1991 Supra - Water in Rear Wheel Wells

[unkymurch]

I just purchased a used 1991 Supra. When I picked it up, I thought the gasoline was sloshing around in the tank, but when I attempted to replace the right rear side marker bulb, I discovered 6 inches of standing water in both rear wheel wells. I did a water test and poured water over the closed hatch back and observed water channeling around the sides of the rear hatch window, but then it hit the top of the rear lense, made it's way down inside the lense, poured over the bulb assembly and dripped down into the wheel wells.

This can't be the design. Any suggestions/recommendation to solve this problem for both sides of the rear lights? I can't drive in the rain until I get this fixed.

Also, how do you access the right rear side marker bulb with that "darn" power intenna assembly in the way?

New to the forum, but glad I found ya.

I bought the used 1991 Supra because my 1986.5 Supra blew a head gasket so I'm trying to figure what to do in the meantime.

[dcrusupra]

Toyota sells taillight gaskets. You have to take off the taillights and you'll see what im talking about. Fairly cheap. Less than $30 each.

[unkymurch]

Originally Posted by dcrusupra

Toyota sells taillight gaskets. You have to take off the taillights and you'll see what im talking about. Fairly cheap. Less than $30 each.

Should I take it to a Toyota dealer or body shop? If not, where might I see diagrams on how to remove the tail lights? I peeked and some of the nuts are pretty rusty from what may have been a long time leak.

[dcrusupra]

Its pretty easy to do yourself. Its just a bunch of 8mm nuts holding them on. The hard part is getting to them. A deep socket 8mm would work pretty well.

[mrnickleye]

Lay down under each side and you will see the bottom of a rubber plug. Push it in with a screwdriver. I leave mine out all the time, so that if any water gets in, it will drain away immediately.

[unkymurch]

I finally got at it and managed to remove the tail lights after practically gutting the interior to remove the panels. The seals were falling apart. I'll check with the dealer on replacements. If I can't find them, I'll consider making my own. I'll also crawl under the car and look for drain plugs.

The tail light lenses have some slimmy algae/scum inside from the water. It appears as black spots that can be seen from the outside. The clear/white fresnel lenses have deposits that make the lense look cloudy and dirty. Any suggestions/ideas on cleaning them out and making them clear again?

[mrnickleye]

There is some stuff at my local Carquest store that makes those cloudy plastic headlight lenses look new again. That may work for your problem. I've seen 2 headlights done, and they did look new again.

Its a kit, in a plastic/metallic sealed bag, kinda blue and silver.

[unkymurch]

Thanks for all the input. I replaced the tail light gaskets which I got new from the Toyota dealer for about $35 for the pair. (Always mention Supra Club to get a discounted price.) Since it was so much trouble to get the tail lights off and so the gaskets would last longer than expected, I got some 50 year silicon rubber and completely coated every surface of the new rubber gaskets. Now if the car falls apart, the tail light gaskets will look new.

As far as the algae and slime in the tail lights, I soaked and flushed both of them in a bleach and dish detergent solution for about two straight days. It took some trickly maneuvering since the algae/slime was trapped in the tight crevices of the lense assembly. I finally got all of it all out and then used a hair dryer to dry them out thoroughly.