I've got some moisture inside the drivers headlight. I'd like to open the caps where the bulbs insert to aid the venting. Anybody open these up? Do they cooperate, or does plastic bits break off.

Thanks

 

moister is normal … these headlights have a vent … if they didn’t they will exploded when the air are being heated from the running xenon light …….. it all comes down to the weather!

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Never heard of such a thing as exploding headlights from the heat of a bulb. Are you sure there is a vent?

 

That is utter nonsense. There is no vent in the headlights but on the other hand they are not air tight. Most likely you have a gasket in the back of the headlight that is old and hard. There is a few of them depending on the options on the car. If you have xenon you will also have auto leveling so that is one gasket. Another is the one for the bulbs which can also get hard and start leaking.

To get the moisture out, I suggest that you take off the bulb change lid and take a hair dryer or a heat gun on the lowest setting as the glass is plastic and it will melt if too much heat.

Another option, if you are patient, to leave the car in the sun with the back off and let it evaporate by itself.

 

It's a cream-puff / never driven '06 SL55, and I was rather dis-heartened to see a failure like this when it spends most of its life under a car cover in a temp & humidity controlled garage. It was a very rare event to be out in the rain, but I was just having a dealer do some time related maintenance.

Can you get these seals without buying a new $1,700 light assy??

 

OK - I maybe was carried away a little ha ha ha ... of course they will not explode but they will crack if there wasn’t a vent.

Here’s an example and some advises of what you can do - but you certainly don't want to buy new headlights! that will be money out of the window....


Q: My headlights are always collecting water inside. The dealer says he can replace them, but they’re very expensive, and he wouldn’t guarantee that the new headlights wouldn’t collect water also. I took out the headlamp assemblies and coated all of the seams between the clear lens and the back with bathtub caulk, and gooped up the rubber dingus that goes over the headlight wires with a lot more caulk, but it didn’t help a bit.

A: Let’s examine why there is water inside the lamp assemblies in the first place. As the outside temperature goes down and your nice warm headlamps cool off (either from being in the sun or just from being turned on), cooler, moister outside air trickles into the housings. The housings are vented top and bottom to allow for pressure differences, or they would quickly crack and fail. When the clear plastic lens is even a little bit cooler than the air inside the housing, droplets of moisture will condense on the inside of the lens. That’s normal. When the outside temperatures come back up in the morning, the moisture will evaporate.

Some vehicles don’t vent as well as others. Some drivers keep their cars parked in shady, damp areas or in cool, damp underground parking structures. And the moisture collects not as tiny droplets of mist but as what looks more like raindrops, and can even run down the glass and pool inside the housing.

Check to see if there’s a Technical Service Bulletin for your make and model of vehicle. If so, there may be a retrofit housing or an upgrade to the venting system. If not, you’re on your own. The first thing to try, if all you have is droplets, is to leave your headlights on while driving for a couple of hours, forcing the moisture off. If you have a spoonful or more splashing around, you may need to remove the housing and dry it out. Pour off the excess water, then add a few ounces of rubbing alcohol to the housing, sloshing it around and pouring it out. Repeat. Let the housing dry for a couple of hours in the sun or inside a nice warm house, preferably in some air that’s moving. Check that any vents aren’t plugged with spider eggs or mud. Install the housing and try to park facing south.

Read more: Why Does Water Collect Inside My Car's Headlights? - Popular Mechanics
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hi...
there is water inside the lamp assemblies in the first place. As the outside temperature goes down and your nice warm headlamps cool off (either from being in the sun or just from being turned on), cooler, moister outside air trickles into the housings. The housings are vented top and bottom to allow for pressure differences, or they would quickly crack and fail. When the clear plastic lens is even a little bit cooler than the air inside the housing, droplets of moisture will condense on the inside of the lens. That’s normal. When the outside temperatures come back up in the morning, the moisture will evaporate.

Some vehicles don’t vent as well as others. Some drivers keep their cars parked in shady, damp areas or in cool, damp underground parking structures. And the moisture collects not as tiny droplets of mist but as what looks more like raindrops, and can even run down the glass and pool inside the housing i will wish you problem will be solve soon best of luck...........................
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You can buy the high and low beam caps and they might come with the gasket. I cannot see a separate P/N for the gasket in EPC.

The low beam P/N is A1408200549 and the high beam is A1408200649.