Headlight condensation

[Jaytip]

Hi,

I have a new Octavia Greenline (6 weeks old) and both my front headlights have condensation in them, enough for the water to bubble on the lense.

Having spoken to my local dealership I was advised that some moisture/condensation is normal ?!?!? Anybody else have any in their headlights?

My car is a taxi and as you can imagine the majority of the fleet are Octavias and having looked at a few this morning theirs are all fine.

The dealership have said to take the car in to look at but made no mention of actually replacing the units.

Anyone else had trouble of the dealership regarding this issue?

Regards,

Ivor.

[JohnSTV6]

I've had this on my passenger side headlight, turned out I'd not put the plastic cap on the back correctly when swapping bulbs over.

I took the whole headlight in the house one night and dried it out, refitted the cover correctly on the back and has been fine since.

If there is nothing obvious on yours like that, then I'd say the headlights might not be sealed correctly.

It just seems strange for them both to be faulty on a new car

Edited 30 November, 2012 by JohnSTV6

[skodacarman]

No, it's not normal.

It could be something simple like JohnSTV6 says; but it could be something more troublesome, like a fault in the unit where the front lens of the headlamp isn't properly glued to the back, and letting water in through a defective seam.

I think you ought to insist that the dealer replaces them.

[silver1011]

Driven through any deep water recently?

This can force water in through the vent tubes that are designed to allow the headlights to 'breath'.

[Metblackrat]

Remove headlights (2 minute job), take inside and leave in the airing cupboard for a couple of hours. Or you can use your other halfs hairdryer to speed up the process.

They are not sealed units and can draw in damp air. It is not a fault, loads of cars do this and it can be remedied quite easily.

[Jaytip]

Silver, that may be it. I hit standing water in a dark lane on the weekend at about 40mph and it was like a wave coming over the car.

I will keep an eye out for it to see if it improves.

Regards,

Ivor.

[TeMpTeD]

My brand new Octavia xenons have had a light condensation in them a couple of times. Was initially quite concerned too, but having read comments about them having 'breather' vents, I'm less worried. If it develops into full blown sweat beads though I'll be back here lol.

[Greybeard]

Same thing on mine a few weeks back when picked up new (40 'delivery' miles) from the dealer, presumably after it had been jet washed as was all very sparkly clean. Parked in the sun on the few days it has appeared since, the headlights cleared but then after all the rain again earlier this week followed by a drop in temperature some has come back. I anticipate it should progressively get better, unless I too go 'fording' and top them up again

[silver1011]

Silver, that may be it. I hit standing water in a dark lane on the weekend at about 40mph and it was like a wave coming over the car.

I will keep an eye out for it to see if it improves.

Regards,

Ivor.

I know the feeling Ivor, I've come across a few nasty suprises over the last few days with all the flooding up here.

As you are using the Octavia as a taxi I'd do a full day with the headlights on, that should dry them out.

If that doesn't work then the recommendation above will be your next best bet, take the headlights out (a lot quicker and easier than it sounds) and dry them out inside the house.

You don't want damp headlights for too long as eventually it may lead to corrosion around the bulb holders and the condensation might reduce the light output making it even harder to spot those big puddles

[silver1011]

This thread details how to remove the headlights.

It relates to a pre-facelift Octavia but the process is almost identical for your facelift...

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/64315-howto-new-octavia-headlight-bulb-change/

[silver1011]

You can see the 'breather tube' here in the white section of the cluster behind the headlight lens.

A good blast of water up onto the front of the car is enough to force the water along the tube and directly into the headlight...

[Jaytip]

Thanks for the help guys, appreciated.

Regards,

Ivor.

[FUBAR]

Just about to ask the same question for mine but being a good Briskodian I used the search function and found this recent thread

Here is mine and I think my question has been answered unless this is more than normal? Had the same last winter and dealer told me its normal but I always like a second opinion. Car has sat for 2 weeks ish just drove it to get a pizza was more worried about the condensation inside from my steaming how large beast, then saw this.

[Grizzle]

Perfectly normal mate, i sometimes have the same.

[silver1011]

That's normal as it's only condensation.

If it had formed into droplets and was running down the inside of the lens or sloshing around in the bottom of the headlight then I'd be more worried.

This will likely be down to the fact it's been sat for two weeks and it hasn't really stopped raining for those two weeks.

Next time you take it for a longish run keep the dipped headlights on and it'll soon evaporate out of the vents.

[Octy0GG]

It may well be that this is normal.

My car is a pre FL and doesn’t suffer quite so badly – but there may be some differences there.

It does however highlight the problem with dealers and cars under warranty – Whatever the issue they either can’t detect it or it is normal.

The minute same car is out of warranty same dealer is able to detect all sorts of faults, real and imagined.

This, I am afraid, is why Jaytip was sensible not to just take the dealers word for this.

[FUBAR]

Cheers guys.

[Alam]

Hello everyone,

 

I have just replaced my car with new pair of headlights a month back and both the headlights shows signs of condensation only when the headlights are wet with rain drops sitting on top of it. It looks exactly same in the pictures posted by FUBAR. Is it normal to have such kind condensation on skoda's because nothing of such appears on my other two cars of a different manufacturers??? I have googled about condensation in headlights and this what answer I get ........

 

"condensation buildup inside of your headlights can be a very common occurrence and could happen for a number of reasons. As you drive with your lights on, the bulbs continue to heat up. Once you stop, the cooler, moister air outside can trickle into the housings of the headlamp. The housings, on most cars, are vented at the top and bottom to allow for pressure differences that keep your bulbs and lamps from cracking and failing. When the lens of the headlight is cooler than the air inside the housing, droplets of moisture will condense inside, leaving you with water on the lens. When the outside temperature rises, the moisture usually evaporates."

 

Do you guys agree to this or should I get my both headlights replaced since they are under 6 months part warranty...????

 

Regards

 

Alam

[Sarge]

When I had my Volvo V70 I replaced the original headlights with the OEM clear lense ones used on the C70. One of them condensed up a lot, especially after washing the car, but the other was fine. The garage said it was normal but I argued that the originals didn't do it and the other new one didn't either, so they replaced the one with condensation for me and didn't have a problem thereafter.

[silver1011]

Do you guys agree to this or should I get my both headlights replaced since they are under 6 months part warranty...????

 

Regards

 

Alam

 

If it the same as this then it is normal.

 

It is even mentioned in the manual, at least here in the UK.

 

[Alam]

Yes it looks exactly the same that too on booth sides.........

[varaderoguy]

Hello there,

It's me again with my slightly troublesome Scout on a 59 plate. Over the past month I have had a problems with the offside headlight. There is a lot of water getting into the headlamp unit. The car has been into the Skoda dealer 4 times with this problem and we aren't getting anywhere with the issue.

It's a dipped beam Xenon light bulb with steerable motor in the headlamp. All very nice.

The problem seems to be the electrics are getting very damp....I regularly get headlight outage warning messages.

I suspect one of three things;

1) There is excessive water getting in from the front tyre and wheel arch.

2) There is definitely a problem with water getting into the base of the electrics and the motor. I've lost side beam, Dipped beam and main beam on that headlamp now (all rectified). Connectors are all clean and relatively dry at the back of the headlamp.

3) Water could possibly be in ingessing via the headlight washer.

4) Cracked lens?? I have noticed a small crack on the underside of the lens. It is only visible if you look very closely.

I am now at a point where I may well have to spend out on a new headlamp unit (ouch) but would appreciate your collective knowledge on where I go with this.

I have seen 2nd hand headlamp units available but I understand it requires recoding into the ECU.

Many thanks

Max (and Barnie the Skoda)