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Headlights Full of Water


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  • 5 months later...

I have the same problem on a 2018 GT that I got a few months ago. So I see this isn't an uncommon problem. I've been considering pulling the units off and bringing them in the house to dry out, but that will be temporary if this issue is caused by bad seals around the lenses.

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Cheapest try at a fix seems like dry out and try silicone on all the seems. I also think the suggestion of keeping that rubber vent tube free and clear is good too but, would that not mean in order to vent there must be air circulation so it can vent out humidity and stop water droplets from forming. Would sealing all over with silicone not prevent this air venting ?  What actually causes this, water entering the lens or humid air being trapped inside the lens ; or both ? 

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1 hour ago, probak118 said:

Cheapest try at a fix seems like dry out and try silicone on all the seems. I also think the suggestion of keeping that rubber vent tube free and clear is good too but, would that not mean in order to vent there must be air circulation so it can vent out humidity and stop water droplets from forming. Would sealing all over with silicone not prevent this air venting ?  What actually causes this, water entering the lens or humid air being trapped inside the lens ; or both ? 

 

I wish I knew. One of the headlights on my town car keeps fogging up no matter what I do. I think I've used a whole tube of silicon sealant so far and it still does it...lol

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Good question, I’m not really sure. Probably both if there are tiny openings in the plastic thermoseal factory weld.

 

Light housing is several sections welded together. Vent is for condensation from air mainly, which I think is very minimal moisture.

 

On my F150 I actually added two tiny 1/16 holes with a drill bit at the highest part of light on the non visible part facing body.

After silicone wasn’t helping. A few times a year there is still small amounts of moisture, but they clear up so much better than before.

 

On hyundai forums there was guys who heated up head light housing in an oven to take them apart, drill holes ands add extra lights.

Then thermoweld in oven to get them back together again. They claimed no leaks afterwards. Exact temperature to soften old weld had to be reached etc. I have a small kit for thermowelding, have experimented on a few things. Not brave enough for a light housing in my daily driver yet. Princess Auto/Harbour Freight welding kit, not that pricy. 
Poly ethylene, poly propylene, poly styrene welding rods.

 

 

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Edited by John/Horace
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So far the replacements I bought have been much better. I got a little bit of fogging in one of them after a touchless car wash. I figure the water pressure forced some moisture in that unit, but it dried out about an hour later. Overall, much better than the fish tanks that were the stock headlights. 

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 year later...

The aftermarket replacement housings I bought to fix my condensation issue are now filling with water. I caked the seams with silicone before I installed them and it still wasn't enough to keep them dry. I'm thinking maybe the vents on the back of the lights are letting water in somehow. I'm not totally sure, but it's really frustrating. 

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I’ve had it with other vehicles before, our journey ok so far.

 

On a Chevy we had I added several extra vent holes with a drill bit,  it fixed problem 80%.  There is a clear automotive glue called PL6000 that I find a bit better than silicone. Could also try that.

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his problem is not the headlights fault,,,after buying new ones and they are filling up with water,,,,,there HAS to be a different problem other than the headlight  there has to be a good amount of water leaking on top or draining over the new headlights that are allowing the water to enter the weep holes . hard to give advise without seeing where he is parking his vech and seeing all the different variables that could affect this problem... BUT 2 different headlight parts filling with water, nope

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  • 2 years later...
On 2/5/2020 at 8:17 PM, OhareFred said:

There is a rubber vent tube on the back of the headlight assembly. If it’s plugged it can cause this to happen. The fixture needs to breathe especially with halogen lamps that burn very hot..

Thanks for you post. I did notice this rubber tube. One of the lights on my Journey has this condensation. For the tubing, how do you clear out the tubing?

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