99 & 00 Tail Light Question

[Ron1979]

I have a 2000 Pontiac Grand Am, my turn signal wasnt working, so i decided to purchase the bulbs and replace them.....to my suprise the tail light was filled with water! Well, the bottom row of female plugs are soaked and rusted. I need to do some investigating as to why it would leak inside the tail light.....has anyone else had a problem like this? Also, i probably will have to purchase a new tail light, is a 99 and 00 Grand Am SE the same tail light? (I would assume yes).

Man.....the lights on these grand ams go out more than any other car i know! I know this is off subject from my subject post, but can someone also please help me in adjusting my head light? I changed my head light and messed up the adjustment, and not sure the "correct" way of doing it...without going to the mechanic.

Thanks everyone
-Ron

[Khemical]

I just noticed the same problem with my '99 SE. It didn't happen to my tail light it happened to the back up lights on the bumper (looks like a fog light) PLease let me know what to do about this!!!!!

[eric99gt]

That's why ppl see ga's all the time with tailights out. They seem to have a probelm with the seal that comes from the factory. You can probably fix the one ya have. Check out grandamgt.com and search for leaking tailight or something of that nature, that should give ya a starting pt. Also the tailights are the same as long as they're both se's. The headlight thing can also be found over there.

[Degtr]

I've hade the same problem and found myself driving around with only the high-mount brake light working and one bulb in the tail lights. I'd try to fix the seal and drill a couple of small holes on the bottom of the tail light assembly (not through the lens, though) so that water can pass through rather than sitting in there if it continues to leak. The design of these tail lights is awful. It's almost guaranteed that the first time you pop it open to replace a bulb, the seal will be damaged and the back will never snap on properly again. After you have cleaned the contacts, which is a pain because they are so thin and the lest bit of corrosion keeps current from passing through to the bulbs, put some grease on the base of the bulbs before re-inserting them. This will help to lock out additional moisture. On the tail light, the easiest thing to do if it's not going to be done professionally is park on a level surface and with a wall or garage door in front of the car. If the other light is still aimed properly, you can generally tell how the misaimed one should be corrected and use the adjustment dials attached to the head light assembly to correct it.