Fixing Headlight *not clouded*
05-19-2009, 11:19 AM
#1
2010 Blue Ball Award Recipient
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Eskimo Village, Indiana *No Igloo*
Posts: 7,907
Fixing Headlight *not clouded*
Friend of mines passenger side headlight is all watered up on the inside.
It's not the usual clouding over that happens on our headlights *I would know, mine are HORRIBLE* but you can see the water beaded up and the condensation all formed on the inside.
Is there a way to take the headlight assembly apart, dry it out, and reseal it so that the moisture will stay out?
And if not, is this the replacement headlight for a '03 GT *his is black, and appears to have the darker headlights*
http://www.americanmuscle.com/headlight-9904-rh.html
It's not the usual clouding over that happens on our headlights *I would know, mine are HORRIBLE* but you can see the water beaded up and the condensation all formed on the inside.
Is there a way to take the headlight assembly apart, dry it out, and reseal it so that the moisture will stay out?
And if not, is this the replacement headlight for a '03 GT *his is black, and appears to have the darker headlights*
http://www.americanmuscle.com/headlight-9904-rh.html
05-19-2009, 11:42 AM
#2
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: GA
Posts: 615
One of my foglights did the same thing. i was gonna do the whole drying out/sealing thing until someone suggested drilling a few small holes on the bottom of the light housing to let water out and air in. I did this over the weekend and it worked...so far anyhow.
05-19-2009, 12:36 PM
#4
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: GA
Posts: 964
take headlight off car, remave bulbs, turn 0ven on 350, put a damp piece of cardboard on a cookie sheet, put headlight on it, put in oven for 1 min at a time time dry, then reseal the edges where the lit comes together. let dry over night and put back on car. done no more leak
05-19-2009, 01:04 PM
#5
2010 Blue Ball Award Recipient
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Eskimo Village, Indiana *No Igloo*
Posts: 7,907
take headlight off car, remave bulbs, turn 0ven on 350, put a damp piece of cardboard on a cookie sheet, put headlight on it, put in oven for 1 min at a time time dry, then reseal the edges where the lit comes together. let dry over night and put back on car. done no more leak
ovens and head lights seem like a no-match sort of thing.. lol
where at exactly would you be talking about re-sealing it at? at the tops and bottoms where the edges meet the plastic?
05-19-2009, 02:19 PM
#7
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: GA
Posts: 964
where at exactly would you be talking about re-sealing it at? at the tops and bottoms where the edges meet the plastic?[/QUOTE]
yes at the top and bottom where the clear lens meets the body. and i might have the temp wrong if you go to american muscles web site and go to head light fix the have better instructions there
yes at the top and bottom where the clear lens meets the body. and i might have the temp wrong if you go to american muscles web site and go to head light fix the have better instructions there
05-19-2009, 02:21 PM
#8
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: same as you.
Posts: 3,287
We did it for my Friends STI... Threw it in the Oven, took it apart and Painted (Inside his headlights are plastic so you can Paint Black) and resealed it... looks Great!!
For the Lazy...... Copied From American Muscle.
"Instructions on how to de-fog your headlights:
1. Remove ALL of the bulbs and wiring from the headlights. Not doing so will cause severe damage to your headlight housings, forcing you to purchase yet another set of headlights.
2. Heat your oven to 250 degrees and sit a piece of WET cardboard on top of a plate. *Note - placing the headlights in the oven are to speed up the evaporation of the water. If you are not comfortable with this step you can place the headlights in direct sunlight, but it will take longer for the water to evaporate.
3. At 250 degrees place the headlight on top of the cardboard for 3 min (Note: It is NOT necessary to pre-heat the oven for this process).
4. Remove the headlight from the oven (careful, it will probably be quite hot) it and push your Mustang headlight back together as much as your can. Our headlights are sealed front to back, so push as hard as you can on the front and back housing to create a better seal. Try your best not to have any openings between the housings.
