Third brake light cover falling off

89AKurt

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The cover for the third brake light is really hanging in there, can see it moving when looking in the mirror. It also floods red light over the window at night.
The dealer told me it was because they tinted the windows, just needed to snap back in place. Duh, I could have done that. But now it's loose again.
I had a similar problem with my MINI Cooper, when the A-pillar caps are removed to replace the windshield, you can't re-use them. If you do, they can blow off at high speed (sounds like a jet without it), or whistle because they don't seat all the way down. You have to buy all new units, which are gold-plated. I suspect when this cover is undone, the snaps won't hold. I sent a message to Honda on Fakebook about this.
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Kokuryu2016

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The cover for the third brake light is really hanging in there, can see it moving when looking in the mirror. It also floods red light over the window at night.
The dealer told me it was because they tinted the windows, just needed to snap back in place. Duh, I could have done that. But now it's loose again.
I had a similar problem with my MINI Cooper, when the A-pillar caps are removed to replace the windshield, you can't re-use them. If you do, they can blow off at high speed (sounds like a jet without it), or whistle because they don't seat all the way down. You have to buy all new units, which are gold-plated. I suspect when this cover is undone, the snaps won't hold. I sent a message to Honda on Fakebook about this.
This is not because you have had the windows tinted. Recently it got really hot here and when I got in my coupe the same problem happened. The third brake light housing is barely hanging on and bouncing around over any slight bump. It seems once it's over 100 degrees out that thing decided to drop. I haven't had the time to take it in, but this is a pure warranty issue and likely aome kind of design or production flaw.
 

tacthecat

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The cover for the third brake light is really hanging in there, can see it moving when looking in the mirror. It also floods red light over the window at night.
The dealer told me it was because they tinted the windows, just needed to snap back in place. Duh, I could have done that. But now it's loose again.
I had a similar problem with my MINI Cooper, when the A-pillar caps are removed to replace the windshield, you can't re-use them. If you do, they can blow off at high speed (sounds like a jet without it), or whistle because they don't seat all the way down. You have to buy all new units, which are gold-plated. I suspect when this cover is undone, the snaps won't hold. I sent a message to Honda on Fakebook about this.
If they broke it, they bought it!
 

arampapaz

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I have been having the same issue as soon as the temps reached 80 or so. I purchased a stronger 3M tape and applied a larger piece. The tape now stays on the glass in the heat, but the plastic tab still separates from the tape. I am thinking of just using gorillas glue to end this frustration.
 

chriswcalif

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This is what worked for me and that I posted previously:

My 3rd brake lamp cover on my Touring Coupe came loose on the left hand side after the first 1000 miles *and* a trip to Death Valley. I could have claimed warranty but I generally don't like anyone else working on my cars. I too thought that the Scotch mounting tape from Autozone would do the trick. It did until the window got hot from the sun and I was going over a rough road. The issue seems to be heat. After checking out the specs. of the various Scotch tapes online I ended up buying Scotch #4008 for it's high temp. spec. This part might be overkill but I used the tape in combination with Scotch 3X extreme Velcro fastener from Home Depot. This will add a slight thickness over the original material holding up the cover so the cover is slightly lower but it still seals. After 3000 miles the cover is still holding strong. I suspect that there will be more coupe owners reporting the same problem.
 


arampapaz

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This is what worked for me and that I posted previously:

My 3rd brake lamp cover on my Touring Coupe came loose on the left hand side after the first 1000 miles *and* a trip to Death Valley. I could have claimed warranty but I generally don't like anyone else working on my cars. I too thought that the Scotch mounting tape from Autozone would do the trick. It did until the window got hot from the sun and I was going over a rough road. The issue seems to be heat. After checking out the specs. of the various Scotch tapes online I ended up buying Scotch #4008 for it's high temp. spec. This part might be overkill but I used the tape in combination with Scotch 3X extreme Velcro fastener from Home Depot. This will add a slight thickness over the original material holding up the cover so the cover is slightly lower but it still seals. After 3000 miles the cover is still holding strong. I suspect that there will be more coupe owners reporting the same problem.
I am going to try this. I saw your post on another forum while searching. Not happy that this even needs to be done.
 
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89AKurt

89AKurt

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Hey HONDA, if you need a test driver for summer testing in Arizona, contact me.
Thanks for posting everyone, I'm not alone.
 

Kokuryu2016

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Took mine into the dealer today. They didn't know why it is happening so I'm going to have to drop the car off later in the week so they can figure out what they need to do in order to fix this. I don't feel that it is something we should need to fix ourselves, it should be completly on Honda to fix a defect like this. I wonder if they failed to test these in hot weather.
 

arampapaz

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Hey HONDA, if you need a test driver for summer testing in Arizona, contact me.
Thanks for posting everyone, I'm not alone.
LOL. The way this is
Took mine into the dealer today. They didn't know why it is happening so I'm going to have to drop the car off later in the week so they can figure out what they need to do in order to fix this. I don't feel that it is something we should need to fix ourselves, it should be completly on Honda to fix a defect like this. I wonder if they failed to test these in hot weather.
They totally didn't test it. It is actually a quite pathetic design. I am actually out now purchasing new Velcro because I don't want to keep going back to Honda
 
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arampapaz

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Used two pieces of this and 3M two sided tape and it seems to be holding extremely well. Discarded the small pieces Honda used on the glass side.

Honda Civic 10th gen Third brake light cover falling off 20160607_203706
 


arampapaz

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So after sitting in the heat a few hours, my solution did not work. Not a day passes that I do not regret ever buying this car. So many issues, and so poorly made.
 

arampapaz

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I had the same problem with heat causing the tape to come loose. That's why I ended up using Scotch #4808 which is specified for high heat applications. I've put 3000 miles on the car with several trips to the desert since and the brake light cover is holding fine.
I guess I will go this route also. Sounds like you have a solid fix.
 
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89AKurt

89AKurt

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... I don't feel that it is something we should need to fix ourselves, it should be completly on Honda to fix a defect like this. I wonder if they failed to test these in hot weather.
I agree! I enjoy fixing up my 1969 Chevy pickup, should not have to on a brand new car.
 
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89AKurt

89AKurt

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... Not a day passes that I do not regret ever buying this car. ...
I don't regret it. It's a simple annoyance, but it could be the Achilles Heel if enough failures become legendary.
Since I'm design oriented, been thinking about why they went this route. I noticed another make has a clever, very low profile light that barely rises above the window.
Thinking about getting a wood dowel, to keep it up until a solution is found.
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