lexusk8

If any of you guys (esp. the SC, GS and ES owners) ever happen to encounter condensation or water in your headlamps because of poor sealing, I developed a suitable solution to eliminate the problem. Please follow along...

1) Remove the affected headlamp(s) from the car (instructions for removal vary for each car). Remember to disconnect any wiring harnesses from the bulbs first before removing the headlamps.

2) Bring the headlamps inside the house, and remove all bulbs if you haven't done so.

3) This step is for those who have a pool of water collected inside the headlamp(s). Get 2 plastic straws, and tape one end to the other so you have yourself a long straw (if you don't have straws at home, go to McD's and grab 'em) Insert it inside the headlamp via either the low or high beam bulb opening, and suck the water out. Do not swallow the water; just spit the water into a sink. Make sure not to inadvertently spit saliva during the process.

4) You want to reasonably heat up the headlamp in order for the condensation to evaporate, so for this step, use either a hair dryer to blow heat thru any of the bulb openings, or cook the headlamp inside an oven at a temp of 250*F for 5 min.

5) This step is optional. If you choose to clean up inside and re-seal the headlamp, do so via the oven method. Cycle 5 min cooking sessions for the headlamp, and in between each session, pry apart the headlamp along the old sealant. Number of sessions varies for everyone.

6) Let the headlamps cool down via room temperature for 10-15 min before bringing them back to the car for re-installation.

Hope this info helps for anyone!

rominl

iTrader: (4)

the water sucking part that's very gross man but i am sure it will work

i think the problem is that sometimes after the inside is dry, there are stains on the inside of the lens. that sux

Lyrical

iTrader: (8)

Well, with all the rain in So Cal right now, i expected the moisture inside the lamps...After the weather clears up, i planned on doing this...

Will let everyone know how it turns out...

TLW

Doug back to the drawing board LOL

i agree who knows what evil is pooling inside the lights

what about compressed air ?

mikal

haha, i would just use a Wet Vac with a boba (tapioca) Straw to suck it up.

lexusk8

I know for the water sucking part, it's pretty unsanitary; I wouldn't recommend it from a health standpoint. I pretty much came up with that idea though since I had no other means to remove the moisture and water previously inside my ES headlamps. You can always use mouthwash afterwards

Most important to remember is injecting the proper amount of heat into the headlamp at the right temperature. There also may be a minimal amount of moisture/water stuck along the sealant portion of the headlamp (you may see it when look directly at the bottom of the headlamp), so try to rotate the headlamp around so all the moisture leaks onto the visible portion where the heat will come into contact.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

yeah both socal and norcal are pouring pretty bad these days, it would be fun to see how the result would be.... this is the first year my oem hid headlights on the gs go through heavy reain

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

Instead you can use a turkey... uhm... what do you call those thigns you use to inject flavor into the turkey?

Neo

iTrader: (3)

Baster.

As for you Doug, don't let you SO know what you've been putting in your mouth.

PERRYinLA

You may be able to eliminate that by first rinsing the inside with distilled water, which, when it dries, may not leave those white stains. Or you can try one of those dishwasher additives that eliminate water spots.

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

Thats the one, my memory has gone retarded lately

G Star

iTrader: (2)

I'm afraid this is not the "solution" it is only part of the solution. Pretty much all you gotta do is crack open your lights anyway you know how, clean it, and seal it.

1gs430

What type of sealant is used to re-seal the headlamp after it's opened? I have this issue on my driver side light.

lexusk8

I agree that it's not the ultimate solution to permanently remove condensation, but it has worked out so far for me, and I just want to share the success