Fog Lamp condensation

[wheelz22]

Hi everyone,

On my '07 XLT the left side fog lamp has just started to collect condensation behind the clear lens. The vehicle has never been in an accident nor has anything ever struck the lens. Is outside air supposed to circulate within the housing ? Or is it supposed to be air tight when the bulb is installed ? Maybe a vent for outside air is clogged ? The bulb is actually original too. Maybe I can seal it with clear silicone where the lens meets the housing ? Anyone run into this ? I'd like to avoid replacing the assembly because as we know, the new assembly will look out of place (too new and shiny) compared to the original headlamps and the other fog lamp. Not that the other lamps are a total disaster, but they will always have normal wear from sand-blasting, road salt, etc.

 

[tripplec]

A lot of rain and/or humidity may have contributed to it. The fixtures all have a vent of some sort. Hence not air tight!

 

[MotorCityFats13]

we just had 3 days of almost nonstop rain and my passenger side light does this whenever it rains like this in the spring.... its the wheel that pounds all the roadside pothole puddles here in michigan.... it goes away in a few days unlike my passenger taillight that has water in it all year long.... ive tried sealing it after putting it in the oven multiple times ..... ive done given up until I get lucky to find a 06-10 at a junkyard..... but that does not happen here..... the lowers are not as easy to remove as a tail or headlight .....i hope you post a cool solution

 

[granadojl]

For my fog lights, I removed them using a 13mm deep socket and found there were cracks on top of both assemblies. As a quick repair, I sanded down the cracks and used plastic epoxy to fill in the cracks. I then seen that the sealant for the clear lens was dry and allowing water to leak through. I used a heat gun on the outer edge to soften up the existing adhesive and peeled the lens off. I thoroughly cleaned off the old adhesive and used clear Silicone RTV and carefully squeezed it into the housing groove and put the lens back on. It worked extremely well for a few years. I later found a set of fog lights at a junk yard that looked brand new for 20 bucks, so I replaced mine, but the sealant job I performed held up well.

 

[wheelz22]

Thanks, just did some research and figured out what I'm going to do to repair the lamp rather than replace it.

I pulled the lamp assembly out (by sliding a 13mm box wrench (a 1/2 inch box wrench works too) over the three locating retainers in order to depress the retaining tabs inward on each of them and then tapped them forward gently with a small hammer...one at a time, and a little bit at a time, until all three were released and the assembly came right out). It had about an ounce or two of water trapped in it.

I did this after undoing the elec connector and removing the bulb of course. Then I took it inside the house and filled it half way with water in the sink and discovered there are two pretty big drips (leaks) coming from two different spots where the clear plastic lens is factory-bonded to the black plastic housing. (I guess the factory adhesive/sealant dries up eventually and allows a breach of water and as such is the root cause of the problem). So I scrubbed with a bristle brush the entire outside of the assembly and am letting it dry out inside and out for as long as it takes on the table. Then I plan to run a bead of clear silicone neatly around the entire perimeter of the lens where it is bonded to the black plastic housing to reseal that. Additionally, I plan to do a little extra ventilation of the unit by drilling a couple of small holes. I figure I'll drill one in each corner at the bottom (for drainage should some water get inside of it in the future....and one in the rear (near the top) so that any condensation that may occur has a place for the vapor to escape with or without the lamps turned on and prevent condensation. On another thread I read where someone had drilled the holes and solved the problem.