well, i've had the car now for about 7 months, for the first month of ownership, the passenger headlight would get plenty of moisture in it, during the winter, it went away. before summer came i tightened the corner lamp socket, i figured this fixed it, but, in the past week it came back, with vengance well, yesterday, i pulled the bumper and headlight, checked for cracks, and resealed where the lense meets the housing, but i didnt pull it apart...i think i did a pretty good job. well of course, moisture is back. dont know what to do. the owner before me put the clear diffusers in, so i know this is the reason. i'm pretty frustrated and dont want to put money into buying a new unit. someone please help!!!

 

OK......

What you need to do is get the air in the headlamp heated up so that it expands. Pull the corner lights out and turn the headlights on (engine on as well). Let heat build up and expand the air inside for a while (hot air should escape from the top, cooler air from the bottom comes in), say 15 20 minutes with high beams on too. This should cycle the air some in the headlight. Granted, the best time to do this is in the winter when humidity is at it's lowest... and I am willing to be who ever sealed the headlamps originally did it when the humidity was above 30%... hence your fogging issue. After 20 minutes or so, plug the headlamps and turn them off... As I said, the best time to do this is the dead cold of winter, but if it is as bad as you say, this should help.

 

will this permanently fix the problem? or should i just pull the headlight out, pull it apart and completely reseal it? like i said before, i resealed around the seam, but the unit was still together, not pulled apart.

 

I think your best bet would be to completely reseal the unit. Be sure to purchase two black silicone tubes, since you want to excessively and effectively and completely cover any potential spacings.

 

What you are discribing isn't a leaking problem, its just condensation on the headlight. Pulling them apart and redoing them is way over the top at this point (and pointless seeing as how you live in VA and its summertime with relatively high humidity). Your goal should be to remove the condensation from the headlight; you have no proof of leaking.

This should permanantly fix the problem UNLESS there is a leak. But you will not know that until you have successfully removed the condensation that is already in there and it happens again. I doubt there is a leak... its nothing more than water vapor which was sealed inside the headlight and condenses on the surface when the temps are right.

 

thanks for the awesome tip, i'm gonna try this when i get home tonight, and of course, if it still gets moisture, i'll then pull it apart and reseal it...thanks again

 

okay, have the car running right now. i have the turn signal pulled, low and high beams on...we'll see what happens......

 

Just had the same situation here in miami florida but due to a different reason, painted the headlights inside and changed the yellow diffuser with a white diffuser. Best thing is to take it off and reseal everything again. Once open, i removed the original silicone just to make sure the fit is perfect(way I did this was with a torch and a flathead screwdriver). Once complete, I but on some adhesive silicone(comes in black, white or clear from what I've seen at the auto store). I put plenty which when I put the cover back on, some went out. There I flatened any extra silicone that was outside to make it look decent and also just for precaution, siliconed the outside of where our two outer bulbs connect. Headlight is perfect now.

 

Good luck FISH22, this worked for me.

 

Will try this later tonight too

I also had the same problem and it also on the passenger's side (so is my friend) but anyway, I've tried to completely take it apart and reseal it but it doesn't fix the problem. When I wash the car at home (cold water) the condensation build up really fast. But when I was it at the car wash (warm water) sometime the condensation build up and sometime don't (most of the time dont). Have tried to look for a leak but couldn't seem to find any. Don't know what wrong.