Condensation in my headlight

R

ryukin

Member
 Milton Keynes
This is annoying. I recently changed the bulbs in my headlights and ever since then, the drivers side headlight has been steamed up and has condensation on the inside.

Does anyone know the best way to get rid of this? I spent 40 minutes with hairdryer on it yesterday which worked for half an hour and then it all came back.

All suggestions welcome!
 
Mine are halogens. It's never occured before - only since I changed the bulb, but it may just be coincidence. I put the back cover on properly so I may have a leak :(
 
loads of threads on this..

check your seal on the back of the light bet you have pinched it letting in more water.

my dealer advised me to run the car with the back off and lights on a long journey (dont leave the car standing and running or you will melt the lights)...

still had some in after though I could reach it with a tissue :D

some people have had luck with hairdryers...

I bought and fitted a new back cover with a new seal and no problems since :D
 
gannet said:
loads of threads on this..

check your seal on the back of the light bet you have pinched it letting in more water.

my dealer advised me to run the car with the back off and lights on a long journey (dont leave the car standing and running or you will melt the lights)...

still had some in after though I could reach it with a tissue :D

some people have had luck with hairdryers...

I bought and fitted a new back cover with a new seal and no problems since :D
Click to expand...
good advice! cheers :) I'll give those a go and if it doesn't work, I'll buy the new cover.
 
You have almost certainly disturbed the now ageing seal by removing it at least twice. Combined with very cold weather tends to cause condensation to appear on the lenses anyway.
Replace the rear cover and all will be fine. There's no other point it can 'leak' at.

One of my indicators fogged for an hour yesterday at the breakfast meet simply by taking it out of a warm garage and parking it in a cold damp spot for a couple of hours. First bit to cool is of course the lens cover.
 
Bulb out, hairdryer on, 5 mins and it will have gone (I am poetic).

You will probably need to get a new seal, I did but it is not fixed :thumbsup:
 
Main delaer is your best bet, not worth messing around with 2nd hand stuff that might not seal properly.
 
I had this problem and used some sponge attached to an old coat hanger and got most of the water out. Then I used the hairdryer for about 20 mins!

Used new seals from BMW and no problems since and did this back in Feb!
 
The headlamp molding puts a groove in the seal over time, and they don't sit in exactly the same place after refitting causing the leak.. rainwater travels over the top of the headlight when you are driving which runs down the back straight into the headlight passed the leaking seal.
The seals are not available on their own, you have to buy them complete with the back plate too, why, I don't know, who ever needs a new backplate?
Dealer quoted me £20 each, so I bought a tube of silicon, went round the seal with it and now OK.
Silicon does not set, so easy to remove later :thumbsup:
 
gookah said:
The headlamp molding puts a groove in the seal over time, and they don't sit in exactly the same place after refitting causing the leak.. rainwater travels over the top of the headlight when you are driving which runs down the back straight into the headlight passed the leaking seal.
The seals are not available on their own, you have to buy them complete with the back plate too, why, I don't know, who ever needs a new backplate?
Dealer quoted me £20 each, so I bought a tube of silicon, went round the seal with it and now OK.
Silicon does not set, so easy to remove later :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

That's all good advice - except about silicone not setting. You'd need to qualify if you refer to a specific type, but the generally available DIY and automotive is also one of the strongest adhesives you'll find.
 
says on the tube. non setting. make sure you get this type, Silicon waterproof sealant (automotive),
 
Had the same issue a few months back. Bought a new rear headlight cover for about a tenner, took the old one off and gave the car a run during a nice hot day. Then let it stand pointing at the sun for a couple of hours before putting the new rear cover on and replacing the inner arch cover. Cleared it up lovely.
 
one of my headlights had the same issue after i replaced the sidelights. the xenon then died on me. removed the bumper and headlight and found that the headlight had a pint of water in the bottom of it. the light it self sits about an inch below the bumper and water had pooled in there. it was a dry week when i did the sidelights so can only think that the headlight had a hole or the seal around the outer edge had perished. dried the headlight out and resealed the headlight and fixed the ballest and is now all back to working again :)
 
Rus - I have just taken the bulb out and the box that fits on the back of the bulb has melted the bulb a little bit where its blown? something is not right here and im not a mechanical kind of guy. Where abouts in wiltshire are you i really want to compare my headlight to someone elses?

Thanks v much
 
Hi everyone. Rus & Yammyfan, my problem wasn't quite as extreme as that, so I can't really offer much advice, however my problem is now fixed and this is how I did it...

To recap, I had a lot of condensation in my headlight on the drivers side. So much in fact that it actually looked like I had frosted glass on one side! To fix it, I bought 10 silica gell sachets off ebay for £1.99 including shipping (bargain). I tied string to each of them and stuffed them in to the back of the headlight with the string hanging out so that I could easily get them out again. I then went on holiday for 10 days, drank lots of beer, got a tan, went on a tour around a old castle, flew back and and took the sachets out of the headlight. They were soaking wet but had soaked up ALL of the condensation and now the light is as good as new. Not had the problem since.
 
Hi Guys,
Am wondering what to do also. I recently got a set of xenon headlights fitted to my 2008 z4 m coupe. I then encountered a problem - similar to above with my driver side headlight. So after 2weeks i took the car back to the mechanic that fitted them - he soaked up all the water with alot of tissue paper rolled up into a stick shape and pushed into the light - he then blasted the headlight with water and it looked in order. He then put a case back around with what he thought was a proper sealing...

I woke this morning to find the headlight AGAIN - totally condensed and water!! i am at my wits end as I feel he doesnt know how to fix and I have a headlight always full of water!! :(

Can anyone help me !!
KL
 
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