Who has not had issues with 3rd brake light leaking?

[User_3336]

Not yet, sit on the lot several months before it was purchased.. Its a garage truck now.

 

[Ickabod]

I have had no leaks even after I swapped the bulbs for LEDs. Truck was an early build at 3/2018

 

[RammyShand]

I have not.

 

[yankeefan31569]

mines been at the dealer since 02/09 for 3rd brake light replacement and rear window replacement @ 31k owned since Aug 19' grand cherokee as a loaner... there needs to be a recall

 

[yellowboy]

I have a post "rear window leaking" not sure how it's getting in but I'll know Wednesday

 

[Chrisburgess72]

Between parking in a garage and the drought this year, there wasn't a lot of opportunities for leaks. First big storm this fall, and thanks to the paranoia induced from this site, I caught the leak immediately. One tiny drip in the corner, no stain thankfully due to a black headliner. Upon inspection of the gasket it was found to be soaked like a sponge.

Scram, I believe it have the same issue. Did your drip look like this? Also I have attached a photo of my third brake light gasket/seal after a rain.

what did you do to resolve the problem and stop the leaking?

 

[Chrisburgess72]

21 BH Night Edition. Build date was 1/5/21. Picked up the truck on the 1/13/21. I added weather seal the first week. So far I have went through 2 car washes with no leaks. I know it's still too early to tell.

Cruz, it looks like you kept the factory gasket/seal on the third brake light assembly and added the seal, sticky side, to the inside of the compartment the break light assembly sits in... can you confirm?
Thanks.

 

[Dusty1948]

21 BH Night Edition. Build date was 1/5/21. Picked up the truck on the 1/13/21. I added weather seal the first week. So far I have went through 2 car washes with no leaks. I know it's still too early to tell.

Looking at your first photograph the ribs that the lamp housing screws go into are different on yours than they are on my 2019. Also, mine does have any foil near the rear edge of the headliner.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 03 June 2018. Now at: 047746 miles.

 

[minmar10]

Mine is a 2020 with 5,000 miles on it..I keep mine in garage most of time, but it rained all day at work the other day and I decided to look at the window and noticed it had one drop on the plastic. I will be doing like most everyone else and pulling light off and reseal.

 

[Scram1500]

Scram, I believe it have the same issue. Did your drip look like this? Also I have attached a photo of my third brake light gasket/seal after a rain.

what did you do to resolve the problem and stop the leaking?

Looks like third brake light to me, the wet headliner in the corner is a tell tail sign. I removed the old gasket with some elbow grease and goof off. I then applied the marine gasket from Lowes/Home Depot. Of course now I have another drip, but that's from around the frame which I'm sure is bound to crack sooner or later

 

[NorthStar]

Woke up during the night to hear it raining hard. Has been raining all morning and will continue until this evening. My CHMSL has never leaked but wanted to ensure it doesn’t develop into a problem as the gasket goes through free/thaw cycles and degrades over time. $12.50 for the Flex Tape was cheap insurance. No more worries.

And the beauty is I have enough for another application...if I ever need to record the CHMSL.

Well, you can see in the post above that I utilized Flex Tape over my CHMSL before getting my Leer topper installed. I was relatively certain that if it could keep sharks out of a boat made from that crap that it would keep water out of my Ram - WRONG! I installed it back in January and this morning when I got into my truck I got that same feeling many get when they look in the rear view mirror to see their rear window leaking like a sieve. I climbed up this afternoon with a step ladder (remember the topper is on so I have to get to it from the top) and saw where the Flex Tape failed in a number of places and was letting water into the CHMSL. I just spent the last hour "rubbing" that crap off and will now make an appointment to get it inspected/replaced or ??? The good news is it only was dripping from the top of the frame and did not get my headliner wet/stained.

I've owned Rams going back to the mid-1980s and NEVER had a rear window or CHMSL leak. And yes, I'm still a life long, die hard Ram owner and will be till I die. I'll get this little bump in the road figured out as the other Ram in the family (2020 Ram 1500 Laramie) hasn't leaked at all. The moral to the story is Flex Tape is not the way to prevent leaking if you're installing a topper.

 

[wvinson]

I noticed water dripping from under the speaker close to the Airbag location. Dealership said it was the rear glass and was replaced, but unfortunately it's still leaking. Taking back next week to further the search.

 

[yellowboy]

check out my thread "rear window leaking" all of this sounds familiar.

 

[wvinson]

check out my thread "rear window leaking" all of this sounds familiar.

So after reading the thread, do you think it was the antenna mount or don't know yet? Their next search includes that and the sunroof drain which my service manager says go through the back of the cab where the leak is -- could be a connection possibly

 

[Norvak]

My 2019 5th gen doesn't leak at all. It's parked outside and I use an automatic car wash weekly since it was new.

My 4th gen had the 3rd brake light leak which I didn't find out about until it had corroded my light socket and had to replace the whole light fixture.

 

[SpeedyV]

My 2019 5th gen doesn't leak at all. It's parked outside and I use an automatic car wash weekly since it was new.

Mine’s garage-kept, but I do run through car washes pretty regularly. I’ve also removed the CHMSL a couple of times to install LEDs. Knock on wood, no signs of leakage.

 

[yellowboy]

So after reading the thread, do you think it was the antenna mount or don't know yet? Their next search includes that and the sunroof drain which my service manager says go through the back of the cab where the leak is -- could be a connection possibly

It was the antenna mount. We had 3 inches of rain here from the tropical storm Thursday, no leak. I do not have a sunroof.

 

[yellowboy]

By the way ---I had water running down rear window,dripping near the speaker and near where it says "airbag" so where you find it is no indication where it's coming in.

 

[moosem]

I didn’t have issues with the 3rd brake light until recently. I’ve had my truck since October, 2018 and it has just over 34,000 miles.

Luckily it started leaking right before the warranty expired. It started with one tiny bead of water, and by the next day it was pouring in and my headliner was drenched.

So I have had the rear window and 3rd brake light replaced now under warranty.

They did not just change the gasket, they replaced the entire brake light assembly.

 

[wvinson]

By the way ---I had water running down rear window,dripping near the speaker and near where it says "airbag" so where you find it is no indication where it's coming in.

Thanks for the info. Mine is leaking in the same area and hopefully it's the antenna and not the sunroof drain. The manager said they have to take out the entire headliner if it's the drain.