryer to soften up the sealer around the tails before you pull them out. It'll make your life A LOT easier. CustommaximaSE & I learned the hard way earlier this year.

Also, make sure you swap out the harnesses as well, not just the taillights.

thanks guys. that info helps. i'll prolly pick up a tube of that stuff in case we need some extra, and return it if it's unneeded.

and yeah, we'll be doing the entire swap so the wiring and everything will be done at the same time. just cut n splice right???

NO! NO! NO! Save yourself the headaches! Keep the harnesses together w/ the tails they came from!

dont pull the tails from outside, push them from inside. steady torque will get them out easily. i did not use a heat gun, but i did it in 90+ degrees

:sprint:

No cutting or slicing .Just disconect your harness and push the taillight out(simple as that).Do the swap and conect the new taillight to your harness.The hardest part is getting the tail light out,when we did it it was a little cold and we did not have a heatgun ,we used our hand to push it out,just as ZIPPIN said.

put on some gloves. that will save your pretty hands from getting hurt..

we did it in the front of the store in the parking lot.

Your tip was toooo late thanks tho. :laugh:

i guess i'm not understanding what 'keep the harnesses with the lights' means. are you referring to the wiring harness thats coming from the car and plugging into the lights?

The goo gets on a stays on your hands, its a PITA. I got it all over my clumsy hands just while changing some bulbs.

BTW, I think it is good choice getting 2k2 tails for your car, they actually look pretty good in white.

The wiring harness coming from the car stays where it is. I'm talking about the whole plastic and wires that the bulbs go into behind the tails.

I would recomend putting a towel or some news paper on the bumper but the black sealent is so hard to get it off. Like as everyone else has said.....leave your car in the sun if you dont have a heat gun and just push from the inside even pressure all the way around and they will budge. If the tails are hot enough then you dont have to use any extra sealant, it will just reseal when you put the new tails in. I did a swap with the car in the 60deg weather for about 20 min and 2 years later no problem.....hope this helps you

lol... yeah, serin and i were supposed to meet up and trade... but i'm in philly for the week... lol... i don't know how that slipped my mind when we were setting up a date/time to meet.... :tard:

i wanna do the same thing...anybody in the florida area willing to trade me for some 2k3 tails??

thanks guys. that'll help a lot. sounds veeeryy straightforward. just gotta prepare for a possible mess.

This is the part that stays on the car, the rest you unplug and you swap it out together with the housings...
http://www.kevinfisher.net/web_server/maxima/step9.jpg

Check this writeup for a visual idea of how stuff looks like
http://www.kevinfisher.net/web_serve...light-mod.html

I hope you didn't take your tails out just to take a pic of them Teddie! :laugh: