Argh! My offside xenon headlight is out and it seems to be due to condensation in the headlight and lots of it! Is there a fix, or do I need a new headlight?

It could be a case of a cover not placed correctly, or indicator bulb mount not sealing fully. check the back of the headlight, or a worn seal there, in which case you just need new rear covers.

In any case, drying the headlight out would be in order. Hopefully, the ballast/igniter survived, they are designed to shut down in case of short circuit. If after drying out the lamp still does not light up, you can check what is broken by swapping components from the other headlight. If there is a leak in the housing, plugging it may be the cheapest option rather than buying a whole new unit.

 

My car's driver side headlight also showed water ingress recently, this was likely due to cracked rubber grommet where HID retrofit cables go.  I dried the housing out, decided to attach HID cables on the outside (with a breakout connector on each side), and sealed 2 out of 4 grommet holes. So far no further leaks, but we'll see in winter.

The only harm done was some corrosion on low beam bulb connectors, but since they are not normally used (because I have HID retrofits), I just cleaned the connectors up and made sure they work.

Edited 28 July, 201411 yr by dieselV6

Thanks will check tomorrow. Do I need to remove the headlight to check?

Removing it would be the easiest. While it's removed, put in the oven at 100C until it's dry. That's what i did. Then used silicone to seal all visible holes etc. 

I would not go as high as 100deg C for a long period of time (polycarbonate ages faster at high temp), but I'm sure no harm done at 50deg C.

 

Removing the unit then inspecting/repairing would be best, remember to mark headlight bracket position on the screw under the bumper cover.

Check also bulb/burner contacts - perhaps they corroded and that's the reason why headlight does not work? Then cleaning would sort them out, at least for a while.

 

It is possible to dry out headlight in place on the car, if you remove all covers and then set a fan heater so that it blows warm air into the headlight for a good while. But if you are already past the lamp failure stage, you might need to remove the ballast anyway, which is under the unit, so best to remove and have a good look around it.

It looks a little difficult to get to the back of the headlight whilst in place though, so I'm thinking removing is best. Are they easy to remove? Any tips?

You need to remove bumper cover, 1 ~T30? bolt is under the cover, make sure to put a precise mark on bracket and chassis before you remove the bolt, as it controls headlamp height. 4 more ~T27? Torx bolts from top, 2 normal, 2 adjuster bolts, 1 of these is hidden under the "teardrop" plastic blank in the radiator carrier which is best removed when pushed from underneath the carrier. Note the 2 bits of plastic on wing edges where headlamp touches them, make sure they're in place when you refit lamps or they will get scratched/cracked over time.

 

Bumper cover has I think 3 bolts in each wing, 3 in the top middle, and 3 locks underneath, then slides out. Refitting is best done as 2 person job, though I did manage on my own  more than once.

 

If you want to get to the back of the headlight before all this, remove power steering fluid reservoir cover (just pull up and wiggle front/rear of the cover) for access to passenger side, you can also undo the bolt holding washer fluid and ps fluid reservoirs and push them back a little.

 

On driver side, remove air filter cover, remove 3 bolts on top of air intake, unclip from air filter box and remove, then unclip MAF cable, open air filter box and remove to side,  then undo 1 m6 screw on the side and pull out bottom of air filter box incl filter. After this, driver side is pretty much fully accessible from the back.

 

Both these back access jobs are actually quite quick, no more than <2min passenger side, <5min driver side. Full bumper off job takes me under 30min incl. removal of the lamps.

Edited 29 July, 201411 yr by dieselV6

This should help you a little:

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/148404-how-to-removing-front-bumper-headlights-superb-02-07/

Managed to get the headlight out today. The bumper removal took 5 minutes of that. Was very easy. I then spent 2 hours trying to remove the headlight. All screws came out fine, expect for one bugger at the back. It was well and truly rusted into place. In the end I just sawed the plastic. One screw won't make much difference.

One I got the headlight out, it was clear that there is no corrosion at all. Everything looks sparkly and new! So now is it the bulb, or is it the ballast? Or what else. I don't want to buy a bulb to find it's not that, because xenon bulbs aren't cheap.

Any advice or guidance?

I've dried the headlight out anyway.

Swap the ballasts over, if the duff light changes sides then you know its the ballast, if not then it’s the bulb. 

Swap the ballasts over, if the duff light changes sides then you know its the ballast, if not then it’s the bulb.

That's a good idea. But that means removing the other headlight :|

I don't know if I can face that lol!

I think the power steering reservoir or something is in the way too.

It's just the feed for the air filter that needed removing on the off side.

I was told the Superb's headlights are built open, not fully waterproof. So it doesn't really matter when there's a bit of fog due to condensation inside. I also assume that either the bulb or the ballast is broken, not the headlight itself.

 

I once didn't move my Superb for a month. I also got some condensation fog inside. In my case the bulb didn't break, but I had to drive a few kilometers with lights on to get them dry again.

 

(Austrian here, please excuse my lack of grammar skills)

Thanks, well I've dried the water out anyway. I'll have to check the ballast then the bulb. Just can't be bothered in all honesty.

Driving my MX5 and the Fabia VRS at the moment, will sort it before winter though.

(Austrian here, please excuse my lack of grammar skills)

 

Excused.  Please excuse our lack of Austrian skills! 

 

Gaz

Excused.  Please excuse our lack of Austrian skills! 

 

Gaz

 

You better start learning my language then. :P

You better start learning my language then. :p

 

Too old I'm afraid.  I'm from the under-generation of those who believe SHOUTING in English provides for more effective communication to people where it's not their first language.  But I salute your better use of the Queen's english      

G