Victim of leak 3rd brake light?

[Snacktime]

My head liner had a salt stain to it, used my spray bottle of water and vinegar to wash it out (just soaked it every day for a week). Fixed my leak with ultra black silicone and 3/8 foam gasket. I put the foam gasket on and then a bead of ultra black on the inside with no leak going on 3 years. I put ultra black on everything...

 

[Dodge 1500 4X4]

My head liner had a salt stain to it, used my spray bottle of water and vinegar to wash it out (just soaked it every day for a week). Fixed my leak with ultra black silicone and 3/8 foam gasket. I put the foam gasket on and then a bead of ultra black on the inside with no leak going on 3 years. I put ultra black on everything...

Ultra Black is a Silicone adhesive, and it acts as a lubricant for the gasket to move about, you were better off just using the ultra black and no gasket at all, Its going to be a challenge if you have to remove the CHMBL.

 

[misfit77]

?! It's on the fabric headliner.

Sorry. Im a bone head. I was thinking a stain on the cab where old gasket was.

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[DamnRam1500]

I was able to fix this using gray foam window seal/tape from Home Depot, have not had any issues for over a year knock on wood.

 

[Haas]

Do all the trucks have this 3rd brake light leak, or just some?

 

[ToxicFire]

Do all the trucks have this 3rd brake light leak, or just some?

From all the reading I've done they all eventually have the issue it's not if it's when

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[Haas]

From all the reading I've done they all eventually have the issue it's not if it's when

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Crap! Looks like I'll have to address mine too then.

 

[RodeoRam]

Do all the trucks have this 3rd brake light leak, or just some?

I have not had the problem on my 2018. It was an issue with the second gens, but in 19 years, my 2001 never leaked, and that was after replacing multiple bulbs in it.

That being said, I have an LED CHMSL to put in my 2018. The first thing I did was remove the factory gasket and put the MD weatherseal on it just to be on the safe side. I'd rather not tempt fate.

 

[Burla]

Do all the trucks have this 3rd brake light leak, or just some?

It takes 1 minute and a Phillips head driver to find out. Easy to see why these leak compared to the fix, and sadly the cost of leaving the factory seal on can be steep, unless having mold in the cab has become a good idea. The other seal auto marine grade stuff is under ten bucks and fixes it permanent. Self adhesive 5 minute fix under ten bucks.

 

[tomb]

my 2012 had a slight leak - i removed the lens and noticed the gasket wasnt seated properly. Easy fix for me and am still using the original with zero issues.

 

[TheMill13]

My 2011 1500 crew cab had that leak. Even though there isn’t a recall my dealer changed the third light gasket for free because it is so common. All I asked was if they knew anyone with a water puddle under the rear seat and they finished my question for me. Lol.


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[Hemimania]

easiest fix ever.

This, this, this.

 

[Hemimania]

Do all the trucks have this 3rd brake light leak, or just some?

From what I've read, expect it to happen.

Tonino

 

[Jarhead 6119]

Exact leak in my quad cab. It was the antenna!

 

[PoMansRam]

My 2nd late model Ram 1500, my second 3rd brake light leak.. At least it BETTER just be the 3rd brake light given I'm so well versed at the fix at this point.

This time it's on my 2019 Ram 1500. It's just one year old with 16K miles on it at this point. I've only owned it for a couple weeks. It poured rain earlier today and I hopped in to move the truck a few hours back and my glasses instantly fogged up. Uh oh.. All too familiar with that scenario. Flipped up the rear seat and felt a bit of moisture down low on the interior rear cab wall.

Right away yanked the 3rd brake light and re-did it per the write-ups here with the marine grade weather strip I already had on hand from my 2017 Ram 1500.

I'm sure everyone's aware at this point, but this should be preventative maintenance on 4th gen Rams. A one year old 3rd BL gasket comes off a lot easier than one that's several years old.

Absolutely unbelievable this is STILL an issue how many years in? Like 20?

Like said above. The gasket isn't available by itself for OEM. It comes as part of the light assembly and will have the same junk gasket on it that you started with.

 

[ToxicFire]

Well got the Md gasket stuff and did the light. Old gasket was not easy to get off took about 30 minutes to get old all off.

So the nd gasket does it matter what way its installed? As in the one side of it is flat the other has a light angle to it.
I didn't think it mattered and just didn't as we were suppose to get another down poor. If I have to redo it I will as instill have md left.

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[PoMansRam]

So the nd gasket does it matter what way its installed? As in the one side of it is flat the other has a light angle to it.

I'm thinkin' the profile of the gasket was just deformed from packaging. Regardless, it should squish down tight once you snug the lamp assembly back in place.

 

[GlennB]

Had the identical issue on my 2018 a few months ago. My stains on the headliner were on both sides (driver and passenger) - but more so on the driver side. I ordered a new gasket from a seller on eBay for $10 and put it on without issue. The hardest part of the job was completely removing the old gasket and adhesive.

Also - I did replace all the bulbs while I had the light off as I figured with my luck, I'd have a bulb burn out a week or less after I put on the new gasket (with adhesive on both sides) - LOL.

As far as removing the stains from the headliner - that was pretty easy. I sprayed the area generously with Meguiars APC and then used the softest brushes I have (https://www.theragcompany.com/detail-factory-fine-detailing-brushes/) to gently agitate the area and then gently blotted the are with a new microfiber towel. When it all dried out a few hours later - you couldn't tell the stains were ever there.

No leaks yet after 3+ months.

 

[Sherman Bird]

My head liner had a salt stain to it, used my spray bottle of water and vinegar to wash it out (just soaked it every day for a week). Fixed my leak with ultra black silicone and 3/8 foam gasket. I put the foam gasket on and then a bead of ultra black on the inside with no leak going on 3 years. I put ultra black on everything...

Are you related to Phil Swift?

 

[garrett_brown]

I had the same issue and was smelling a musty smell in the truck. After fixing the problem I bought some rechargeable silica gel desiccant packs. I dropped one in the underseat storage and it was dry in a day and the smell was gone. I leave it in there just in case I ever have another leak.