Headlight Condensation

J

javars

Member
OK please read all this. 2004 E85

So I replaced my bulbs the other day and having fought with the RH rear cover refitted it correctly since then I get condensation. If I remove the rear cover it dries in an hour or two. But as soon as I refit it returns. Fine, I'll leave it off for 4 days to fully dry. Refitted, back comes the condensation.
So now I've refitted it with 200g of silica gel pouches but guess what. Condensation.
To confirm we had no rain since the bulbs were changed nor was the car driven on wet roads so all I can think is the headlight has a more substantial amount of water in there and the cover was originally fitted incorrectly which is why there was no condensation before the bulb change.
Any of this make any sense?
Thanks
Steve
 
Makes sense to me. The headlight gets full of water. Heat in the sun dries the lens, but more evaporates out later and condenses
Clearly it has got water inside and at some point covers not fitted correctly.
I would take the light off, dry it properly and refit. Turn the seal around on the cover, or buy a new one, refit then see what happens
 
I'd agree with Phil (CJ). Take the light off and into the house to drive properly for a few days then seal in the house before refitting- there must be a wee bit of moisture in there somewhere- only takes a tiny bit to cause the issue.
 
Had this very problem about 3 years back. In the end I had to remove the bumper and take the headlight off in order to dry completely. Then added a line of silicone to the seal and no more condensation.

Hope you solve yours without bumper removal, however it's pretty straightforward if you end up having to.
 
Sgr74 said:
Should there not be a drain hole at the lowest point? If not, make one.
Click to expand...

BMW conveniently ensured the lowest point was wear the ballast is on xenon lights so they could drain there and screw it up! :headbang: :rofl:
 
paddy wright said:
Sgr74 said:
Should there not be a drain hole at the lowest point? If not, make one.
Click to expand...

BMW conveniently ensured the lowest point was wear the ballast is on xenon lights so they could drain there and screw it up! :headbang: :rofl:
Click to expand...

Yup, been there! Changed a bulb, didn't get the cover back on properly and went for a drive in the heavy rain the next day. Queue half way home the bulb warning coming on and a dead headlamp! Took the light off once home and the ballast had totally flooded from water that got into the lamp. :thumbsdown:

OP, I solved it by taking the light off, taking all bulbs out and then blastig hot air into it with a hair dryer for 30 minutes total, making sure to keep moving it and checking that nothing was melting!
 
I had same problem on standard headlights, I used a pipe cleaner and tied on a bit of kitchen roll so I could get it right in the light to soak up the water, then hair dryer for about half an hour on both sides and then put the rear cover back on with some vaseline on the seal. Seems to have worked so far however it did take 2 attempts.
 
javars said:
Id like to meet the designers of replacing the RH rear headlight cover...................and punch them :D
Click to expand...

I think there'd be a queue of us...
Can't work out if it's just using the left hand that makes the O/S cover so much harder to replace
 
I have just had this struggle to replace the O/S rear cover. Neighbour jacked the car up and indicated a grooved slot for the LH end o the cover, once that is slotted in it falls into place.
 
csquire4 said:
I had same problem on standard headlights, I used a pipe cleaner and tied on a bit of kitchen roll so I could get it right in the light to soak up the water, then hair dryer for about half an hour on both sides and then put the rear cover back on with some vaseline on the seal. Seems to have worked so far however it did take 2 attempts.
Click to expand...
I had to do exactly the same thing. I originally thought the hairdryer had removed the condensation from the lens but it kept coming back. Turns out there was actually a pool of water at the bottom of the headlight and this was what needed to be removed. The pool was not visible from just looking through the cap or lens but was definitely there. After doing this using kitchen roll on the end of a wire coat hanger and then hairdryer for a while to dry the lens and internals i have refitted the cap at the back and never had a problem since and its been a couple of years now.

edit. just realied this is a post from 2017. no idea how its re-appeared for me to comment on.
 
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