Suggestions on a good sealer for taillights?

i used the autozone window sealer, works just fine

I scraped a bunch of original factory sealer off of the old tail lights and made a pile of it. Then I heated it up with a propane torch (or heat gun), and started to kneed it up. Then I rolled it into "snakes" (remember Play-doh?), and reused it. Worked great.

3M Window Weld butyl ribbon in 5/16" or 3/8"....Just did this a few weeks ago. A nice independant auto glass shop might even give it/sell it to you, but it's $20 for 15ft from the auto body places...Won't find it @ Lowes/etc...

The correct sealer is 3m strip caulk. it is identical to the OEM sealer. It worked great on my 200's taillights. You need to use multiple layers of strips to build it up thick enough.

GTJeff said:

The correct sealer is 3m strip caulk. it is identical to the OEM sealer. It worked great on my 200's taillights. You need to use multiple layers of strips to build it up thick enough.

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nope sorry, there's just no way the "correct" stuff ahs to be run in multiple layers!!!

the 3M Window Weld in 5/16" is PERFECT. 1/4" works pretty well but the 5/16 is the best.

I agree, 5/16" Window Weld is just about perfect. Be sure to pinch it a little to give it a little extra "tallness" after you've laid it around the perimeter of the lens. Otherwise, you might not get a perfect seal between the body and the lens.

If I were to do it again, I would probably go with the 3/8" stuff to help ensure a good seal. But I haven't tried it, so I can't recommend it.

Huh? The Strip caulk comes in 12" long strips. Its a tar like stuff that never dries just like the OEM stuff. I just filled up the seal channel with enough to protrude some and then bolted it on. No leaks after lots of Oregon rain.y Once it gets squished down it becomes one blob. Window weld would work fine but wouldnt you have to clean off all the original stuff to get it to adhere? You dont have to worry about it with the strip caulk. Also wouldnt window weld make it a real PITA to remove the taillight if you ever wanted to?

toml99 said:

3M Window Weld butyl ribbon in 5/16" or 3/8"....Just did this a few weeks ago. A nice independant auto glass shop might even give it/sell it to you, but it's $20 for 15ft from the auto body places...Won't find it @ Lowes/etc...

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:stupid: that's the right stuff and you can do all the tail lights. It's best to remove all the old stuff from the light and body and start new rather than tryin to patch in 1 spot. It's usually dried out and cracked anyway. Once you take the light off it will make a mess anyway as I'm you know already. I think brake clean will remove the leftovers/cling-ons from the light without damaging the light itself, but as long as there are no chunks, so you can lay the bead in flat it should be good.

3M also makes a good adhesive remover that's safe for point that can removed the old gunk from the body.

OEM AKD 497 010 04 from the VW/Audidealer. $30, for 35 ft. still works after 25 years