[louiscage22]

I own a used 2011 Chevrolet Malibu 2LT. When I first bought the car a couple months ago, I had noticed that the right inner tail light was a bit loose, but I didn't inspect anything under/behind it at the time.

A couple days ago I heard a clunking noise from the trunk lid, while also noticing that my left inner tail light was loose as well. So I removed the trim from the trunk lid to see if I could identify any problems, and looked behind both of the inner tail-lights.

I found a small piece that had fallen off from somewhere (see image). It looks like it belongs on the back of the tail light. I included pictures of the fronts and backs of both inner tail lights as well.

I'm just curious as to what this piece is, is it for keeping the tail lights secured? Also wondering if anyone knows any solutions to fix the loose tail lights. Any help is much appreciated.

 

[MrCarpenter]

Yes, that little peice is for exactly that, holding the taillight in. I would recommend getting some fast setting two part epoxy or something similar, to glue it back onto the taillight... Other than that you'll need to replace the whole assembly.

You can see some red on that peice, that is where it broke off the taillight.

 

[louiscage22]

Yes, that little peice is for exactly that, holding the taillight in. I would recommend getting some fast setting two part epoxy or something similar, to glue it back onto the taillight... Other than that you'll need to replace the whole assembly.

You can see some red on that peice, that is where it broke off the taillight.

Thanks for your reply. I was looking at the headlight again and just had another question, does this piece secure the light to the trunk lid? Or just it hold the actual light together?

I saw that the piece comes pre-attached on the light from the manufacturer, so I figured that it was just for the light itself, and wasn’t something to secure onto the lid. That’s why I wanted to ask. Thanks again.

 

[MrCarpenter]

you can see here how it is supposed to work. Does this make sense?

 

[MrCarpenter]

The bolt is part of the tail light assembly. The white plastic part is like a clamp, I guess.

 

[louiscage22]

The bolt is part of the tail light assembly. The white plastic part is like a clamp, I guess.

Awesome, I could see it perfectly. Thanks very much, I appreciate your time for the picture! I’ll see what I can do with the epoxy or something similar.