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Condensation in my headlight, need to reseal

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Old Jun 30, 2008 | 05:43 PM
  #1  
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Default Condensation in my headlight, need to reseal

Hey guys,
I got some bad condensation in my passenger side headlight. It rained here pretty hard and now I have good size droplets inside the housing. The driver's side is starting to get a fine mist inside it now too. Looks like I have to reseal them both.

I am aware of the procedure to bake them in the oven. Will just the baking soften up the sealant and get it tight again or do I have to pull it apart and add some sealant to it?

If I do need to add sealant, where can I get it?

I know there's a TSB on this issue and I have considered bringing it in and trying to get it fixed. I do have an HID kit so I am not sure how well will that go over. Technically, it has nothing to do with the kit but I know how the Nissan dealers are. A brown dog farting in Cleveland voids my engine warranty in MA with Nissan. Any thoughts on my chances with that?

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.
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Old Jun 30, 2008 | 05:51 PM
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I would recommend baking it per the directions on the DIY, cleaning up all the old sealant, then reseal them nice and tight. I can't remember what kind of sealant they said you should use though, it may be in the DIY or else somebody else on here can pipe up.
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Old Jul 2, 2008 | 01:35 AM
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I don't know if this will help...but when I had my altima, I had a problem with condensation as well. Before I re-baked and re-sealed them, I decided to try somethin out. All I did was wet my headlights on the outside, and cover the headlight with foil. Treat the foil like tint, and make sure there aren't any bubbles in the foil when it's stuck on the headlight. The foil will naturally stick to the headlight as there is water on it. Turn on your headlights and highbeams, and leave it for 10 minutes or so. For some reason, this worked wonders for me. I guess the aftermarket HID's were really hot, and the light source rebounded off the foil, and heated the entire lamp and got rid of the condensation. It never came back FYI. Hope this helps
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Old Jul 2, 2008 | 01:36 AM
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Do you guys put the silicone on the outside of the housing at the seam? It seems that way from the DIY. I just want to confirm before I dive in. Thanks.
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Old Jul 2, 2008 | 01:40 AM
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Originally Posted by Allen331
I don't know if this will help...but when I had my altima, I had a problem with condensation as well. Before I re-baked and re-sealed them, I decided to try somethin out. All I did was wet my headlights on the outside, and cover the headlight with foil. Treat the foil like tint, and make sure there aren't any bubbles in the foil when it's stuck on the headlight. The foil will naturally stick to the headlight as there is water on it. Turn on your headlights and highbeams, and leave it for 10 minutes or so. For some reason, this worked wonders for me. I guess the aftermarket HID's were really hot, and the light source rebounded off the foil, and heated the entire lamp and got rid of the condensation. It never came back FYI. Hope this helps
That is a really good idea Thanks for that. So, when the headlight got hot, you didn't get the moisture to condense back after it cooled off? That is interesting. I tried to get it out once by popping the small parking light bulb out and using the hair dryer to heat it up and get the water out. It worked but once the headlight cooled off, some water condensed back in the headlight. I did it again and got it to stay clear but it rained again another day and the problem is back. It seems that I have to reseal it. It sucks because I have to take the bumper off to do it and it's a huge time sink but I don't have any other choice at this point.
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Old Jul 2, 2008 | 03:18 AM
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Originally Posted by Allen331
I don't know if this will help...but when I had my altima, I had a problem with condensation as well. Before I re-baked and re-sealed them, I decided to try somethin out. All I did was wet my headlights on the outside, and cover the headlight with foil. Treat the foil like tint, and make sure there aren't any bubbles in the foil when it's stuck on the headlight. The foil will naturally stick to the headlight as there is water on it. Turn on your headlights and highbeams, and leave it for 10 minutes or so. For some reason, this worked wonders for me. I guess the aftermarket HID's were really hot, and the light source rebounded off the foil, and heated the entire lamp and got rid of the condensation. It never came back FYI. Hope this helps

That is a great idea!
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