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I've read through a lot of threads where people have what appears to be leaking headlights, but from what I can tell, the seals on mine are fine. On the left side, when it's hot out and they get sprayed with water, condensation immediately appears on the inside, and quite a bit. I've examined it for obvious holes, I've shot compressed air all around the seams of the assembly (and behind) to see if there's air movement inside, nothing. I'm going to pull the bumper and pull the assembly out, take it apart, dry it, and make sure it's sealed. But has anyone else encountered this problem? I'd hate to have to replace it because they're not cheap (and used are hard to find), but I'm afraid of the water shorting out the HID bulb or something bad like that.
Possible the lens has a crack. Mine had a hairline crack after someone backed into my car. I bought a new OEM Toyota lens kit from the japan auction. Cost was about 200 per light but it is well worth it. The kit comes with the lens, rubber surround, butyl sealant and instructions. It is a lot cheaper than trying to replace the light assembly($800-$1200). You will be surprised how good your car will look with the new lenses.
OK, so I went and got the lenses from the Yahoo Japan auction as Atomsplitr suggested. I have to say I was a little apprehensive. The site is in Japanese, you have to use a buying service and returns would be next to impossible. But I figured I'd give it a shot.
I ordered both lenses on June 1st, and got them early last week, so it took less than two weeks to get them. They arrived perfectly packaged with tons of bubble wrap. Instructions were included in a variety of languages, luckily English was one of them.
I started by researching bumper removal, and actually found a YouTube video of someone removing and replacing the lenses.
This Saturday I pulled the car into the garage and began. The steps were (I'm listing by memory):
All bolts/screws are 10mm
Remove the bumper clips under the hood in front of the radiator (it helps to have spares).
Remove two plastic trim pieces above and to the side of each light assembly.
I kept the wheels on, I just rotated them out of the way on each side. A long socket with a u-joint adapter is helpful.
I removed as many screws holding the wheel well liner as needed to bend it out of the way.
Removed the two screws holding the bumper to the fender.
Pulled the bumper out of the way (but not all the way off).
Removed three bolts holding the light housing to the car.
Pulled the housing out and disconnected all the wires.
Removed two metal clips and one screw (a JDM screwdriver is recommended for this).
Used a heat gun to warm the perimeter of the housing where the lens meets the housing, 3 or 4 minutes.
Pried the lens off the housing.
Pulled out and removed the old adhesive gasket.
Cleaned the channel that the adhesive was in.
Now I was ready to install the new lens. The lenses came with a new gray adhesive gasket and new weather stripping. The gasket is soft rubber material, not sticky at all. Also, the instructions only went as far as disassembly, and then stopped right after putting in the new gasket. It didn't specify how to make the gasket sticky, it just kind of sat in the channel of the housing. I assume you heat it up with the heat gun. Whatever the method was, I didn't use the included gasket. I bought some RetroRubber headlight sealant from Amazon and used that. It's already very sticky, so I put it in the fridge for a bit to make it easier to work with. Then I took the sealant and pressed it into the channel of the housing. This is where I goofed up, the amount of sealant is wayyyy to much for the channel, even though it fit nicely. There was no room for the lens to sit correctly, so I had to dig out the excess sealant so that the lens would sit (mostly) correctly. That was a big pain, so if you use this stuff, make sure to stretch it out to about half of its original diameter. A little heat gun action and the assembly was assembled.
I also took the opportunity to replace my high beam bulbs.
So, the weather stripping. The instructions don't mention it at all, but I used the old lens as a guide. However, there is a separate strip that goes on the bottom of the assembly that wasn't included, so I had to reuse the old one. I carefully peeled it off and put it on the new one and it seemed to mostly stick. I did have to use a few dots of sealant to get it to stick completely.
The assembly went back into the car, then I did the other side. This time I used much less sealant so it went quicker. Just in case, I used some silicone around the edges where the lens and housing met.
Reassembly, as they say, is the reverse of disassembly.
