05 STS water in headlight

Wiring, DIY, lighting, etc.
kevm14
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Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 05 STS water in headlight

Post by kevm14 »

The fogging is gone? Fixed forever?
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 05 STS water in headlight

Post by kevm14 »

No. After the hard rains, the headlight has a considerable amount of moisture. It looks a bit like a rainforest in there. I think my absolute last ditch effort is to pull it one more time, rinse it, dry it, and reseal both access covers with caulk or RTV (whichever I end up doing). It will make future work more of a pain but the service interval should be pretty long.

If that doesn't work I am going to replace the headlight but it's not obvious what I'd even buy. Options are basically used or new aftermarket. Well, there is another option. I could drill a hole in the bottom somewhere and hope that any water that collects just drains out. I am skeptical about this approach, less because I am being precious about the headlight (at least at this point) and more because I am not sure that will totally solve this. It's one thing for standing water to drain but moisture can still build up it would seem.

I need to act a little faster than I have in the past so I don't trash my good used ballast...may even do it today.

For context I've never seen any moisture in the passenger side. The SRX driver's side is holding up after I did what I did whenever that was. One of the frustrating things is I wish I could still buy new access covers and gaskets from GM but of course they are discontinued. I have a sinking feeling that I could have solved this on my first attempt. But maybe the lens did need that caulk I added. Or maybe I didn't get every nook and cranny....who knows.
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 05 STS water in headlight

Post by kevm14 »

This is a little too familiar.
20190810_162742_HDR.jpg
Going to use black RTV instead of the GE caulk. No idea if the caulk wasn't working or something but I will completely seal both the rear door and side ballast door with RTV. If that doesn't seal then something else is leaking and I'd tend to give up at that point.

I am also going to skip the dessicant this time. There is probably a reason it doesn't use any from the factory. It could be that the dessicant tries to absorb ambient moisture and then becomes saturated and maybe gives back some of the moisture as conditions change inside the headlight.
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 05 STS water in headlight

Post by kevm14 »

I don't know about my desiccant theory but I didn't use any. Inside the headlight is not a hermetic dry chamber. It is supposed to "float" with atmospheric pressure/temp/humidity. There was a small puddle of water inside. I don't see that being caused by the desiccant but I don't think it should be necessary in the first place (i.e. fix the actual leak).

After RTV'ing the side and rear cover, I really think I would just replace the whole assembly after that. I don't know about taking a gamble with used. Though on car-part.com, sometimes you can see the actual car that is being parted out. If the headlights look clear on a junkyard car, it would seem to me that there is a good chance the headlights are good. It's not like someone would have dried them out and put them back on the car or something. And in my experience, the moisture does not go away once it starts, especially when stored outside. Maybe this all depends on the price. I hate aftermarket stuff but it may be the smart move...especially if the price is similar.
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 05 STS water in headlight

Post by kevm14 »

So more than a month later and after quite a few rains I am sure (and some serious humidity) I believe I have seen ZERO signs of moisture in the headlight. I don't want to jinx it but this is encouraging.

The thing that pisses me off the most about this is, I blame most of this on GM's terrible replacement parts supply chain decisions. If I could have just ordered new cover gaskets (even with new access covers) in the first place, NONE of this would have happened (including my ballast failure). That is, unless the front lens did need the caulk treatment that I did. Aside from that, it seems to have all been one or both of the access cover seals.

It also suggests that as soon as the right headlight needs a bulb, I am going to have to seriously consider just globbing RTV on the covers to seal it up and not even taking a chance with the old seals.

All that said, I should probably wait until ~December to really claim victory but I am actually feeling optimistic at this point (and side note, that means this will have taken me more than 1-1/2 years and 5 pages of forum thread to solve...patience is both a virtue and a curse). And it makes sense. When I have looked for leaks around the lens by splashing some water around, I never found any. But doing that test, both of the access covers were not installed so I was never looking for leaks in those areas. Duh.
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 05 STS water in headlight

Post by kevm14 »

Another 2 weeks. Still dry. I have washed the car multiple times with a power washer (not in the last 2 weeks but since I fixed it). My only remaining gripe is there is a film on the inside of the lens that apparently does not simply rinse off with windshield washer fluid or distilled water. It must need to be scrubbed off. There is no way to do that without separating the front lens from the assembly. Therefore, it's going to stay the way it is.

But again, the good news is my last effort seems to be working and that adds 2 weeks more evidence that had I just been able to order new covers and gaskets, this whole fiasco could have been avoided after the first time I took it apart and noticed the mangled ballast cover gasket. Grrrrr.
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 05 STS water in headlight

Post by kevm14 »

Just going through and updating some stuff.

Headlight is still dry. I really think I got it this time with the RTV on the rear covers. Unfortunately as I mentioned last time, there is a film on the inside of the lens from all the water and condensation that has been in there in the past. It really needs to be scrubbed with something. I don't see that happening until I need to open the headlight assembly again and that would only be for a bulb or ballast issue. And even then, there is no clear access to the front lens. Maybe I can remove the high and/or low beam projector and shove a rag into the front area or something...
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 05 STS water in headlight

Post by kevm14 »

kevm14 wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 1:17 pm All that said, I should probably wait until ~December to really claim victory but I am actually feeling optimistic at this point (and side note, that means this will have taken me more than 1-1/2 years and 5 pages of forum thread to solve...patience is both a virtue and a curse). And it makes sense. When I have looked for leaks around the lens by splashing some water around, I never found any. But doing that test, both of the access covers were not installed so I was never looking for leaks in those areas. Duh.
3 months later...still dry! So that last round of RTV on the rear covers got it. Amazing.
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 05 STS water in headlight

Post by kevm14 »

kevm14 wrote: Thu Nov 14, 2019 2:37 pm Unfortunately as I mentioned last time, there is a film on the inside of the lens from all the water and condensation that has been in there in the past. It really needs to be scrubbed with something. I don't see that happening until I need to open the headlight assembly again and that would only be for a bulb or ballast issue. And even then, there is no clear access to the front lens. Maybe I can remove the high and/or low beam projector and shove a rag into the front area or something...
I was watching some detailing videos. It made me think of something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Attachment-ONE-P ... NrPXRydWU=

I could remove the low and high beam lens and shove that in and push it around with some solution. Problem is I don't want anything too abrasive (like that's meant for tile/grout cleaning). Still no plans to take apart until something fails though. Just would like to have a plan so I can clean that damn film off...
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