5. Once pressed firmly together, take some silicone RTV sealant, which is available at any hardware store, and spread it along the line where the housings come together. This step will cover any open holes leftover from any silicone not drying in place completely.
6. Let the freshly applied silicone dry before re-installing the headlights into your Mustang.
What this process does is melts the silicone glue that has come from the factory that was used to seal the housings. Sometimes that glue has open spaces left over after being sealed at the factory. As the silicone glue dries, it re-hardens and is pressed tighter between the two headlight housings, creating a stronger bond. The step of adding more silicone glue is necessary to cover any other possible gaps in the headlight housing so that another leak does not develop.
7. You should also want to check the seals around the Mustang headlight bulbs as well to make sure there is no extra air leaking into the headlights from the bulb housings."
For the Lazy...... Copied From American Muscle.
"Instructions on how to de-fog your headlights:
1. Remove ALL of the bulbs and wiring from the headlights. Not doing so will cause severe damage to your headlight housings, forcing you to purchase yet another set of headlights.
2. Heat your oven to 250 degrees and sit a piece of WET cardboard on top of a plate. *Note - placing the headlights in the oven are to speed up the evaporation of the water. If you are not comfortable with this step you can place the headlights in direct sunlight, but it will take longer for the water to evaporate.
3. At 250 degrees place the headlight on top of the cardboard for 3 min (Note: It is NOT necessary to pre-heat the oven for this process).
4. Remove the headlight from the oven (careful, it will probably be quite hot) it and push your Mustang headlight back together as much as your can. Our headlights are sealed front to back, so push as hard as you can on the front and back housing to create a better seal. Try your best not to have any openings between the housings.
5. Once pressed firmly together, take some silicone RTV sealant, which is available at any hardware store, and spread it along the line where the housings come together. This step will cover any open holes leftover from any silicone not drying in place completely.
6. Let the freshly applied silicone dry before re-installing the headlights into your Mustang.
What this process does is melts the silicone glue that has come from the factory that was used to seal the housings. Sometimes that glue has open spaces left over after being sealed at the factory. As the silicone glue dries, it re-hardens and is pressed tighter between the two headlight housings, creating a stronger bond. The step of adding more silicone glue is necessary to cover any other possible gaps in the headlight housing so that another leak does not develop.
7. You should also want to check the seals around the Mustang headlight bulbs as well to make sure there is no extra air leaking into the headlights from the bulb housings."
Last edited by Ryan86272; 05-19-2009 at 02:38 PM.
05-19-2009, 02:25 PM
#9
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: GA
Posts: 615
remove the headlight, get a 1/16" drill bit. drill a few holes (i put 3) on the bottom of the light housing. I had blown 2 bulbs in my foglight so there was lots of glass and trash in the housing so I used a water hose and washed out the inside of the housing(MAKE SURE YOU REMOVE THE BULB FIRST) then i took a air compressor and blew out the majority of the water. Next let the housing sit in the sun for a while to dry out the remaining water. Once dry put it back together and install it back.
05-19-2009, 02:42 PM
#10
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: same as you.
Posts: 3,287
yes, the guy that told me about it did it on his headlight. It works, trust me. here is what you do:
remove the headlight, get a 1/16" drill bit. drill a few holes (i put 3) on the bottom of the light housing. I had blown 2 bulbs in my foglight so there was lots of glass and trash in the housing so I used a water hose and washed out the inside of the housing(MAKE SURE YOU REMOVE THE BULB FIRST) then i took a air compressor and blew out the majority of the water. Next let the housing sit in the sun for a while to dry out the remaining water. Once dry put it back together and install it back.
remove the headlight, get a 1/16" drill bit. drill a few holes (i put 3) on the bottom of the light housing. I had blown 2 bulbs in my foglight so there was lots of glass and trash in the housing so I used a water hose and washed out the inside of the housing(MAKE SURE YOU REMOVE THE BULB FIRST) then i took a air compressor and blew out the majority of the water. Next let the housing sit in the sun for a while to dry out the remaining water. Once dry put it back together and install it back.