Does anyone know how to get condensation out of the headlights on an x350? Is it even possible?


Tom

 

Tom,

I've moved your question from General Tech Help to X350 forum. Members here with the same model will be able to advise.

Graham

 

I wish I could more help as this was happening to Betsy as well before she met a ditch & brick wall. I was reading up on and removal of the entire assembly and "vent holes" drilled in the bottom of each one to allow the moisture to escape is where I was headed. $1300 for a new unit and less for a replacement, but would rather fix it than replace if I can at first.

R,
Rags

 

Drilling a hole will remedy but then you want to keep those holes small or dust will be your new enemy. The holes should allow (in theory) the temp inside the headlight housing to stay balanced with the temp outside the housing and thereby eliminate the cause of condensation. Makes sense right? Until you ask yourself why no manufacturer pre-drills holes holes in their headlights, and most modern cars are susceptible to this problem? I don't know the answer but guessing there is one.

You can fix it though. It's cheap but takes time.

1) Pull the units from the car and dry them by a simple sun bake or a hair drier. As your intent is to fix it (because if you don't, condensation WILL eventually cause lenses to cloud and then you will have to replace them.)


2) Once the housing is dry, assuming no major cracks, run a silicone bead around all seams on the housing.

3) Make sure you have a sufficient seal around the bulb too. This is a very common cause of condensation. We replace the bulbs but don't properly close the door (HID seal) allowing for leakage.

I believe the math formula for this is fat fingers + tight spaces = close enough:-)

Replace the gasket or use Teflon tape if you have to. Use Vaseline on the gasket to improve the seal.

 

I have what may be a much easier solution. As Sean said in "3." above the door seal can be the answer. Before removing the headlights (which requires a front bumper cover pull - not the hardest thing, but still a bit if work) You need to check the headlight access door mechanism. About a week after buying my 2006 XJ8L I started seeing condensation in the Left headlamp only. I thought it was a condition of the light when I bought it and just hoped it would dry out when the what of the light was on. Then I remembered poking around on my new car, touching, clicking, opening, closing, cleaning etc. In all my "checking out" of the new car, i ha pulled the big bar spring clip off the drivers side headlamp to take a look at the HID bulb, out of curiosity. Then, like a dummy I left it unclipped, thus the condensation. I pulled the clip (like a big wire, thickness of a metal coat hanger perhaps) back onto the door behind the headlight. Guess what? All dry, and no condensation since.

Certainly something worth checking since that was all that was wrong with mine.

 

Can't say for certain on this model as I haven't experienced the issue, but....

I had have serious problem for years on my Audi A6 tail lights, so much so they were replaced under warranty around 7 times, yet the problem still persisted.
At one point it wasn't even condensation, more droplets were forming and pooling....

One of the guys on the forum did exactly as suggested and I followed suit by removing them, thoroughly drying them out with a hairdryer, then drilling around a dozen 4mm holes on the underside of the unit.

After that, they never ever got full of condensation again. They did mist up only slightly when washing the car for maybe 5-10 minutes but cleared totally very quickly.