Feeelax

After my 7 hour drive up to buffalo NY. resulted in a shitload of bugs/flies on my car. I saw this $5 car wash that was near my apartment so I went to check it out. After it was done I noticed some water got into my headlights. After a week or so it evaporated. It rained a few times but nothing got in but I decided to wash it myself a few days ago and water got in again.. I've always washed the car myself and never went to a car wash so I'm guessing the car wash messed something up.
My friends and I checked the headlights yesterday and took em out and noticed that the seal around the housing is all fucked up. If I dry/baked the housing the water will probably go away but it will eventually get in again. Anyone have any suggestions? Except buying new ones.
Any sealing material available?

I'll upload pictures of the housing later

richardparker

iTrader: (7)

Sounds like it's time to redo them.
Drying them out is not going to fix the problem.

finalcross

iTrader: (3)

I was in the same situation and I messed up twice. Water was getting into my headlights so I had them sealed with black silicone (but you might wanna use clear since your car is white) when there was no more water inside. PUT A LOT OF SILICONE AROUND THE WHOLE THING. Then if I were you I would wait at least a week to be completely safe that the silicone dries since you put A LOT.

I waited a little more than a day and then washed the car. Then water got in again and I was like dammit, it wasn't sealed properly. But then after a week, the water was still in there even when it didn't rain. So I was like oh no, Now the water is stuck in there and my headlights are completely sealed lol. I tried to unplug my lights and let them dry but even the slightest water left will make the whole headlight condensate when you turn on the lights for a while. But after about a month when it got cooler, all the water dried, my headlights are completely sealed, and no damaged ballasts or bulbs (lucky me).

gold2003tl (90)

you can do what i did, remove the stock glue thats seals them (not recommended since its a pain in the ass, really sticky stuff) and replace it with silicon. clamp the headlight housing with large rubber padded clamps until the silicon drys. clamps available at harbor fright cheap. then go around the outside edges with silicon. to finish it off go around the outside edge with gas tank sealer (Seal All i believe its called). mine dont leak anymore.

you can also re-bake the headlights until the glue melts, and clamp the housing with about 6 or so rubberized clamps to get the glue to set properly. still go around the edges with either silicon or Seal All. anything really to seal it up good.

Feeelax

are there specific silicon to use? Can anyone gimme a site where i can buy silicon or seal All? I appreciate it thanks.
Found some on ebay . These alright?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Black...Q5fAccessories

finalcross

iTrader: (3)

Damn, I spoke too soon. The combination of rain/water plus having my headlights on = condensation inside. I guess its the mix of the humid air plus the hot air from the bulbs. I don't get it when I wash my car so whatever.

number_twelve

You guys are forgetting and extremely common problem that is talked about a lot on this forum.

Have you checked and replaced the circular foam adhesive piece that seals the ballast to the bottom of the headlight???? That is the most common failure that causes moisture to enter the headlight.

Feeelax

I've actually have not checked that out but you can tell just by looking at my seal that its messed up. I'll will definitely check out the adhesive piece when i get home. Once again i forgot pictures. I'll post pictures in an hour or so.

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

Nissan sells a taillight sealant that you can use that will work equally as well and can be taken on and off and behaves much like the OE sealant; I would recommend this above all else.

richardparker

iTrader: (7)

A take it that you do know that you will not be able to check the ballast seal like he mentioned with out pulling your front apart.
Your lamps will have to come out
Well your going to have to pull it apart to reseal anything anyway.

richardparker

iTrader: (7)

x2

Feeelax

yes i do know that and it doesnt take long..

Feeelax

I've read that the Nissan sealant is made of butyl rubber. Can I just buy a roll of butyl rubber and use it for the same purpose because its a lot cheaper.

xtremex626

iTrader: (1)

just get the nissan butyl rubber sealant .. you lay it over where the old glue used to be (of course after you have taken the old glue off) , and you rebake your headlight , clamp , and let it dry. that should hold up.

and while you're in the process of resealing.. you can also black out your headlights or clear them out, whatever you'd like to do with them.

had the same problem a few months back.. washed my car and then all of a sudden my driver's side headlight started to condensate.. i kept using a hairdryer to dry out the moisture in the headlight but it would come back no matter what. thank god i blacked them out and resealed in time before water got into my ballast and bulbs.

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

I would advise strongly against it. Just as there are many different types of steel, iron, etc…you can find different types of butly rubber. You might save a happy meal’s worth of cash only to have to spend an entire week’s worth of happy meal’s fixing the problem a third time. Do it right.

fobstylez

iTrader: (3)

hey, easiest way is to bake it, OEM seal is bad ass, ive taken apart like 6 sets of these headsets so I can assure you that take them apart and baking them back together will generally do the job, if not, then go buy some silicon that is waterproof made for the kitchen. you can get this anywhere. If you do deal with it now, its going to build until you get a good amount of water, that will run down to your ballast and boom, there goes your ballast. Fix it now before you regret it. Also by baking it, it will dry off anything inside it. conclusion, bake it to get the water out and to reseal the headlights, then apply silicon over it. ez fit