Misting up of headlights

[Glendower]

I am on my third V8 vantage, and a common recurring fault with each has been that the headlights get misted up from the inside, any ideas how to stop it happening?

[Small Car]

Not an Aston owner, but the Lotus Evora does it and the handbook basically says "live with it, it's gonna do it". Hot lights, cool outside air and its impossible to avoid?

[steveatesh]

Mine does this too - I'm sure it is even mentioned in the handbook somewhere.

[yeti]

Glendower said:

common recurring fault with each

I think you've answered your own question They all do that I'm afraid.

[noddy2]

Silica Gel packs fitted down the wiring loom at the back of the headlamps works fine on my v8 roadster, you will have to change them at routine intervals though.

[lucifer66]

I think they all do it - and DB9 etc, just nature of the beast.

[V8 BYF]

I was told by my local dealership that the solution is to leave high gem on for 15 minutes and that will clear it.
Firstly this is not really practical and secondly it doesn't work

[nite_narc]

Poor advice from the dealer. It happens on all of them and is a problem some people can live with, some cannot but it's a very small oddity on an otherwise seamless car!

[Glendower]

noddy2 said:

Silica Gel packs fitted down the wiring loom at the back of the headlamps works fine on my v8 roadster, you will have to change them at routine intervals though.

Thanks for e advice...any tips as to where to get the silica gel?

[julian1963]

Mine does it too and... I can live with it. Our belgian climate is allmost as wet as England and the only good solution is some dry and close garage! Some earlier posts deal about drilling holes to let the mist evaporate but it frightens me too much.
I completely disagree with the fact that Astons are seamless cars but we love them so much that they appear so to us Astonauts!

nite_narc said:

Poor advice from the dealer. It happens on all of them and is a problem some people can live with, some cannot but it's a very small oddity on an otherwise seamless car!

[EpsomJames]

julian1963 said:

Mine does it too and... I can live with it. Our belgian climate is allmost as wet as England and the only good solution is some dry and close garage! Some earlier posts deal about drilling holes to let the mist evaporate but it frightens me too much.
I completely disagree with the fact that Astons are seamless cars but we love them so much that they appear so to us Astonauts!

Astonauts...LOL, like it.

[MichaelV8V]

Glendower said:

Thanks for e advice...any tips as to where to get the silica gel?

ebay

[noddy2]

Last time i needed Gel packs fitting JCT Leeds Fitted them for me FOC as they had the car at the time, if you have a good friendly dealer you might want to let them do it for you.
These are my first replacements the misting returned after about 6-8 months, i will keep you posted on the new ones fitted in Nov.
They do definately work on my car!!

[peterr96]

Just reconstitute them in the oven.
From wikipedia

"Once saturated with water, the gel can be regenerated by heating it to 120 °C (250 °F) for two hours"

Obviously don't do them at the same time as your egg custards in a bain-marie!

More here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silica_gel

eta. Take the gel bags out of the headlights first!

Edited by peterr96 on Thursday 23 February 11:26

[tonyhall38]

when i had my xk..i'm sure Jaguar solved the problem with a small breather pipe located behind the light...i may be wrong...usallay am..

[noddy2]

How much will it cost me to run my oven for two hours?

[mcm66]

This may be of interest

[BMW-North]

Putting aside differences of opinion for a moment on what has caused this widespread issue, or remedies to correct it - the matter of the condensation can lead to failure of headlights, turning indicators, & brake lights - making this matter truly a safety related issue. The NHTSA (in the USA) is the most powerful of any national org to deal with these matters. If it has enough information and incidences it can conduct an investigation. It can also force manufacturers to correct identified safety deficiencies at no cost to the consumer. Given the low production volume of these vehicles, the complaint percentage thresholds to trigger further action would be relative. If you suffered issues with both headlights and tail lights you should file two complaints - one for each.

To file a US vehicle safety complaint you need your VIN: If you have pics of the condensation in either tail lights or headlights you can attach them to the online form - but that is not necessary. The whole process takes under 2 mins.

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/



In Canada you also need your VIN and file the complaint here:
https://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/Saf-Sec-Sur/7/PCDB-BDPP/f...

[Big Ry]

BMW-NORTH

Are you genuinely suggesting someone files a full blown safety complaint because their headlights get condensation occasionally ?

The amount of condensation required to short out the lights would be biblical, and to date I've never heard of a single owner having an issue with the functioning of the lights, it's just they look a bit st with condensation in them.

[BMW-North]

I suggest you're not aware of the magnitude of the issue. It is more than slight condensation. The failure rate of components is pathetically high. The construction (by Magna) of the lighting fixtures is severely lacking in quality and consistency. This is compounded by the manner of assembly which can aggravate the poor quality. The Aston Martin TSB issued in 2009 to address the issues is likely the worst TSB I've seen in 40 years in the auto industry. First off the air blower contains contaminants, secondly what did AM think would happen after the silica bags they stuffed in the headlights had reach absorption limits?

While most vehicles were under factory warranty the issues were mostly dealt through warranty claims. Now when folk have to fork out $4-5K (a high percentage of current vehicle value) to replace components that will ultimately fail again due to manufacturers defects the situation changes slightly. There is no time limits on safety related defects. If having your turn indicator LED fail or the brake light array fail is not a safety issue then what is? These are not failing due to normal wear and tear. One of my incidences has the headlight LED array fail when the ODO was 160mi. Car sat outside on the lot prior to sale (in rain).

Here's the real issue condensed:
[i]I believe the real problem is the adhesive silicon bead used is intermittent. it looks like a dashed line.How do I know - I've taken them apart to apply new consistent beads - you get an inch or two every few inches where no adhesive (silicone) was applied - the entire lens is affixed with an intermittent application of silicone adhesive. If you leave the tail lights in loose when installing you will keep a good plastic to plastic contact (where the adhesive is absent) that might help keep water out but you may not be able to match up the body lines with the outline of the exterior lens. If you pull them tighter to match the body lines the plastic lens and housing separate more where there is NO silicone adhesive - that's exactly what happened on the assembly line as installers matched the body lines with the curvature, and why they have failed direct from factory without ever being removed. and replaced by owners.

Exact same on the headlights - intermittent silicone adhesive. One of the reasons both the tail lights and headlight lenses come apart so easily. I didn't even need a heat gun to pull these apart. Absolutely pathetic quality - I'll never buy another car that uses Magna lighting fixtures.

They're fixable though (both headlights and tail lights) but you have to address both issues: Moisture penetration resistance and internal/external air exchange.[/i]

Here's short sampling of what I already researched were 161 confirmed instances where a Magna manufactured lighting fixture (headlight or tailight) has FAILED in some aspect due to condensation or water penetration (LED array, turn indicator etc.)

Given the low volume produced of Vantages, DB9's and DBS affected the failure rate of occurrence is staggeringly high - and those are just amassed where someone bothered to post about it. But do your own research - simple Google searches on Aston Martin headlight or tail light failure will return an astonishing incidence rate for such low production numbers.


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