Moisture in Headlamps

Post a picture if you can? There may be a mininum number of posts requirement before you can do this, say 10 (a guess)?

My first thought: remove the headlight bulbs (no trivial task, access is a pain) and gently dry out the headlight shells with a hair dryer or heat gun. Use greater care with the latter, just take your time. Eventual

Then you'd need to determine where the water got in to begin with, perhaps a poorly sealed seam?

 

My 2012 Prius is just starting to do this also. I think it comes with age since my old Chevy Venture and other old cars I've had to this. Moisture works it way in and not enough fresh air can get in for it to evaporate. Somebody once told me, and I tried it with my Chevy Venture and it worked, to drill a small hole in the bottom of the lens with the smallest drill bit you can find to allow a little air in to evaporate the trapped moisture. But I'm not ready to try it yet with my Prius LOL.

 

My 2010 IV that I bought used came like that. To dry it out, all it took was removing the parking light bulbs temporarily (the ones on top are easiest to remove), to provide a hole for venting, then going for a short drive (10 mile round trip that I was doing anyway) with the headlights on as the heat source in dry weather. The headlights were completely dry afterwards. I then reinstalled the parking lights and was done.

I actually bought the headlight sealing material, watched youtube videos and read threads in the modifications sub-forum here on how to separate headlamp in oven, etc. But two years later, the headlamps are still completely dry, so I haven't had to do the that repair.

 

Nice solution .

I know @priusSF1329 ead looking for one.

Thanks for sharing.

 

That's for sure not UV damage on the outside? I'm pretty sure you're on the right track, but just have to ask.

 

It does look like UV damage .

I’d buy the $10 Wipe New kit off of Amazon and give it a shot.



It still looks good a year later on our 2010 .

I left a strip on the passenger side for comparison.

At least that’s what I justify it as anyway.

 

Could be UV haze, or condensation. If there's nary a bead of water, more likely exterior UV haze. Run a hand over it and does it feel smooth or rough?

 

This always sets me off. In the old days you had a glass sealed-beam, that was replaced each time the bulb burned out. It was compact, functional, and about $20. Now you have permanent bulb housing "sculptures", some designer's wet-dream, made outa plastic, with costs approaching a grand apiece (over a grand with 4th gen?), which succumb to UV damage in as short an interval as 4~5 years, if regularly parked outside.

 

Wipe New and is $10.99 on Amazon.

Just follow the instructions on the box and you’ll be good.

Good luck and let us know how it works out .

 

I fixed that water condensation inside the lens problem but I never did go back and do a more permanent fix.

As an experiment I wrapped black electrical tape all the way around the light lens where the clear plastic meets the black plastic.
Make sure you tape the tight corner that switches back in the seam or the inside tight turn near the upper hood.

Well since it fixed the problem I never wanted to take it appart to do a complete seal repair. It's been holding for 5 years now.

It worked perfectly for me. I wrapped the tape and did a little overlap where I think it might be exposed to more rain.

Yea it's cheap but if it works don't mess with it.
my2cents.

 

Thanks for the tip, I'll have to try that.

 

Looks great.

I used the turtle wax kit first but it only lasted about 6 months.

The wipe new still looks great a year later.

 

No wipe kit will fix UV damage

 

Have same issue on wife’s car. Ordered the Wipe New.
But, take a look at pic, looks to me like I have a seal issue. You can see where the seal is pushing up and where there looks to be no seal left at all.

what do guys think, do I need to get new seals, can new seals be purchased?

I see there are also polishing kits for headlights (basically what I would call buffing kits), thoughts on those?