Condensation in the headlight

[Ilya]

Anyone have any tricks on getting water/condensation out of a headlight without opening it (last resort)?

Basically...the cap that covers the part where the bulb goes got loose and let in moisture. It got loose because this particular car HID kit/harness I have from Morimoto has to have two wires run outside of the cap and I didn't seat it properly (or Lia Infiniti f'ed with it because it was fine for 12 months prior to me bringing them the car for some other minor work - they were in the area of the engine belts which isn't far from the headlights on either side - coulda bumped it or pulled my HID harness accidentally).

It's been about a week now and I don't know if it's because we haven't had any truly dry warm weather or what, but I can't get them to dry up/de-fog.

Any tips?

Worst case is I'll have to bake it open and dry it manually...at which point I'll probably do both sides and upgrade the projector lens to a clear one for better HID beam cutoff and spread.

[lovemycarM35]

I had that issue with my Maxima I used a blow dryer to dry it up then I just left the cap off for a few hours and it went away make sure it's not raing though

[Ilya]

Yeah I'm thinkin of doin that on a nice hot day. i'll just deal with the condensation for now while it's still April. Did it leave the inside of your light dirty? If it did, I might as well pull them out (this is going to be a PITA - Maximas were so much easier to work on the front end) and upgrade the projector lens while I have them open.

[pedsemdoc]

just a thought....and not sure how bad the condensation is (post pics?)

so when i was changing my turn signals to LEDs--i accidentally didn't attach the bulb to the socket tight enough and ended up with the bulb coming off inside the light housing--i thought my goose was cooked and i be baking the lights to get it out....BUT, i took a wire coat hanger with a piece of duct tape and managed to fish it out. So, i was thinking maybe if you took a piece of old t-shirt/thin cloth and taped it to the end of a coat hanger, you might be able snake it in through your headlights or turn signal opening to wipe off some of the condensation

[Ilya]

It's pretty bad. It's not pooling up as far as I can tell...but I'd say 60% of the lens has condensation on it as if someone just washed the inside.

[mr_luv]

Silica gel packets.

[Ilya]

I opened the cap today at lunch and also took out one of the little 'marker' bulbs which is 'open air' inside the light and by 4:30 it was completely gone. Promptly closed everything up. Should be good to go.

I was surprised how fast it dried. I figured I'd have to do this across two days or so.

Edit: The housing does have water spots now...so I dunno how I feel about that. I'll see what it looks like after an exterior wash (car is filty right now). If it bothers me or is noticeable, I will have to open it up and clean it.

[petegiella]

How did it turn out? Did it stay condensation free? Mine out of the blue started doing it to, so I left the marker out like you suggested. In southern cal, it dried out in about 2 hours. But then when the sun went down, it re-fogged up. I called Dr. Headlight here in San Diego, and they told me after a couple of phone calls that they were advised to not mess with the M's lights as they are too complicated.

Did you end up baking it? I am scared to do it as I dont wanna just make it worse.

[Ilya]

Hey,

Sorry I'm in Europe right now so hard to reply.

I stayed dried, but the water spots are still there. I haven't bothered baking it yet as it doesn't bother me too much - yet.

You may have a crack somewhere in your light or bulb holders...allowing in the moisture.