Fairly common, it happened to mine.
Ended up getting a new one, hasn't happened since.

I also found this (to save you a fair few $$$) on another site;

Take it off,
Clean the garnish trim panel fully with warm soapy water,
clean the rubber seal as well
let dry or dry with lint free cloth (really important)
use Isopropyl alcohol (or similar) to clean rubber seal and mating surfaces on both the trim panel and the tailgate
use silicon sealant (pref Windscreen sealant) on the trim panel where the rubber mates to the panel,
sqeeuze on the rubber seal to the trim faceensuring that the silicon oozes over the mating surface of both
apply more sealant to the face of the rubber seal (the one that faces the tailgate when you install it)
gently sqeeuze the trim panel onto the tailgate
lightly fasten the bolts in a staggered pattern untill thight
let dry for 2 hours without stressing it, then let dry as per the sealant manufacturers directions (usually 24hrs at 25D. C)

shnad;138064 wrote:

Yep happened to me too.  And some other mates with lib wagons/outbacks.

I did a similar thing to sheppo.  Took it off and gave it a thorough cleaning.  Then ran a bead of silicone around the top of the garnish where the join is (on the garnish only, hard to explain but if you pull it off you'll know what I mean).  This is where I believe the water enters.  When ever the garnish light was full of water every time I opened the tailgate water would drip through the bulb holders.  They were rusty too.

I also drilled some draining holes on a 45degree angle on the ends where the lamps are.  Didn't really need to do this though. I haven' had a leak since!  And no water/dirt or dust gets back up through the drain holes either.

20 minute job and it does pay off.

sheppo9 wrote:

Fairly common, it happened to mine.
Ended up getting a new one, hasn't happened since.
I also found this (to save you a fair few $$$) on another site;
Take it off,
Clean the garnish trim panel fully with warm soapy water,
clean the rubber seal as well
let dry or dry with lint free cloth (really important)
use Isopropyl alcohol (or similar) to clean rubber seal and mating surfaces on both the trim panel and the tailgate
use silicon sealant (pref Windscreen sealant) on the trim panel where the rubber mates to the panel,
sqeeuze on the rubber seal to the trim faceensuring that the silicon oozes over the mating surface of both
apply more sealant to the face of the rubber seal (the one that faces the tailgate when you install it)
gently sqeeuze the trim panel onto the tailgate
lightly fasten the bolts in a staggered pattern untill thight
let dry for 2 hours without stressing it, then let dry as per the sealant manufacturers directions (usually 24hrs at 25D. C)

You need to remove the tailgate inner trim first.
There are 4 or 5 more nuts to undo.

beckers1330   :ninja: