Condensation in Headlight

[SHOLover9967]

So recently I took my 2011 SHO to a body shop to get my headlights smoked. They had to remove them from the vehicle and put them back on. After about 2 days I noticed that one of my headlights gets a large amount of moisture buildup in it which would gradually build up and gradually go away to like it was never there.

It's only in the passenger side headlight and I am not sure what to do.. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and how they fixed it. I took it to the dealer and they did not want to remove the entire front bumper to inspect the problem, but they said that it could be a seal that was broken.

Also I was wondering if the headlights are vented or not? The body shop said they couldn't see any vents on the headlights but I am not sure how the moisture is getting in there otherwise.

Any and all suggestions appreciated. Thanks.

 

[geophb]

Mine was vented after I hit a deer.
It is "sealed". Pretty humid there? Maybe try pulling it and putting in the air contitioning with the bulb dust cap off and the ballast off to dry it out for a couple days. These lamp assemblies are not cheap, like $400+

 

[SHOLover9967]

Mine was vented after I hit a deer.
It is "sealed". Pretty humid there? Maybe try pulling it and putting in the air contitioning with the bulb dust cap off and the ballast off to dry it out for a couple days. These lamp assemblies are not cheap, like $400+

I may give that a shot. Thank you!

 

[SHOLover9967]

Mine was vented after I hit a deer.
It is "sealed". Pretty humid there? Maybe try pulling it and putting in the air contitioning with the bulb dust cap off and the ballast off to dry it out for a couple days. These lamp assemblies are not cheap, like $400+

But yeah it is pretty humid here, I live in Kentucky and it can get pretty muggy out here. I am not sure why it would only be affecting one headlight and not the other though?

 

[SHOdded]

I dont think any of these major lighting elements are fully sealed anymore. Anyhoo, good suggestions above, unless the shop cracked the lens, should be back to normal in no time.

 

[SHOLover9967]

I dont think any of these major lighting elements are fully sealed anymore. Anyhoo, good suggestions above, unless the shop cracked the lens, should be back to normal in no time.

I would think so too if it was both headlights affected, but what could have happened to cause the headlight to have this problem in the first place?

 

[SHOdded]

Simple as a dust boot not being installed correctly, possibly. Although I believe the problem child tends to be the driver side. Maybe someone backed into the headlight with something. Hard to say ... Natural causes CAN be to blame here. I would run an extra bead of silicone sealant around the outside of the headlight to make sure it is sealed up tight (after drying it out first).

 

[Raging Bull]

Was the moisture there before u went to have them smoked ? I’ve had this happen in the past with another car it wasn’t sealed tight and it had moisture / sealed it and all was gone. The shop maybe didn’t seel it up correctly

 

[SHOLover9967]

Was the moisture there before u went to have them smoked ? I’ve had this happen in the past with another car it wasn’t sealed tight and it had moisture / sealed it and all was gone. The shop maybe didn’t seel it up correctly

No it wasn't there before. The shop said that the headlight looked all sealed up and couldn't see any broken seals. I may end up taking it back there and have them reseal it since there was no moisture before I took it to them.

 

[rubydist]

It doesn't take much of a leak in the seals to get a lot of moisture to show inside the headlight assembly. When the light is on, it heats up. When it cools off (and the seal is bad) it pulls outside humid air into the assembly. When it heats up the next time, the moisture does not exit the assembly unless the leak is at the top, so more moisture keeps getting pulled into the assembly.

So, if the seal was suspect to begin with, a little normal jostling by the shop to do the smoke could have "broken" the seal, even though they didn't necessarily do anything wrong.

The way I suggest to dry these is to remove them from the car, put them in your oven at 150 degrees with the headlight bulb opening upwards, and let is sit in the oven a couple hours at temperature and then turn the oven off and let it sit there overnight as it cools. This will keep "dry" air inside the housing assembly. Then, do the "reseal" operation and get it reinstalled as quickly as reasonably possible.

 

[SHOLover9967]

It doesn't take much of a leak in the seals to get a lot of moisture to show inside the headlight assembly. When the light is on, it heats up. When it cools off (and the seal is bad) it pulls outside humid air into the assembly. When it heats up the next time, the moisture does not exit the assembly unless the leak is at the top, so more moisture keeps getting pulled into the assembly.

So, if the seal was suspect to begin with, a little normal jostling by the shop to do the smoke could have "broken" the seal, even though they didn't necessarily do anything wrong.

The way I suggest to dry these is to remove them from the car, put them in your oven at 150 degrees with the headlight bulb opening upwards, and let is sit in the oven a couple hours at temperature and then turn the oven off and let it sit there overnight as it cools. This will keep "dry" air inside the housing assembly. Then, do the "reseal" operation and get it reinstalled as quickly as reasonably possible.

Thank you! That is awesome I didn't know you could put your headlights in the oven and they still be fine. I will probably end up giving this a shot here pretty soon.

 

[rubydist]

don't go more than 150 degrees...

 

[SHOdded]

Farenheit, not Celsius right?

 

[Raging Bull]

I left mine in the direct sun for a few hours. Bulb out / dried it out for me as well.

 

[Johnbigdog]

So recently I took my 2011 SHO to a body shop to get my headlights smoked. They had to remove them from the vehicle and put them back on. After about 2 days I noticed that one of my headlights gets a large amount of moisture buildup in it which would gradually build up and gradually go away to like it was never there.

It's only in the passenger side headlight and I am not sure what to do.. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and how they fixed it. I took it to the dealer and they did not want to remove the entire front bumper to inspect the problem, but they said that it could be a seal that was broken.

Also I was wondering if the headlights are vented or not? The body shop said they couldn't see any vents on the headlights but I am not sure how the moisture is getting in there otherwise.

Any and all suggestions appreciated. Thanks.

Your owners manual (and ford publications) say that some moisture is normal. The headlamp is vented.

If there is standing water or drips, there is a problem. If no standing water or drips it's all good.

This would be a dealers stand point.

 

[SHOLover9967]

I left mine in the direct sun for a few hours. Bulb out / dried it out for me as well.

Did you just have condensation in yours or actual dripping water?

 

[Raging Bull]

Just condensation. It was a lot though, wasn’t dripping.