This might sound pretty stupid but when I went to replace the burned out tail light bulb, I found that the light assembly was not readily removable as discussed in the owners manual. I t seems that at the factory after installing the assembly they brushed on a thick coat of adhesive/sealant on the joint between the light assembly and the car body. It does not appear to me as if it is intended to be removed.

Am I going about this right?

That adhesive you found is because the tail light leaked at some point and someone goopified it to seal the leak.

You should be able to reach in...push the lock on the bulb holder and rotate it out to change the bulb w/o taking the tail off the car.

Yup, one of my old Tails had some of that on there,

You can also take a Really sharp knife and gently cut around it to help loosen it up

Be advised..if you remove that tail light assembly from the car..you should reseal it.

Bandit11.....can you please put your year and model of your car in your sig....