Hi all,

I have noticed that my 1 year old MK3 with full matrix LED head lights (not sure if that's relevant, but better be as detailed as possible) has moisture in both headlights. The car is a year old. 

Its hard to clearly capture, but visible on both these pictures:

 

Is that something that needs to be addressed? Or is that expected and "normal"? 

 

One 1 picture you see the "dots" (left headlight) and the other a big cloud near the center of the car (right headlight) 

Apologies for opening this topic! 
It raised immediate concerns, but should have investigated this more. It is even in the manual that this does not cause any harm and is "to be expected"

(I can post a screenshot of the manual page, but since it's in Dutch the value is somewhat limited.)

 

In short: This is what Skoda believes is normal on these humid, cold days of the year. I thought this would even cause failure of MOT (Dutch equivalent: APK) but it doesnt seem to do so. That was with old cars.

 

Yeah, mine is the same, but it doesn't feel normal to me either. Without a nice 60W heater in there I guess it's staying that way until the summer. 

I can't help thinking that it must harm the beam pattern. 

I guess the main problem is that good old fashioned head lights get warm when switched on and take care of all the moist stuck in the headlight body, but since full led headlights they simply dont get warm enough to clear. 

I am with you, expecting it to impact the light beam. 

 

You would expect it to be easy to make it water proof? Since its in the user manual, I guess it's a feature

Not sure what the back of those headlights are like, but in a normal headlight, those sympton would be down to a loose fitting cap of some sort. Eg the rubber cap not put back correctly when replacing the H4 halogen bulb. I would be having a look and check everything fitted correctly, or get the dealer to do so if its under warranty.

Thanks for the tip, but since the user manual even describes it as being normal, and some investigation shows dealers will tell you its normal and will not take any action.

It really is a feature. 

 

You can find it in the manual at the lights, wiper sprayer section. On the first few pages in the little troubleshooting part.

 

 

Yep the manual says it can be expected. Be good to see your experience with LED lamps and whether it disappears after a drive with lights on. 

 

I know it goes away on my older xenon type headlights. 

Xenon lights get a lot warmer which helps removing the moisture. Since LED lights dont warm up that much I doubt it will be the same. 

 

I guess I need to park the car in the sun  in de summer.

10 minutes ago, TB404 said:

Xenon lights get a lot warmer which helps removing the moisture. Since LED lights dont warm up that much I doubt it will be the same. 

 

I guess I need to park the car in the sun  in de summer.

My last 3 Skoda's have all suffered the same thing after plenty of rain or after washing including Octavia 245 with LED headlights, 2019 Superb 272 Sportline Plus with Xenons and my current 2020 Matrix LED SEL Superb with the same condensation inside the headlamps. Simply clever built-in standard feature I'm afraid, no point in complaining.

The clever part in Simply Clever is probably the self-cleaning feature of the inside of the headlights I suppose. We just didnt think of that ;)

Mine does it too.  The first time it happened I was alarmed, used to it now every winter.  Goes away completely when the weather warms up a bit.

See it in a lot of cars now - a colleague got a nice new Volvo last week and it had the same issue on the first cold day.  Saw a Tesla doing the same.

 

My 2019 model is exactly the same.

I took it to the dealers yesterday and they told me that it is normal.

I have to say though I thought it odd.

I had 2 Mercedes cars before my 2 Skodas and neither Mercs had this condensation.

 

I will keep a good eye on them.

My dealer also told me this is normal, (even with Xenon headlights), since VAG has changed the technology on headlights, which are not air-sealed anymore.

 

BUT, I can give you a tip: If moisture is very important, you can try removing the cap in the back of the headlight and introduce a tampon (yes a tampax for women). Just let it overnight. It's very efficient. It's a tip from a friend of mine, who often makes underwater photography. He uses this for its water-resistant case for his camera when he goes scuba diving. Any moist in front of the lens would ruin his pics indeed.

It does cost much, and it's worth a try  ! Simply clever !

 

2 hours ago, Bap33 said:

BUT, I can give you a tip: If moisture is very important, you can try removing the cap in the back of the headlight

 

I did the same thing (minus the tampon) when my driver's side headlight fogged up for the first time in 3 yrs.

Removed the back cover and drove for about 30-40 mins.

Cleared up after that.

 

Edited 9 January, 20215 yr by JR RS

8 hours ago, Bap33 said:

It doesn't cost much, and it's worth a try  ! Simply clever !

 

Mistyping corrected.

Noticed this on my lights this morning. There was a lot of rain overnight. It is far more visisble than other photos on this thread. Should I be concerned?

3 hours ago, BillyParker said:

Noticed this on my lights this morning. There was a lot of rain overnight. It is far more visisble than other photos on this thread. Should I be concerned?

No. Because you have xenon's which heat up and dry the moisture out. 

Same as ours. Nothing to worry about. 

On 09/01/2021 at 04:56, JR RS said:

 

I did the same thing (minus the tampon) when my driver's side headlight fogged up for the first time in 3 yrs.

Removed the back cover and drove for about 30-40 mins.

Cleared up after that.

 

 

Did it happen again after that? 

1 hour ago, cotrusvlad said:

 

Did it happen again after that? 

 

No, it's never happened ever since then.