Accessing third brake light...had an insect in it

[halfricanguy]

Does anyone know how to access the third brake light, if so, is it easy, or is there a video online somewhere?

I noticed yesterday what looked like a small caterpillar surrounded in webbing literally in my brake light housing. This morning, the guy was chilling inside the car and on the back seat! All great, but now there’s a bunch of webbing left behind that I’d like to clean, but didn’t know if it’d be worth bothering the service center for...

 

[jkoya]

Wow - that is crazy !!! Maybe Mobile Service can help.

 

[rdfield]

I hope someone has an answer to your question as I have the same problem- not with an insect but with a piece of translucent tape covering part of the third brake light. Although I've tried i can find no easy entry.

 

[halfricanguy]

Thanks for the input all. I have made an appointment using the Tesla website For Thursday and they just sent out the documentation for me to sign - they wrote it up as “Debris in 3rd brake light” and it appears to be free of charge/covered under warranty. They may call back to reschedule for mobile service but as of now I’m dropping it off.

@rdfield I would go ahead and schedule an appointment through your Tesla account, and they should take care of it for no charge.

 

[sparkz]

I hope someone has an answer to your question as I have the same problem- not with an insect but with a piece of translucent tape covering part of the third brake light. Although I've tried i can find no easy entry.

I have exactly this issue. What did you end up doing?

 

[dendenyc]

wouldn't consider it "easy" to access the third brake light but It's doable if you're handy but it is a pain in the azz. The rear light is attached to the rear trunk deck and to remove the rear deck you'll have to remove the top side panels (the ones that cover the rear airbags) as well as the side panels next to your rear seat (we'll have to open the back doors to get at these). Once all that is done on both sides of the car, the you need to remove the 4 clips that attached the rear deck to the car and pull it forward.

However if you dont wanna go though all that, then lay flat in your trunk ...there should be a slot that you can stick your hand in to reach the middle light. Thats probably how the bug got in in the first place. Good luck

 

[dendenyc]

Here's a video that might help, it shows how to access the rear deck lid

 

[JohnnyMa]

wouldn't consider it "easy" to access the third brake light but It's doable if you're handy but it is a pain in the azz. The rear light is attached to the rear trunk deck and to remove the rear deck you'll have to remove the top side panels (the ones that cover the rear airbags) as well as the side panels next to your rear seat (we'll have to open the back doors to get at these). Once all that is done on both sides of the car, the you need to remove the 4 clips that attached the rear deck to the car and pull it forward.

However if you dont wanna go though all that, then lay flat in your trunk ...there should be a slot that you can stick your hand in to reach the middle light. Thats probably how the bug got in in the first place. Good luck

Could you specify where the slot is when laying in the trunk? It's a flat panel with no accessible areas to the rear center lamp.

 

[PeloDaveInKY]

Could you specify where the slot is when laying in the trunk? It's a flat panel with no accessible areas to the rear center lamp.

Were you ever able to figure this out? I noticed a dead bug inside of mine today. I've got a service appointment scheduled for another issue in two weeks - I may ask them at that time if its something they could do fairly quickly.

 

[JohnnyMa]

Were you ever able to figure this out? I noticed a dead bug inside of mine today. I've got a service appointment scheduled for another issue in two weeks - I may ask them at that time if its something they could do fairly quickly.

No. I reached into the light from the back seat, above the rear deck with a spatula and a cloth. Super annoying to try to clean that area, and you'll probably destroy the foam insert that blocks the light from the cabin. Can't emphasize how annoying it was to clean that area.

 

[Kerune]

Were you ever able to figure this out? I noticed a dead bug inside of mine today. I've got a service appointment scheduled for another issue in two weeks - I may ask them at that time if its something they could do fairly quickly.

Did you figure yours out? Just going through a similar thing now lol.

 

[PeloDaveInKY]

Did you figure yours out? Just going through a similar thing now lol.

I honestly forgot about it, and I've been up at the service center twice. Maybe if I have to go up again at some point.