Headlight Condensation

[flydog]

Hey everyone! Just bought my first Lexus yesterday! A 2004 RX330. When I bought it, there was some condensation in the driver's side headlight assembly.

I followed some advice and was able to dry out the assembly by removing the lamps and using a blow dryer on low setting. The dealership said that if I brought them a new assembly, they would change it out for free. All the aftermarket OEM compatable distributors say that their lamp assemblies are for cars manufactured in the U.S. My RX was manufactured in Japan. Is there any real difference of the part where the car was made?

Any suggestions/recommendations/links?

Steve

[cduluk]

Personally I woul never install an aftermarket headlight as the quality will be even worse than the original.

It's a very common problem to get condensation in the 04-06 Rx headlights. It didn't happen to "all" of them, just a few that weren't totally sealed properly. Its not really a "design" fault but a manufacturing problem.

Do your headlights have HID projectors? Halogen projectors? Or halogen reflectors? Once you find out, look for a headlight of the same type pulled from an 07-09 rx350/400h as the headlights for these model years are 100% identical to yours in terms of shape, but had the condensation issue fixed for the most part.

All japanese/canada types will fit. They only differ in the designs of the "vents" that are located on the back of the hadlight. However there's no difference in terms of which has less condensation.

You'll be able to find a replacement OEM headlight from an 07-09 from ebay. Just make sure the seller indicates which year and model it came from. Avoid someone saying its from the full range of 04-09 as clearly they don't know the difference. If it indicates it came from an 07-09 you're most likely in the clear.

And blowdrying the moisture out won't do a darn thing. Next time it rains you'll get moisture again. It has to do with the seals... it can't be fixed correctly, believe me I've tried before.

[jaswood]

In the general case the on/off heat cycling of the headlight internal atmosphere will tend to "pump" mositure out of the headlight. I would drive it a couple of weeks to see if that effect works.

[cduluk]

In the general case the on/off heat cycling of the headlight internal atmosphere will tend to "pump" mositure out of the headlight. I would drive it a couple of weeks to see if that effect works.

That's the idea, but it's not the case with these "faulty" headlights. The seals along the perimeter begin to open up, allowing moisture to enter. Then, the seals close when the car's in the sun, trapping the moisture inside.

The ONLY way to fix the issue is to replace the entire headlight. I've spent hours upon hours with Lexus headlights during retrofits and such- and believe me, they cannot be fixed. And don't bother trying to re-seal the headlights yourself as you won't have any luck...

[Rogerm]

I have had good luck using 3M 1 inch wide Scotch Tape. Two layers over the top of the two halves of the headlight.

It last about 2 years .... but it works and is easy to do.

I had tried silicone caulk... did not work.

[VBdenny]

No need to replace the lns in most instances. Remove the lense, dump out any water then dump rubbing alcohol (don't waste the good stuff) into the lens and swish it around. Dry it out with a hot air gun. Apply a little Vaseline around the seal and reinstall of course b really careful not to touch or get Vaseline on the bulb itself. Did this on my LS and other cars. Free, only time.

[Rogerm]

Do you have a picture that shows the two parts and the seal between them?

[VBdenny]

No, sorry if it was me that was misunderstood. Do not ever try to remove the lens from the body. Dump the alcohol into the opening were the bulb inserts. Slosh it around, dump it put, blow a hair dryer in there and make sure the bulb fixture is sealed properly. Most I have seen with condensation was cause by the bulb connector loose. That is not caused by road vibration rather by someone who couldn't get it to insert properly and give up. Some of them have caused me to drink in the past.