Tail light PSA.

[weakssauce]

Came across this video talking about the repair costs associated with water dmg in our fancy tail lights. After watching this I will be coating those connectors with electrical grease tomorrow!

 

[Oldfart]

Wow!

 

[thatJeepguy]

What a ******* , the owner could have probably gotten some from the junkyard for a fraction of the cost if he’d waited a week Hell you can buy a used car for 5600.

I will however be checking my connections and hit with pb blaster ss or marine water propf. Had the harness not been bad could have just replaced the module.

 

[Antho]

I bought a new set of those for my 2017 back in the day for around $500. They where a short run on a mid cycle refresh so maybe that’s a cost driver?

 

[thatJeepguy]

I bought a new set of those for my 2017 back in the day for around $500. They where a short run on a mid cycle refresh so maybe that’s a cost driver?View attachment 431295

Great call always nice to have extra parts…

 

[weakssauce]

What a ******* , the owner could have probably gotten some from the junkyard for a fraction of the cost if he’d waited a week Hell you can buy a used car for 5600.

I will however be checking my connections and hit with pb blaster ss or marine water propf. Had the harness not been bad could have just replaced the module.

yea i bet it was dealer prices plus the cost of the modules labor and what not either way 5k is way too much. ill be picking up some dielectric grease from autozone tomorrow. I also have the tail light safety screws from redline so hopefully ill never have to buy a tail light.

 

[smurfslayer]

That’s nutter.

How did the water intrusion happen in the first place?

 

[FordTechOne]

That’s nutter.

How did the water intrusion happen in the first place?

Outside damage to the lens/housing. That’s the only time I’ve ever seen it.

 

[sc85fiero]

It happens constantly. Maybe someone backs into something else and cracks a taillight, maybe someone hits the taillight in the parking lot. Either way what I usually see is the customer either ignores the standing water in their tail light until they have an electrical symptom related to the MSCAN network, or tries to tape it up thinking it will seal it from water intrusion.

Bottom line is this - when they get bad enough to show electrical symptoms its wayyy too late. I have seen whole ecosystems growing inside a taillight full of water. The SOD module usually looks like it was at the bottom of the lake and the connector going to it does too.

If you crack your tail light - replace it immediately. Dont wait for water to destroy the module and then youre stuck with a bill for the tail light, module, programming and the technician's time to diagnose the issue. You can replace the tail light yourself with a few screws and swapping the module over no programming needed if you do it early enough.

-Joe

 

[thatJeepguy]

It happens constantly. Maybe someone backs into something else and cracks a taillight, maybe someone hits the taillight in the parking lot. Either way what I usually see is the customer either ignores the standing water in their tail light until they have an electrical symptom related to the MSCAN network, or tries to tape it up thinking it will seal it from water intrusion.

Bottom line is this - when they get bad enough to show electrical symptoms its wayyy too late. I have seen whole ecosystems growing inside a taillight full of water. The SOD module usually looks like it was at the bottom of the lake and the connector going to it does too.

If you crack your tail light - replace it immediately. Dont wait for water to destroy the module and then youre stuck with a bill for the tail light, module, programming and the technician's time to diagnose the issue. You can replace the tail light yourself with a few screws and swapping the module over no programming needed if you do it early enough.

-Joe

Theres always more than meets the eye… the vid kinda bashes ford engineering and clearly its the owner who is at fault. Yes new tech can be expensive but being a goon and neglecting to address things doesnt help anything.