I've been seeing a lot of moisture and condensation in both the dome where the headlights and parking lights and also in the tail lights as well. I asked the dealership about this and they said it's designed that way and the moisture will dissipate once the lights are on. I'm sorry but I have to call BS on this one.

Anyone else out there experiencing the same problem or know how to fix it?

 

Its not BS, its reality.

If you live in an area with lots of humidity, you WILL have moisture in your lamps. Hence the reason why ALL properly designed lamps have air vents.

- Mike / ClearCorners.Com

 

Air vents for a light housing? I don't think water is supposed to be in a place like that, hence the need for good seals...

 

seals yes, but they are not sealed. you will find holes in them in the back. and the light sockets are hardly air tight.

if the car is new its normal for it to disipate some moisture for a few weeks. eventually it will more or less go away.

 

not if it's tightly sealed, only if it's leaking... somewhere

 

Common, especially on cars shipped across the ocean. No holes for ventilation would allow dangerous pressure to build up, and the light injection molded housing would explode on a really hot day or collapse under the weight of the atmosphere on a cold freezing day. It is just a condition of expansion on the air inside the housing from the lamp being on, turning it off on a humid or rainy day. When it cools it draws in cool moist air and if it warms up a bit it will condense on the lens. Kinda like your Corona bottle sweating on a hot day. Can't avoid it.

 

i say give it 2 weeks to a month. if its still there, i suggest you go back to the dealer.

i got a new headlight under warranty. there was moisture in it for about a week and a half, its since been a few months now, and it looks fine....... no moisture.

 

I've had my Z for almost a year now and I'm still seeing the same thing. However I do live here in the Seattle area which does rain a lot. If is by design then no big deal. My big concern is the moisture shorting out one of the lights.

 

sorry guys, never heard of lights exploding.. thats not what the ventillation plugs are for -- the light isnt sealed tight enough to actually pressurize.

there is a HUGE difference between condensation and WATER LEAKAGE. If you have water leaking into the housing and building up (filling up) then you have a defective seal. If you simply have some fogging of the inside of the lamp then that is normal condensation (depending on your climate).

the ventillation holes are there to evaporate the moisture in the air that condensates onto the inside of the plastic housing - its as simple as that.

- Mike / ClearCorners.Com

 

The statement was made that the lamp housings are sealed. Yes to a point, to protect against dust and debris from entering. But there is no 'seal' as in a tight 'waterproof' seal. IF there was such a seal, there would be no exchange of air at all and pressures would rise and drop according to temperatures. IF that were the case an explosion or popping out of some portion of the housing MAY occur. My point is that the housings are too thin and flimsy to withstand hardly any pressurizing. Hence the vent holes which may or may not be visible. What really sucks is that it may dry on the inside of the lens, and leave spots. Saw a pair like that at Jeff@performance's meet last Sunday. It was ugly.

 

Happens to my Spec when I've been driving and then say..wash my car or when its raining. The heat of the light + the coolness of the water cause water vapor to build...goes away though..

 

Happens to my Spec sometimes.

If I am driving for a while with the lights on and it starts to rain or I wash my car, the heat of the light + the coolness of the water makes some water vapor something like that.

 

Sorry to bring this topic up.. But is it the design of the head lights which causes the fogging?

 

Sorry to bring this topic up.. But is it the design of the head lights which causes the fogging?

Its just the nature of ALL lights.

Lights are enclosed assemblies. Air has moisture in it. In assemblies that use prismatic lenses (older headlamps, or the tail lights for instance).. the condensation is not clearly or easily visible. HOWEVER, when you get a full clear headlamp assembly that has NO pattern to it, its glass.. anything you see is in clear and plain vision.

All lamps have vent holes to aid in evaporating moisture from the assembly. Again, its just the nature of the design. Lets all remember though, there is a huge difference between condensation and leakage. If you see large droplets and water pools, thats most likely leakage and the headlamp needs repair/replacement.

Regards,
Mike / ClearCorners.Com

 

oh ok....
this is my first car which has fogging in it...So its normal... for fogging....

 

Fogging happens in IS300's too, on an extremely rainy and humid day.