I'd say the job took all of 5 - 6 hours. It would have been less had I not been so generous with the RetroRubber.
With shipping, the total cost of this project was $423 for the lenses, then another $25 for the RetroRubber and $20 for Philips 9005 CrystalVision bulbs.
I can add links and more details if anyone is interested. Photos don't really convey the before and after, but I'll give it a try.
Passenger, old lens. Driver, old lens + water. Old on top of new. Passenger side, new. Driver side, new.
OK, so I went and got the lenses from the Yahoo Japan auction as Atomsplitr suggested. I have to say I was a little apprehensive. The site is in Japanese, you have to use a buying service and returns would be next to impossible. But I figured I'd give it a shot.
I ordered both lenses on June 1st, and got them early last week, so it took less than two weeks to get them. They arrived perfectly packaged with tons of bubble wrap. Instructions were included in a variety of languages, luckily English was one of them.
I started by researching bumper removal, and actually found a YouTube video of someone removing and replacing the lenses.
This Saturday I pulled the car into the garage and began. The steps were (I'm listing by memory):
All bolts/screws are 10mm
Remove the bumper clips under the hood in front of the radiator (it helps to have spares).
Remove two plastic trim pieces above and to the side of each light assembly.
I kept the wheels on, I just rotated them out of the way on each side. A long socket with a u-joint adapter is helpful.
I removed as many screws holding the wheel well liner as needed to bend it out of the way.
Removed the two screws holding the bumper to the fender.
Pulled the bumper out of the way (but not all the way off).
Removed three bolts holding the light housing to the car.
Pulled the housing out and disconnected all the wires.
Removed two metal clips and one screw (a JDM screwdriver is recommended for this).
Used a heat gun to warm the perimeter of the housing where the lens meets the housing, 3 or 4 minutes.
Pried the lens off the housing.
Pulled out and removed the old adhesive gasket.
Cleaned the channel that the adhesive was in.
Now I was ready to install the new lens. The lenses came with a new gray adhesive gasket and new weather stripping. The gasket is soft rubber material, not sticky at all. Also, the instructions only went as far as disassembly, and then stopped right after putting in the new gasket. It didn't specify how to make the gasket sticky, it just kind of sat in the channel of the housing. I assume you heat it up with the heat gun. Whatever the method was, I didn't use the included gasket. I bought some RetroRubber headlight sealant from Amazon and used that. It's already very sticky, so I put it in the fridge for a bit to make it easier to work with. Then I took the sealant and pressed it into the channel of the housing. This is where I goofed up, the amount of sealant is wayyyy to much for the channel, even though it fit nicely. There was no room for the lens to sit correctly, so I had to dig out the excess sealant so that the lens would sit (mostly) correctly. That was a big pain, so if you use this stuff, make sure to stretch it out to about half of its original diameter. A little heat gun action and the assembly was assembled.
I also took the opportunity to replace my high beam bulbs.
So, the weather stripping. The instructions don't mention it at all, but I used the old lens as a guide. However, there is a separate strip that goes on the bottom of the assembly that wasn't included, so I had to reuse the old one. I carefully peeled it off and put it on the new one and it seemed to mostly stick. I did have to use a few dots of sealant to get it to stick completely.
The assembly went back into the car, then I did the other side. This time I used much less sealant so it went quicker. Just in case, I used some silicone around the edges where the lens and housing met.
Reassembly, as they say, is the reverse of disassembly.
I'd say the job took all of 5 - 6 hours. It would have been less had I not been so generous with the RetroRubber.
With shipping, the total cost of this project was $423 for the lenses, then another $25 for the RetroRubber and $20 for Philips 9005 CrystalVision bulbs.
I can add links and more details if anyone is interested. Photos don't really convey the before and after, but I'll give it a try.
Passenger, old lens. Driver, old lens + water. Old on top of new. Passenger side, new. Driver side, new.
05-24-19, 04:28 AM
Moisture in Headlight Assembly
