swoosh

iTrader: (5)

wow, that doesnt look good at all...but as long as Bruce got some sealant in the grove, you should be fine!

pop the fog bulb and keep it off for a day or so...when its all dry inside, put it back....if you still get condensation, then you might have to reseal the headlight

Oh Sickest TL

iTrader: (3)

thats what I'm saying!! I don't think thats a normal amount of condensation to the point where it leaves water marks on the lens.. Nor does it look normal that the seal is open like that along the top. I dunno I'm not an expert but it doesn't seem normal

i think I'm just going to get them re sealed anyways. They said they can do it for me tomorrow (not something that I want to attempt especially with a fresh paint job) but this is going to be on my dime which I'm not overly thrilled about

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

well, I recently had a lot more condensation...I knew there was some moisture trapped in there, and I parked it outside for the night and it rained like a bish, my lens was ALLLLL fogged up!

not sure if you can see it in this pic but zoom in and you will be able to see

DSC_3388 by Anil Sadhwani, on Flickr


I had to take it out, reseal it and it still didnt do anything...finally took the fog bulb out and all good hahaha....PS: I modified the lights and not Bruce...funny how 1 side was PERFECT and the other had all sorts of issues!

Oh Sickest TL

iTrader: (3)

^^crazy.. so do you have to take the front bumper off to take out the fog/DRL bulb?

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

NOPE...hence I recommended to just take the fog bulb off...

if that doesnt go the trick, then you might not have an option but take the bumper off and reseal it/etc

Oh Sickest TL

iTrader: (3)

so how and where do you access the fog bulb without taking the bumper off? thru the fender liner??

to me though from looking at them today and that pic i posted the seal looks broken along the top

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

at work and looks like most of these pics are on photobucket...

here is the FAQ page:
link: https://acurazine.com/forums/third-g...ewbies-553554/

just search for FOG and you should have a DIY to changing it...takes like 4 minutes to do it

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

Your DRL bulb you can unplug very easily from the engine bay.

The turn signal bulbs you unplug through the fender liner

I wouldn't be too happy about the situation either.
Especially since we live in Canada, any service done in USA would require us to ship back and forth, and that's not cheap. Not to mention the wait times.

I hope the shop charges you fair, it might have been cheaper to mod the headlights up here than to deal with shipping and currency conversion.

Oh Sickest TL

iTrader: (3)

the shop will treat me well as I just dropped like 3500 cash there lol, he said it wont be much maybe a hour or two labour is what he will charge so maybe 100 bucks but I can't see him charging me that to be honest

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Oh Sickest TL

iTrader: (3)

is that grey tab the DRL bulb socket? do I squeeze that off and then have access to the DRL bulb<br/><br/>to the left of that theres a black cap and thats the HID

Oh Sickest TL

iTrader: (3)

or is it the light blue one?

my owners manual is in french so I have no clue what its saying in that...

So i take out the bulb and just leave it out and leave the socket just dangling around? and its ok to drive it like that?

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

That's what the sealant edges from a "pro" look like? O_o

Didn't J say using a vacuum can work well too?

Oh Sickest TL

iTrader: (3)

^^ I guess so

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Damn man that sucks. To me that looks like little sealant was added to the channel but a lot added to the outside. Thus the decreased strength and now leakage.

I barely have any sealant on the outside like that, just like stock.

I'm sure he'll set you straight though.

Oh Sickest TL

iTrader: (3)

Doesn't seem to be much of a concern for bruce , to me it does seem like they are leaking and not just "trapped air", it rained today and I drove it around for a little and they're all fucked up now with water bubbles in them

if my HIDs get fried I'm gonna be upset

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

That is not right. That means it was tight when sealed and now, after hot-cold-dry-moist, it's pulling apart. And will likely only get worse. So it doesn't even matter if that's the source now...it probably will be in the future.

Oh Sickest TL

iTrader: (3)

I agree, I'm no expert but to me that looks really bad.. Just looking at that if you were to pour water over that , some droplets would def find its way through

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

The DRL bulb is the light blue socket, the grey ones are for the HID.

You don't want to drive around with it unplugged - think about it, hot engine bay air will travel into the headlight, essentially the opposite of what you want to happen.

Unplug and don't drive
You should wait for a period like over the weekend when you don't need to drive, or unplug it on a night and plug back in when it's early morning

I like to play safe and would recommend unplugging when the engine is cold.

if you unplug it while it is hot, hot air will travel inside the headlight and although yes, eventually the hot air will escape when it gets cooler outside, but it can cause unwanted problems

Oh Sickest TL

iTrader: (3)

thanks gp, and are you sure its the blue one lol? bruce just msgd me saying its the one closest to the engine, which would be the grey one?
I'm going to try that over this weekend and if it don't work ill get em re sealed which I'm thinking i should do anyway because the split on that looks nasty

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

look into the engine bay where the blue socket is, then infront of your car where the DRL bulb is, do it a few more times, and bam, you'll realize they line up

also, the HID connectors plug horizontal from the ground whereas the DRL bulb connector plugs in vertically from the ground

Oh Sickest TL

iTrader: (3)

thats what i was doing LOL

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

btw if it rained today and you have more water inside the headlights, that is called a leak, not condensation.

this is something you should bring up with Bruce.

