Headlight filling up with water

[Nightwatch1]

I have a 2003 montana (bought yesterday) with 32,000 miles.
I noticed this morning that the drivers side headlight enclosure seems to have heavy condensation on the inside of the glass and there is about 1/2 inch of water sitting in the bottom of the enclosure. Lights work fine.

Any ideas?

Nightwatch

[1999montana]

Yep, a common problem with these vans.

Already tried to re-seal the housing, no luck. So, I drilled a small 1/8" hole in the bottom of the housing immediately below the halogen bulb (on the flat bottom of what would normally be the sealed beam).

You'll have to remove the headlight assembly from the rad cradle. There are two wing nuts and one 'wing' bolt on the side that holds the parking light assembly to the headlight assembly. The parking light assembly slides straight out (there are two positioning 'pegs' on the back of the parking light assembly that 'plug' into two holes in the fender). Let the P/L assembly hang to one side while you remove the headlight housing by lifting straight up (there are two positioning 'pegs' on the bottom of the headlight assembly).

Disconnect the 'nut' and bulb assembly from the back of the headlight housing and remove the bulb assembly from the housing. Remove the headlight assembly from the vehicle.

Dump out as much of the water as you can. I put the entire headlight housing, - lens down in the oven at 180 degress fahrenheit for about a half hour to remove the remaining moisture.

Before re-installation, drill a small 1/8" hole in the bottom as described, but try to do this really slowly so as not to break through too quickly into the reflector. There may be the odd piece of plastic loose in the housing after you break through. You can try and coax these out with a shop vac, but don't sweat it if they don't come out. Then re-install the two housings in reverse order.

The water gets into the sealed unit around its perimeter, usually the result of closing the hood on cold winter days when ice has formed on the housing or in the vacinity of the leading edge of the hood. It cracks the clear lens part or causes a separation between the reflector and the lens.

Might as well do both headlights, the parking light assemblies won't be far behind either. Also happens to the rear brake light assemblies.
.

[GregA]

If pictures help, here you go:

Removing Turn Signal Assembly

Take Care,

[Nightwatch1]

ok. So basically im drilling this hole to serve as a drain. Will this prevent the condensation buildup on the inside of the lens or does it just serve to prohibit the standing water? The condensation is what looks bad. Very noticable.

I could just let the lense fill and add goldfish.


Thanks for the replys

Nightwatch

[1999montana]

Thanks Greg for the pics.

The hole doesn't actually act as a drain; - it really only allows air to circulate inside and remove any seepage that might make its way into the 'sealed' unit.

BTW, the reason I chose a 1/8" hole was to prevent critters like spiders from making the inside of the unit a home.

Trivia knowledge; - most Japanese and European cars already have a sophisticated vent system attached to the headlight housing, using a rubber tube with a plummer's elbow trap built into the tube!
.

[SonofSparks]

I had the same problem, I ended up buying new headlight assemblies off Ebay. You are not going to believe this but this is a true story - The water that would build up in my left headlight caused a few bulbs to shatter. I would empty them out every once in awhile. Until one day the car would not start - (there was about 1/2" of water in the headlight) I went to jump it - and found the positive terminal blown off the battery and acid leaking out. I never put 2 and 2 together until I replaced the battery- tested the charging system and two weeks later - same thing. I emptied out the water, bought new headlight assemblies and a year later no water and still no battery explosions.
I would not let it go - maybe try the drilling method.