i think the greenhouse effect comment is right if you're not aquiring large amounts of water.

it's kind of like how a glass always has water "sweating" on the outside

 

Thanks for the link - appreciate it. I'm a bit skeptical though to this being a fix for the style of tail lights on my Monte. I replaced the rubber washers on the bulb sockets with new ones, and coated both sides of them with dielectric grease before inserting the socket into the housing. They are a tight fit. I had to exurt quite a bit of force to push them in far enough to turn and lock them into place. What has me a bit skeptical is the design of the tail lights. It looks like the round portion of the light (the part the bulb is behind) is an integral part of the rear portion of the housing. It seems to me that if the moisture was getting in past the bulb socket then it would be on the inside portion of the light (on the inside of the round portion) and not on the outer cover. This is what got me thinking about the seam where the two pieces are joined. I ran a bead of strip caulk around the circumference of the housings, but a couple days later the moisture was back. The 'greenhouse' effect is about the only thing left that seems to make sense, so I'm going to try drilling a hole or two into the bottom of the housings and see if that helps. I'll follow up in a few days with the results. Thanks again for the input!

 

No problem, hope you get it figured out! It is raining herre in PA, (again, ...or still?). just went out and checked and today the moisture isn't present. Seems to be during temp changes, let us know how you get on please!

Mike

 

Green house effect? Would not all cars get this then.... And most don't.. Not trying to be a devils advocate and such, but I think a sealed unit typically does not get moisture penetration. I'll look into this more. Could be up in the night on this.

 

After sealing mine they were fine for a couple of days...until the weather changed. Yesterday I took the tail lights off and dried them in the oven (30 minutes each @ 200 degrees), then drilled a 3/8" hole in the bottom of each. Too early to tell if that did the trick or not but I'll follow up in a few days and let you know if the moisture returns.

 

LOL!!! Nothing wrong with a difference of opinion, or a different way of approaching anything, debate is always good!! My thinking was the unique shape of the MC tail-lights, not too many cars have the rounded oblong shape that ours do, I think that contributes a lot to the problem?! That's the angle I was approaching my opinion from.

Mike