Question….

[Doogle]

Been meaning to ask this for a bit now but, does anyone else get this “Condensation” in the head and fog lights, especially when washing the car, just curious

 

[/dev/null]

I've not noticed in this car but I have had it on all previous cars and have been told it's normal. They're not sealed units so it's just natural it happens unfortunately.

 

[pkaps]

not in mine and I have done close to 11 k km.

 

[Seastormer]

Not in my Leon either, had it 6 months now.

 

[ChrisGerr]

Not in mine, 13,500 miles and 8 months old

 

[marjohn56]

Not had that problem with two Leons over the last eight years, if I see it in the Formentor ( from next Monday ) then it will be visiting the dealer.

 

[/dev/null]

Not had that problem with two Leons over the last eight years, if I see it in the Formentor ( from next Monday ) then it will be visiting the dealer.

It's perfectly normal.

 

[SRGTD]

Not had that problem with two Leons over the last eight years, if I see it in the Formentor ( from next Monday ) then it will be visiting the dealer.

I doubt the dealer would do anything, other than send you on your way.

Misting on the inside of headlamps also crops up periodically in discussions on various VW forums too. As @/dev/null has said, it’s considered normal as the headlamp units aren’t sealed.

 

[Delanor]

Halogen or HID bulbs generate light and heat by heating the gas in the bulb, an LED bulb generates light by electricity but with very little heat so any condensation doesn`t get burnt off in LED headlights whereas it does in Halogen and HID`s.

 

[dashnine]

My last couple of cars. LR Discover Sport had quite a reputation for condensation, and even water in the rear light clusters. This was said to be normal and usually the result of over enthusiastic power washing, with the spray entering through membranes designed to let the unit 'breath'.

Leaving the affected lights in the sun usually cleared it quickly, so might work for the Cupras too.

 

[marjohn56]

I doubt the dealer would do anything, other than send you on your way.

Misting on the inside of headlamps also crops up periodically in discussions on various VW forums too. As @/dev/null has said, it’s considered normal as the headlamp units aren’t sealed.

Guess I must have been really lucky then, as the car is parked outside 365 in all weather conditions and as I said, I've never had any condensation. Chap accross the road has a Tesla, that does suffer from it.

 

[Doogle]

My last couple of cars. LR Discover Sport had quite a reputation for condensation, and even water in the rear light clusters. This was said to be normal and usually the result of over enthusiastic power washing, with the spray entering through membranes designed to let the unit 'breath'.

Leaving the affected lights in the sun usually cleared it quickly, so might work for the Cupras too.

Funnily enough the car had just been washed, but as it's not the first time I'd seen this, and not seeing it in previous cars, I was just curious as to whether other owners had seen similar.

 

[andycupra]

its normal. - relative humidity. colder air has less capacity to hold moisture. So particularly when washing a car, the headlight surfaces get cold and the air inside the headlight is cooled and the air inside reaches its 'dew point' and condensation occures. - much the same as you get in the car cabin, you get in the car with wet clothes etc, (or leave the cloth which you previously used to wipe over the windscreen) you breath and this creates a moist atmosphere, which appears to clear as you put he heaters on, but you return to the car the next morning and its condensed over again, this is down to the air cooling and the relative humidity rising to the point condensation occurs. Cold weather, humid/wet conditions and cold surfaces make the issue worse.
Two options:
1 - is the have dehumidified air in the headlight, but this would need to be sealed,
2 - greater air circulation. - much like you have extractor fans in bathrooms to held control humidity and condensation.

One tip i'd add is this: many people remove the covers off the back of headlights and use a hair dryer or the like to dry out the headlights, - fair enough, but do not put the covers back on as soon as they are dry as you have raised the temperature of the air in the headlight meaning the air can hold more moisture when it cools it may condense. so if you do this, leave the back off for a bit, run the hair dryer on cool and leave it to breath until everything has cooled down before refitting covers.
Headlights while not 'sealed' units, are not far off sealed, so this should keep the conditions inside the headlight ok for a period but wont be permanent.
Of course any leaks in the unit can also allow moisture ingress.

 

[pkaps]

It is not normal by any means, lamps are not designed to get misty, this is an excuse, they are most likely designed to be vented but not misty, it is also a common problem on Pumas, even at the rear lights and as far as I know the units are getting replaced, always depending on the dealer but Iknow from friends that they get replaced, well Pumas suffer generally by not so good built quality. On the other hand this is like the instructions on the manual on all cars and brands that say consumption of oil is normal and they give a figure of even a liter for every 1500 km (or 1000 miles) which of course is not normal by any means, but by printing that they are covered, so is the case with the misting headlamps, they say its normal and they are covered when in practice we know its not normal at all. If it was me I would try and get it replaced, don't know if it will work but I would definately try.

 

[SRGTD]

If it was me I would try and get it replaced, don't know if it will work but I would definately try.

A new replacement headlamp would probably also mist up .

As has been said, car washing may cause it - especially with over-enthusiastic use of a pressure washer around the headlights.

I did get occasional misting inside the xenon headlamps on my mk6 Golf but it always cleared fairly quickly - probably because the xenon’s generated quite a bit of heat. I think I may have had it happen once or twice with the LED headlamps on my previous VW, but again, it cleared pretty quickly.

 

[pkaps]

It may be as you say but how can anybody explain that it does not happen to all cars but to only a few, all of them considered been exposed to exactly the same weather conditions or washing? Never had any mist on my CRV iii with xenon for all of the 15 years it was in my possession nor on my 2018 Polo for the 4 years I also had it (however in this case the led bulbs were retrofitted but had them also on my fog lights which take more weather abuse) and haven't had any in my Formentor which I pressure wash almost every week. I guess I have to wait till winter really hits as the weather now its still like springtime over here, to give it a real test.

 

[barry7377]

Just noticed this last night on mine, mk4 leon and not formentor. Only one of the head lamps had it and it was gone by morning.

Good to hear it is normal and not a failed seal.

 

[sanderheed]

Noticed this today for the first time on my Formentor. Only on the fog lights, headlights are fine.

 

[Doogle]

Noticed this today for the first time on my Formentor. Only on the fog lights, headlights are fine.

Yeah mine is mostly fog lights although I have seen it on the headlights as well

 

[EdwinV]

I have this too in the headlights when (pressure) washing the car. Never looked at the fog lights.
I haven't noticed any moisture/stripes/prints staying behind in the headlights afterwards.