General Condensation in lights

Currently reading:
General Condensation in lights

Motorcyclist Colin

Established member
Joined
Apr 26, 2018
Messages
377
Points
186
My 4x4 TA has PERMANENT condensation on the inside of ONE of my running lights. The running light on the other side NEVER has any condensation.

There is so much water on the inside of the affected light, it is a cause for concern as it must run down into...…….. somewhere

It is of concern as recently one of my BMW motorbikes had serious condensation on the inside glass of the speedo. It had obviously been going on for years (bike is a fairly new acquisition) and eventually the speedo stopped working due to rusting of some parts of the speedo

I appreciate that there is little that can be seriously damaged below the light but I do not like water dribbling around anywhere.

Is it possible to remove the exterior of the light to clean/dry


The handbook advises condensation is normal but slowly disappears when the light is on. NOT SO in this case:confused:
 
Light clusters usually have a small ventilation /drainage hole somewhere. You could. On other cars I have taken the bulb holder out and used a hair dryer to gently warm up the light lens. This is a common problem in persistant wet weather.
 
I removed the bulb holder from the running light, and found it to be corroded around one pin, some corrosion around the female end of the plug; cleaned it up.
It was not possible to get a hair dryer near to the light so I pushed a very long strip of clean cotton rag into the bulb hole and left it there, where it wicked up the moisture. When most of the water had been wicked up I removed the cotton strip. Finally left a moisture absorbing pack (£1.00 from Poundland) as close to the bulb hole as possible and will leave it there for awhile, to see if it removes the rest of the damp
It is strange however that the other light has no condensation at all and never has had
 
I removed the bulb holder from the running light, and found it to be corroded around one pin, some corrosion around the female end of the plug; cleaned it up.
It was not possible to get a hair dryer near to the light so I pushed a very long strip of clean cotton rag into the bulb hole and left it there, where it wicked up the moisture. When most of the water had been wicked up I removed the cotton strip. Finally left a moisture absorbing pack (£1.00 from Poundland) as close to the bulb hole as possible and will leave it there for awhile, to see if it removes the rest of the damp
It is strange however that the other light has no condensation at all and never has had

Remove the light from the car?
Rear lights are often easy to take off
 
Thanks Chris, problem is with a front Running light. It is all back together now and is still producing condensation!! Think I will remove the light entirely and see what's what
 
I finally got around to drying out the ONE running light that always has condensation. I removed the bulb (there was enough slack in the wiring that the bulb holder was still attached) and pushed a very long length of cotton rag into the light, until it was filled, left it there until it had wicked out most of the moisture. There was just the odd drop left nearer the top of the light, so I used a short flexible stick (cut from a handy Syringia bush if you really want to know!) to wipe the rag around inside the light, until it was all dry. RESULT. The only problem is that some time later it has nearly as much condensed water in it as when I started.
The other side has NO CONDENSATION!!! WHY ARE THEY SO DIFFERENT. ??Aaaaaaagggghhhh
 
I finally got around to drying out the ONE running light that always has condensation. I removed the bulb (there was enough slack in the wiring that the bulb holder was still attached) and pushed a very long length of cotton rag into the light, until it was filled, left it there until it had wicked out most of the moisture. There was just the odd drop left nearer the top of the light, so I used a short flexible stick (cut from a handy Syringia bush if you really want to know!) to wipe the rag around inside the light, until it was all dry. RESULT. The only problem is that some time later it has nearly as much condensed water in it as when I started.
The other side has NO CONDENSATION!!! WHY ARE THEY SO DIFFERENT. ??Aaaaaaagggghhhh
With care (and dexterity) you should be able to undo the three screws that hold the light unit against the bumper to take it off and get it fully dry. There must still be some residual moisture if its misted up again today. You can see the three tabs the screws pass through in this parts photo from Shop4Parts https://www.shop4parts.co.uk/cf/assets/images/www/large/51842915.jpg
I have had no condensation in any of my three post 2012 Pandas, so I suspect you have a crack or other damage, such as a missing or distorted seal.
 
Last edited:
I have a similar problem with condensation on my 4X4 but it doesn't appear to be as bad as motorcyclistColin! However now I know how to get the DRL's (Thanks Herts Hill Hopper) I'll take them out and have a close up! Cheers Guys!
 
Finally got around to clearing out the garage and parking the Panda in it, as we are going nowhere at the moment. Surprise, surprise, no condensation in the running light.
Also finally got a good polish on it
 
Back
Top