[blue92GL]

a 9007 bulb costs 10 bucks. recently i put a 9007 in the passenger side headlight and a couple days later poof! out again. i know its water in the headlight thats causing it...but how to fix it?

i can either take the headlight assembly out, fill it water and hope pray and do a rain dance to find it or do what i've heard others do...drill a frigging hole in the bottom of it and let it go.

also i dont like the headlight assemblies. they dont seem clear like glass...

any solutions to this problem? any replacements on the market? driving at night kinda sucks, i like to see where i'm going.


and oh yeah, this is my first post. go me!

 

[kermitec]

Get a new headlight assembly. There are repacements out there, tons on Ebay or put a wanted to buy in the TCAA classifieds. It seems once they leak its a pita to fix permanently. BTW welcome to the TCAA!

 

[93taurusSX]

You can try drilling the hole so there's some place for the evaporated water to leave the housing, but I don't really think will do much. Once condensation is inside the light, it's pretty much stuck in there. You're only choice is getting new headlights for like $100 for a pair off ebay - used ones have a chance that they too suffer the condensation problem and you'll just end up back to square one.

Either that, or just leave it alone - unless the condensation is so bad that the headlights are shorting out...is that what the problem is? If it's not that bad, I would just leave it alone. Old cars tend to develop that problem as the seals in the headlight age and shrink and all that.

Oh yeah, if you want clear headlights, like on the newer cars, the 94-95 taurus LX/SE models came with what is affectionately called "disco-ball" headlights. Hard to find though- and the new ones cost like $125 a piece (get used ones , they come up on ebay once in a while).

 

[W96GRN]

I found that when my car got condensation inside the headlight, I made sure that the seals were good. Then I drove with my headlights on for the entire drive merimbula (which is 600 km from where I live) - it was probably over kill but solved the problem.
This works since the headlights are vented (atleast in a gen3 they have a snorkel type thing attached). Drilling a hole is probably not a good idea, since it would allow dirt and stuff into the headlight aswell.

Julian

 

[cincyses]

Just a quick thought. If your bulb burned out quickly, there's always the possibility that you accidentally touched the glass part of the bulb when you were putting it it. Since these bulbs burn so hot, just a little bit of finger oil (just a fingerprint) can destroy the bulb once it heats up. If you do touch the bulb, you can carefully clean it with rubbing alcohol and a very soft cloth before you ever turn it on....

 

[blue92GL]

no this bulb and the one before blew up, they didnt burn out, they popped...as if they were really hot and something cold like water touched it and shattered the glass. i've seen hot glass do this before. and i dont touch the glass part, i KNOW not to touch the glass part, i even wash my hands thoroughly prior to handling them and even then i barely hold the plastic part that plugs into the harness. this is water causing it.

guess i need new assemblies! i dont wanna pay 100 bucks for new ones but i cant keep driving around with one headlight, its not safe, its against the law and makes me look like i'm too cheap and/or lazy to replace it so it makes me look bad in general.


i think i might drill a hole as a temporary fix and get new assemblies later but i got other things to do, an oil change, tune up, replacing a belt...the previous owner wasnt kind to the car but the engine is strong as they didnt abuse it, they just neglected it.


btw this is my first ford, first FWD car and first EFI car (i had a TBI once but that doesnt count), a triple threat!

 

[sabledale]

I had a dirt spot in my tail light. I removed the light and washed it out. Then I used a blowdryer to aimed in the light bulb holes to dry it. I haven't had any water problems with them. Becarful not to keep heat on one spot to long so you don't melt or warp plastic.

 

[jedhead]

Good article here:

http://www.shotimes.com/php-bin/modules.ph...thold=0&sid=151

Bob

 

[PuvMan]

i've used the method that was posted on SHO times and have nad no problems witht he headlight assembly since the summer.....had to do it twice, but i had tested it before i put a new bulb in.

Not as nice as getting new crystalline assemblies, but 5 bucks worth of silicone sure sounds nicer to my wallet than 100's in new assemblies

puv

 

[JERZY-STYLZ]

Originally posted by sabledale@Feb 18 2004, 04:59 PM
I removed the light and washed it out. Then I used a blowdryer to aimed in the light bulb holes to dry it. I haven't had any water problems with them.

What he said

Ive had headlight water, ......i did the drilling thing.....helped a little
I also did the blowdryer thing....and used clear silicone to seal all around the headlight lense,......worked for a while but somehow the water just kept comming back.

Got new Headlights instead after a year of messing with it!

