mrdeeno

Hey, after driving to San Antonio from PA through many rainstorms, I noticed my left road lamp was foggy. I took the lamp out and noticed that the rubber elbow was missing, so that may have caused it to start fogging, so I took it in and cleaned it out and put it back.

no problem until now, when it rained again. Both housings were foggy towards the wider part, so i took them both in and cleaned them again and left them in my a/c'ed room to get rid of any humidity. The right one still had the rubber elbow on it.

My question is would the warranty cover this even though i have deformation on the inside towards the top from using piaa bulbs?

acura_service: did you check the prices for a set of road lamps for me?

Shawn S

Sounds like you answered your own question…NO ???

Shawn S (Now a fellow FLS employee with you)

acura_service

it may be a dealer discression, black and white probably not, but some dealers will bend over backwards for csi - tell them you hope to get a survey out of it, and as long as its taken care of, make sure you give them a 100%

i didn't get a chance to look up a price on the roadlamps, i'll do it monday at work

wayneg

Mrdeeno- if the housings are deformed due to the heat from the PIAAs, you may have a problem with warranty- it would depend on how the Dealer saw it. You really cant say it a manufacturers defect, because of the aftermarket bulbs creating more heat than the unit was designed for.

Scooter

first off, the housing is $50 without bulb.

secondly, Wayne, how can u say it's NOT a manufacturer's defect for certain??? have u done long-term effects the stock bulbs have on the housing?? i mean heat is heat...doesn't matter if the bulb is 5 watts or 18 watts...granted the aftermarket bulbs speed up the process, but won't the stocks do the same?? the way the housings were made, there's really nowhere the heat can go, no?? if u're gonna say that's what the rubber elbow in the back is for, last time i checked hot air rises and cold air descends, so what good is the elbow?? im very confused here as u can see.

wayneg

Scooter- I said it would depend on how it looked to the dealer. Each may see it in a different way. I would have to look at it to tell. If the evidence was inconclusive, then we would do what was necessary- we always try to help in any way- but remember- the parts are sent back to Acura and they inspect every one- so we kind of have to be sure about our decision

mrdeeno

i think the rubber elbow lets condensation out and keeps it from getting in (there's a piece of plastic from the housing that sheilds the opening).

without that rubber peice, the shields can't shield the openeing and water can get in when it splashes up from the bottom. i think that is why i got the condensation, because the splashes get enough water to that hole that some of it leaks into the housing.

any price on the little rubber elbow? i wonder if i can find one at home depot or something that i can use, maybe just a 90 degree elbow made of rubber or something.

bottom line...I'M PISSED THAT IT'S RAINING THIS MUCH IN SOUTH TEXAS!

Scooter

seems all the more reason to reverse the elbows facing up...heat will escape, and water has less of a chance to causing condensation

mrdeeno

but with the elbows facing up, water can drip down into them. when they're facing down, there is a plastic shield right at the opening that keeps water from going up there, and it's also more difficult for water to go up into it.

condensation will escape nonetheless, it's just the moisture/water getting into it in the first place that's the problem.

Scooter

i agree with your viewpoint...i also think mine makes sense...it seems that that elbow's only purpose is to keep out condensation...ill compare both ways with my thinking...

1. elbow faces downward: keeps out condensation with a plastic shield inside in case water splashes up into little hole...won't let heat escape

2. elbow faces upward: keeps condensation out with plastic shield inside in case water splashes up ABOVE elbow THEN comes back down inside little hole...allows heat to escape

i firmly believe this is a design flaw, and i'd b willing to test out my theory by purchasing 2 brand new road lamp housings and use my 19224's for a period of 6 months, where one housing has a down-shaped elbow, and the other has an upward-shaped elbow...all i need to know is how to take off the elbow and reverse it so that it stays on like the original elbow.

gto2050

So, point the elbow to the side and problem solved!

Shawn S

Sounds like you need a bypass valve for your wiring.

Shawn S

mrdeeno

are we all talking about the right elbow?

there's 2 holes in the housing, one for the lightbulb to go into and one for moisture/condensation to escape. it's a a little bigger than a pinhole to the upper-outside of the lightbulb hole. that hole goes through the back wall, then there's a nipple on the outside, and on the nipple is the rubber elbow. that elbow has plastic "shields" on the bottom and i think also on the outter side (on the housing). but the shields are on the outside of it, so with the rubber elbow on, it will point down into the bottom shield. the hole won't let sufficient heat escape anyway, because the opening isn't on the top of the the housing, it's on the back wall. but i don't think that's the purpose of it at all. i don't think the housings were ever intended to take more than 5w bulbs.

those sheilds help prevent some water, but they don't rpevent all water from getting to the opening, especially splashes. the down-facing hole of the elbow is what prevents water from going up into the housing.

if it's facing up, even if there's shielding on top (which there isn't), splashes will still put some water on it and because the opening is up, the water will tend to flow down into the rubber tubbing and into the housing.

now i'm missing the rubber thing, so i have the opening of the nipple (facing rear of car), but if a drop of water is on the tip of the nipple, it'll still flow into the housing and that's why i think i'm getting condensation. i will go to home depot or something and see if i can find a an elbow tubing piece for this.

acura_service

anytime mfg reccomendations are exceeded and a part is damaged it will be non warranty - period, however it may be goodwilled per dealer or acura discression

tube - p/n 33305-sm4-a01 $1.88
light unit right - p/n 33901-s3m-a01 $45.72
light unit left - p/n 33951-s3m-a01 $ 45.72
socket - p/n 34303-ss1-003 $6.13
bulb p/n 34306-sh3-003 $ .48
nut (4mm) p/n 90302-sa4-003 $2.58
screw (4x16) p/n 90333-sm3-003 $1.55

here are the part numbers and prices