Water in Headlight

[LordNikonXTC]

Hello everyone, I have a 1988 300 SE. I was cleaning the engine last week and somehow got water inside my headlight. I noticed it because the light gets foggy at times. I removed the the lightbub and stuffed some papertowles inside it and it got most of the water up (what I thought was all of the water) but it seems to be some moisture there. Is there any way to get it all out without ripping out the whole light fixture. don't want to loose my light alinement... thanks....

[bwheitman]

You could either let it dry out in the sun, or by turning on your headlights on full beam, they get really hot and that will get it dried out. Or using a hair dryer. After you get it dried out check the seal in the rear of the light because if you can get moisture in there the seal is likely bad or there is a crack, you should fix this to prevent future fogging. Good luck!

[LordNikonXTC]

I was cleaning the car today and decided to rip into the headlight. I removed the bub lastime and soaked up alot of water. This time I removed the headlight assembly and dumped about a half of cup of water. I was shocked. I inspected the light to see where the water came from but the seal and everything else seemed to be ok. I guess I will be more careful when I wash the engine again. Just to let you know, I did try to do the headlight high beam thing but I guess there was more water than it should have been in the light. Did not know it could hold so much. Thanks

[mpolli]

So is it all out of there? The only thing I ever found that worked is taking the assembly off the car and baking it in a low oven (125 F) for a while. I am skeptical of the high beam idea. With the bulb in it's socket, where would the water vapor go, assuming it even vaporizes. Brian, have you ever actually tried that?

Mike

[bwheitman]

I had only moisture in my headlight, so I drove the car for 2 days with the headlights on during the day, it dried it out. I could not find the leak so I replaced the headlight. If you have a lot of water though I would not turn the light on because water conducts electricity, even though with 12volts it would not be that bad, but still it would cause resistance and might mess something up. Water in the light is not good because it will corrode the reflective material and make you headlight look bad. It has to be leaking from somewhere. Good luck!