 

[93taurusSX]

well that's because, even if you dried out the assembly with the blow dryer, the tiny water droplets that had vaporized under the heat has no where to go to (other than the opening where you are blowing the hot air in, or the small hole that you drilled. Either way, once water is in the headlight, it's pretty much going to stay in there in one way or another.

 

[Wessy]

first of all all these HL's come apart. They have to because they are simple parts put together (hince the term HL assembly). I have condensation in mine as I type this. I have completly taken apart the HL's. I had to drill out a few plastic welds (4 to be exact) then they just fall apart. As far as using a blow dryer and all that I would just drill out the welds and and wipe the inside down w/ a towel. I not for sure if gen's 1 and 2 are the same as 3 but if you realize that these things are made of several parts then they can come apart, just a matter of finding the right order to dismantle the things.

 

[RyKnow]

Guys do you think I can just pry my disco balls apart with a flat head? I have a bit of condensation that won't go away. Also, I noticed that many clear headlights don't have that little piece of plastic covering the headlight bulb, whereas disco balls do, is there any benefit in removing the plastic piece?

 

[DaveX 3.0]

Wasn't the hold drilling thing a really lazy recall by Ford to stop the problem of condensation?

I can't remember now where I heard that, but I heard it somewhere. Don't know the accuracy of the info...

 

[5.0_CJ]

QUOTE (Mr. X @ Dec 20 2007, 01:15 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=573425

Wasn't the hold drilling thing a really lazy recall by Ford to stop the problem of condensation?

I can't remember now where I heard that, but I heard it somewhere. Don't know the accuracy of the info...[/b]

Getting water out of a headlight is easy, it just takes some day driving and a hot summer day (or days). Pull your headlight bulb out of the housing, and drop in some hacky sack sized (or appropriately sized) desiccant bags and leave it uncorked for a day or two. The bag will absorb all the moisture and get the water out. Pop your housing out, drop the bags out the headlight port, and silicone your housing seam and you're done.

 

[BigPip]

The EASIEST way is to take the assembly out, take a towel and get it wet (not sopping wet, just wet) wrap the assembley in the towel, not tight,just cover it. Turn your oven on to 200 degrees and cook your light for about 7 minutes. Take your light apart and the lens will seperate from the housing. The glue will be like stretch-string and you can use a blade to cut it as you pull it off.

Wait for it to cool then:

From here you can take different directions. You can remove all the old glue and put on some new glue and reattach. (Nissan headlamp assembly glue works best!)

I have always reattached using the old glue and the leak/moisture went away without any other problems.

To reattach, marry the lens and housing together,not tight just set the lens on the housing, put back in the oven following the steps above. After 7 minutes, squeeze them together and lock the clips and your all set!

I promise it is the easiest, and most effective way. Using a new sealant is up to you but I have never had problems reusing the factory/original sealant.

Good Luck!

 

[Dandur805]

@93TaurusSX.....They can be cleaned of water. First, remove the headlight assy. Then, using a coat hanger or bailing wire, make a hook out of one end. Clamp it around a4" x 2" or so piece of cotton cloth....(old t-shirt) and mop it up using the headlight and turn signal holes. When you can't get any more out, lay the headlight assy on the table and use your wife's hair dryer (that is what she bought it for anyway) and put it on low heat, low speed and put it against one of the holes. It will dry it out fairly quickly. Now, you need to find out HOW the water got in there. I have seen cracked edges, holes, etc...but usually, it is the sealer for the two halves that cracks or gets taken out one way or another. A little silicone sealer and a flexible finger will fill the cracks...you may have to push some into crevices..like where the snaps are for the two halves. IF the cracks that are letting the water in are in the lens, then you can try a bit of crazy glue and let it dry good. Re-polish and check it again.

 

[fastwoman]

I thought I'd tag onto this old thread. My son's headlights had the same problem, and we followed the advice here about prying one of them apart, cleaning, and gluing back together. I wouldn't recommend trying that. The disassembly was a bit rough. We didn't break anything, but we could have. We only did one light that way.

When we got the light apart, we noticed a square vent hole molded in on the turn signal/running light side, but no vent hole on the other side. (The two compartments are sealed and isolated from each other.) That side, with the vent hole, was quite dry. The other, unvented headlight side was not.

The other headlight had the factory vent hole on the turn signal side and a tiny (< 1/8") weep hole hand drilled on the other. That weep hole was too small to ventilate, so there was condensation in the headlights. The turn signal compartment was dry.

We decided to replicate the larger hole, which had apparently done its job. So we created a 1/4" dia hole in the headlight compartment of both sides. We sealed the one light we disassembled with 5200 caulk. We also put a thin bead of caulk around the other headlight's seal for good measure. Time will tell whether this approach is a good one.