He gets raving support from people and he's been very helpful to me at some times, but as you know, not every customer will come out happy in a business. You should mention that it's not condensation and it's a leak from a poor sealing job. I'm interested to see what he can do to help you out.

I agree with maharajamd, looks like he smothered the outside and there's not much seal in the actual channel so when the seal outside broke, water gets in.

I know you're probably not planning to wash the car any time soon, but if you were to, you might get a puddle inside.
Water loves making its way into that part where your seal seems broken.

Oh Sickest TL

iTrader: (3)

yea Im going to avoid washing it for as long as I can as long as this issue is present. the shop did say it was safe to wash it though. As it did rain today Ill prob just give it a quick rinse but I don't want to fuck my lights up by pressure washing the car.. I told him about the present water, id be fine with him paying the cost of the shop to re seal the lights. The shop that painted my car is FIX AUTO who are actually a Canadian wide company who do some of the best work in Canada, its not like its just some hole in the wall place. He keeps saying the installed them wrong but I can't see that being the case as they literally rip apart and put together vehicles all day long for a living

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

I've heard of Fix auto.

It's possible the shop had to apply some pressure to fit the headlight in (in can be a puzzle sometimes, trying to fit in the ballast mount, through the intake box with the top mount tabs of the headlights hitting the fender), but even then it shouldn't come apart.

Oh Sickest TL

iTrader: (3)

i actually have a CAI so theres tons of room in the engine bay

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

I've seen that corner issue come from not getting the sealant hot enough and or not leaving the clamps on long enough while drying/curing.

I don't know about you guys but when I did mine the last two times I bumped the oven temp up and left them in longer than I had heard anyone doing. Just to make it extra easy to smoosh together.

Oh Sickest TL

iTrader: (3)

for now I took out the rubber piece that is around the DRL bulb as per request from Bruce, he said it should clear it up. Hope it works

Oh Sickest TL

iTrader: (3)

Just a few pics of the front end , haven't had much time at all to do a full on shoot (but I will soon...GF works with a girl who does some high end photography as a side job) once I get these things done Ill be giving her a shout

Carbon Fiber roof, the rest of the grill that wasn't painted, the valence pieces on the A spec kit (front and rear) and that silver bar that runs across the trunk face.. Front Window Tint as well.. Getting the xlr8 exhaust and j-pipe installed on friday, that thing has been sitting here for TOO LONG lol

Haven't really been able to give her a good wash yet, I just give it a rinse in the wash bay but the dirt still on there, and Im scared to scrub it as I don't want to swirl up the fresh paint. Ill prob just wait a bit longer and let a detail shop take care of it, It rained the other day and I had to drive for about 200km so its def dirty

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Oh Sickest TL

iTrader: (3)

removing the rubber piece along the outside of the DRL seems to have solved the problem:big grin:

but for some reason now my hood doesn't stay open, Looks like I need to get new shocks... Does anyone know if the hood has to come completely off for this replacement

Slpr04UA6

^the hood struts are a simple 5min replacement. I ordered mine from rockauto. Here is a diy below.


https://acurazine.com/forums/third-g...struts-862266/


TL is Lookin Clean!

Oh Sickest TL

iTrader: (3)

^ thanks man, Ill be ordering those real soon

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

Order from here


Order quantity 2.

Strongarm is supposedly better than OEM according to many.
Free shipping too

You can buy from rockauto, and those will be OEM, but you have to pay shipping and currency conversion.
I believe Strongarm is better, and cheaper (if you buy from Amazon.ca).

Win win

Now if you buy Strongarm in USA, it is much more expensive than OEM. Most americans will go for rockauto OEM since it's cheaper than Strongarm there.
Amazon.ca hooks us up big time somehow.

Oh Sickest TL

iTrader: (3)

cool, I need 2006 tho?

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

no difference

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

I need these too......

Oh Sickest TL

iTrader: (3)

looks like a lot of us do steven, our cars are coming on 8-10 yrs old now so thats a pretty life span but it really drives me crazy that I have to get someone or something to hold the hood open

UA7X

Yep, my hood struts were totally blown out when I bought my car a couple years ago. It was one of the first things I fixed!

I got lucky and found a set of used ones and two years later they're still holding strong.

Your car looks incredible btw! Very nice job, looking forward to the CF!

Oh Sickest TL

iTrader: (3)

thanks bud!