Condensation in headlight housing

[ERIC]

Two years ago I installed new headlight housings in my 96 as the originals had badly fogged.

A couple of months ago I noticed the housings were showing a lot of condensate on the inside of the lenses. (This is a street vehicle only these days....no offroading.)

I pulled the grill and turn signals this a.m., and noticed both headlight housings have a small plugged hole on the bottom. (Headlights are still in place...did not remove.) Is this a weep hole...and should it be open? I pulled the plugs on both in hopes of the insides of the housings drying out, but frankly I can't imagine these holes should be left open.

I cannot find any obvious cracks or openings that would be allowing moisture to build up inside the housings.

Anyone have an opinion on:

1) Should I leave the "weep hole" plugs out?

2) Why am I getting moisture inside the housings to begin with?

Eric in NC

 

[aldive]

When this happened to my diamond clear headlight lenses, I drilled a hole in the top and ran a small rubber hose from the hole to under the hood. The hose was siliconed in place. This solved my problem and has performed flawlessly for a long time.

Good luck .....

 

[ERIC]

Thanks, Al.

I have now decided the seal between the lens and housing has deteriorated (these were aftermarket replacements.) So I used marine grade silicone sealant to seal the join. That plus swabbing out the moisture inside the housing will hopefully cure it. I think I better put the weep hole plugs back in. If all this fails, I do think I'll silicone on a tube up top as you did. I'd thought about doing something like that, but wasn't sure it was a good idea. Nice to know someone already had success with it.

Eric in NC

 

[jp450]

I would keep the plugs out for a little while and run the lights to heat up any moisture in the lense. The weep hole will allow that moisture to escape. Then replace the plug.

 

[ERIC]

Thanks JP for the suggestion...but I've got it all buttoned back up now. And it looks like I took care of the problem. But if there is any remaining fogging, I'll try pulling the bulb assembly and letting it sit in full sun for a while.

Sure hope I don't have to dissassemble the whole grill again! :fire: