This post is mainly for those with JDM headlights. To everyone else with the stock headlights, you can take your car to your dealership and have your headlights replaced for free. For us JDM headlight owners, we either need to buy a new set, or deal with it...

For the past few months, I have stopped the headlight condensation by removing the rubber grommets behind the H1 bulbs. This allows air in regularly so no moisture is built up inside the headlight without a main way to escape. However, I always looked at this as a temporary fix since there is obviously good reason why the headlights are sealed from the factory.

I attempted to fix this problem by having my headlights sealed by a mechanic. Unfortunately, his work did not stop the condensation...at all. What he did was he applied black silicone sealant around the entire headlight, specifically the area where the lens meets the black housing. First of all, this can get very messy and will be very difficult to remove once dried. Second, it did not work. I have read cases where this works, and I have read other cases where this has not worked at all. I can tell you from first hand experience that this did not work for me. the mechanic was VERY generous with the sealant too.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to experiment with some OEM Nissan sealant. It is basically the same type of sealant that is already used in our headlight housings so I figured it was the best to use. I called up my local nissan dealerships and found that no one stocks these so you will most likely have to buy this stuff online. This is the store I bought mine from:https://www.mynismo.com/products/?id=5577. You will get one roll, and I found out that one roll certainly goes a long way. I am guessing you could seal three sets of headlights with just one roll.

In order to apply this sealant, you actually have to bake open the headlights. It really sounds worse than it actually is. Installation instructions can be found on other DIYs, specifically the Angel Eye DIY. To remove the bumper, you need to remove clips on the radiator cover, remove bolts and clips on the undercarriage, and remove screws in the wheel wells. Here are the steps that I took:

1. Remove front bumper cover/radiator cover/grill.
2. Remove 3 bolts and one screw holding the headlight in place. One bolt is on top of the headlight, one bolt is underneath, one bolt is to the side, and one screw is hidden underneath a cover next to the bolt on the top. The cover pops off so do not worry about breaking anything.
3. Remove the 4 connections to the high beam, low beam, turn signal, and parking light.
4. Remove headlight from car.
5. Unbolt metal beam attached to the bottom of the headlight.
6. Remove high beam bulb, parking light bulb+housing, turn signal bulb+housing, HID bulb + ignitor + ballast, and silica bag hanging next to the projector.
7. Preheat oven to 200 degrees, wrap towel in headlight, and put the headlight in the oven for 20 minutes.
8. Remove headlight from the oven and use a flat head screw driver to seperate the housing from the plastic lens. You will want to start prying right above the high beam area. I found it easiest to insert and push the flathead in one location until the headlight started to open. After I had this one area opened, I pulled the rest of the headlight apart with my hands. REMEMBER TO LIFT THE CLIPS AS YOU GO OR THEY WILL BREAK!
9. Take a couple inches of the nissan sealant and stretch it out until it is very thin. Place this sealant within the seam in the black housing where the old sealant is sitting. Use your judgement..if an area looks like it is lacking sealant, that is where you will want to apply more. Or you could just add a little more to the entire housing by stretching the nissan sealant very thin. Once you have applied the sealant, clean any parts of the headlight that you wish, put the plastic lens back on, and put it back in the oven for 20 minutes @ 200 degrees.
10. After 20 minutes, remove the headlight and use at least 8 2 inch spring clamps(can be found at home depot) to clamp the housing to the plastic lens.
11. Let the clamped headlight sit for 10 minutes or until headlight has cooled.
12. Put headlight back in the oven and repeat clamping.
13. Reinstall all parts back into the headlight, put headlight back onto the car, and put the front bumper cover back on the car.
14. Repeat for other headlight if necessary.

I did this yesterday and it took me about 4-5 hours to complete. A lot of time is spent waiting while the headlight is sitting in the oven.

Sorry that I did not include pics as I wanted to finish this project ASAP...but as I mentioned before, a lot of the steps are clearly laid out in a DIY to install angel eyes. The only parts I added were applying the nissan sealant. I washed my car today and was 100% condensation free. The week before, my driver side headlight was condensating very badly and my passenger side headlight was condensating a just little. Both are finally leak free now

 

I've been contacted about this a lot lately! Thanks for the info!

 

you know...

if AAC would have never have opened my lights and resealed them,
I probably would have the same problem.

I'm guessing it's fairly common with these lights from what I'm seeing too.

Your write up is killer, thanks.

 

i'm just going to probably deal with it, that sounds like too much work for me haha. my condensation isn't too bad though. it is pretty lame that it happens however.

 

I am thinking of drill some hole on top of the housing in order to allow the mositure getting out. Do you guys think it will work? BTW, I am a lucky one that dun have condensation issue on my TSX but have it badly on my brand new 335i.

 

i wouldn't drill at the top of the housing simply bc I think water would get in. if you are going to drill, i would drill in the back of the housing.

 

I've seen various headlight designs which actually have exhaust ports/tubes/holes that allow for air to escape, and those headlights end up ok. I assume that after awhile, if they're not sealed, pollution from daily driving is going to fog up your headlights over time, at which point you'd probably be springing for a new set since they'd be ugly as sin