Condensation in Headlight

[Wombleman]

Anyone come across this problem before?

2015 IS300H NSF Headlight full of condensation, never dries out!

Is there a solution to this and why would it happen!?

They are very expensive to replace new from Lexus.

Cheers

[Jayw13702]

I’ve had this on a another car that are used to own, was a real pain in the backside.
The only way that we effectively remedied it was to take the headlights off the car strip out all the bulbs and with a hairdryer gently blow heat into the headlight unit until it dries out.
We had a dry we then Benson time making sure that all of the seals were good and that there was little chance of any further condensation creeping into the headlights.
The only other alternative is as you have said to buy replacement headlights and even secondhand they are quite dear


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[royoftherovers]

Had this on my GS. HEADLAMP WAS REPLACED UNDER MY EXTENDED WARRANTY !

[Malc]

usually an age-old garage trick on very many cars is just to pop out the bulb holder from the housing and let it evaporate out, often with some gentle hairdryer help maybe !

that's assuming you can get to the rear of the lamps ok 

Malc

[PRT68]

Years ago, I used an old radiator hose with a hairdryer to direct the air to the bulb hole.

[Texas]

Need to check headlight for damage as if you do dry it out it will only reoccur. Look for stone chip/hole in glass, damage to seal between glass and plastic case and any gaskets/seals on the bulb access panels. Water/ moisture laden air is getting somewhere and condensating with temp changes. There is a hole to atmosphere somewhere causing this problem.

Note: if you have an MOT due anytime soon it may very well fail.

Paul m.

[agent_dess]

Is this not covered under the lexus relax warranty?

I hace condensation going on in driver size headlamp.

[Malc]

38 minutes ago, agent_dess said:

Is this not covered under the lexus relax warranty?

it's a 7 year old car !

Malc

[agent_dess]

Surely that's a manufacturing defect? You do have 10 years warranty these days. So what exactly does the warranty cover.

My is250 was 14 years old and never had condensation issue with the headlamp.

 

[ALAW]

Im sure ive heard it mentioned that some older headlights had a vent and if it blocked caused condensation.

[F.A.]

23 hours ago, agent_dess said:

Surely that's a manufacturing defect? You do have 10 years warranty these days. So what exactly does the warranty cover.

My is250 was 14 years old and never had condensation issue with the headlamp.

 

I would be surprised if the Lexus Relax warranty covered headlights. 
 

Even if it was a manufacturer defect, they will find a reason to get out of it, likely by accusing you of not taking care of the unit in the first place. 

[doog442]

On 1/20/2020 at 11:08 AM, Malc said:

usually an age-old garage trick on very many cars is just to pop out the bulb holder from the housing and let it evaporate out, often with some gentle hairdryer help maybe !

that's assuming you can get to the rear of the lamps ok 

Malc

Yep 

Mine was LED however. Before any warranty kicks in there's a process they follow. The first is to dry it out then return it to the customer fully sealed....if it mists up again they replace ( if still under the manufactures warranty that is....)

These LED lights can be £1000 a pop, designed to last the lifetime of the car (the LED) but not if there's water ingress . 

[Malc]

11 hours ago, doog442 said:

These LED lights can be £1000 a pop

how bonkers this new teccy stuff is ...  I replaced one of my headlight bulbs a couple of years ago ...  the 2nd time in 10 years I think, maybe the first time ever in the life of the car !

My headlight bulbs came oversold ......  from Halfords .........  I had to buy a pack of TWO ..  but hey, they cost £8 the pack and took just a very few minutes to change too 

Malc

[agent_dess]

I called Lexus Edinburgh and they basically said condensation is not covered under warranty cause it was not like that when it left the factory, therefore either it has a crack or damages caused by something like a bump which has caused it.

[doog442]

2 hours ago, agent_dess said:

I called Lexus Edinburgh and they basically said condensation is not covered under warranty cause it was not like that when it left the factory, therefore either it has a crack or damages caused by something like a bump which has caused it.

There was an LC500 on here that had the same problem. It was replaced under warranty . I'm not sure they're correct saying it must be cracked or bumped as these things can fail in normal use or in my case straight from the factory.

[agent_dess]

I've dried mines out, really hoping it was caused by the indicator bulb not being sealed properly, will find out next time it pours or when I wash the car.

[agent_dess]

So raining today, went on a 50m round trip, got home and headlamps had condensation again, so defo must have a crack somewhere was really hoping to not have to take the bumper off but looks like there is no avoiding it. 😑

[Malc]

is there really no clear flexi glue type product to just smear over to fill any cracks and then just wipe off the remainder surplus  ?

Malc

[agent_dess]

18 hours ago, Malc said:

is there really no clear flexi glue type product to just smear over to fill any cracks and then just wipe off the remainder surplus  ?

Malc

I've ordered a tube of Loctite 595 which should do the job, but the hassle is going to be taking bumper off to remove headlamp so i can 1st locate thethe source and then seal it.

[Malc]

2 hours ago, agent_dess said:

1st locate thethe source and then seal it.

I was simply thinking that leave it in situ initially and then do the smearing over etc . if that's possible

you might solve the issue without removing the unit !

Malc

[agent_dess]

So got fed up looking at the headlight condensation and putting it off for weeks and weeks decided to finally do something about it.

I'm not going to cover full bumper removal, just what is required to remove headlight.

There are 3 screws which need to be removed:

Screw 1

Screw 2

Screw 3

Disconnect the 2 grey connectors, it also be easier to remove indicator bulb. Then simply pull to front of the car and lift out.

Spent ages trying to work out where water was getting from, at one point I tippee the headlight upright and there was a pool of water swishing around.  Spent almost an hour drying it out. Still never worked out where it was leaking.

In the end I decided to run sealant (locktite 595) where the back case meets front case.

As highlighted in purple all the way round

Reassembled everything... Hopefully fixed 🤞 

1st time removing bumper so learned a lot.

Total time 6hrs

 

[matt8]

13 hours ago, agent_dess said:

Total time 6hrs

Thanks!

Is that 6 hours waiting time / locktite to dry / debating what to do next? Or does it really take that long to remove the bumper etc?

I.e. if you did it again today how long might it take you to do?

[agent_dess]

1 hour ago, matt8 said:

Thanks!

Is that 6 hours waiting time / locktite to dry / debating what to do next? Or does it really take that long to remove the bumper etc?

I.e. if you did it again today how long might it take you to do?

Lol I really don't know where the time went, it took a while to figure out where the 3rd screw was (the one on the side where bumper connects. Longest time came from drying headlight and then trying to find source of leak. I don't want to do it again haha suppose now that I know how to do it and I had to take headlight out again, you could take bumper off in 10-15mins and about 20mins to reattach if you don't have anyone to help.  Note the locktite 595 drys in 5-10mins.

[agent_dess]

Sadly condensation has returned, time to look for replacement headlamp from scrappy. 

[matt8]

1 hour ago, agent_dess said:

Sadly condensation has returned, time to look for replacement headlamp from scrappy. 

They all seem to suffer the same fate in varying degrees. I'm not sure what level of success you'll have with a replacement from a used vehicle at the scrap yard.

Where else can moisture be getting in?