Headlamp Drainage Pipe?

[griff430]

Whilst my Griffith is off the road for the winter, I decided it would be a good time to clean the dust out of the headlight pods. Once the pods were removed, I noticed that both pods have an outlet of some sort, right back under the headlamp. The off-side one has a small length of pipe attached, which has been blocked with silicone sealant, but the nearside one has no pipe, and the hole is not blocked. Is there a reason for this? Is it because the nearside pod sits above the heater fan?

This brings me on to my next problem - On removing the pod, the heater fan assembly is exposed. The fan is surrounded by a vinyl sheet that seems to be there to separate the two sides of the fan. The trouble is, the vinyl sheet isn't 'entirely attached' to the bodywork. I know Griffiths don't have the most effective ventilation systems, but could this be causing the bad airflow in the cabin? I was going to re-attach the vinyl to the bodywork with something like 'No More Nails'. Will this stand up to the heat, or is there another adhesive I should use?

Any hints/tips would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Dan.

[GarryM]

Not sure if this will help as I'm not an expert but coincidentally, I removed the pods from my Griff 500 yesterday for the same reason. The pods from mine do not have any holes or pipes attached. From your description, I wondered whether they were for expansion which at a later date were decided unnecessary?

I can't help with the fan as my car doesn't have one. You can get silicon adhesives that can withstand a lot of heat though and the polyeurathane (sp?) sealants are stronger still.

Do you know why the headlights get dusty? They all seem to do it after a few years and I don't want to do this job again for a very long time! It seems that dust must be getting in from the back?

[davidn]

Hello all,
Did the same job a little while back, no vents either.
Re: how does the dust get in? the only way I could see was from the rubber boot around the back of the bulb assembly, made sure it was a good fit, I had grass in mine! and agree not a job I want want to do again for a while.
Cheers
David

[heliox]

On the early cars the drain pipes were fitted, its probably a good idea to get rid of them as moisture seems to get IN them.

The vinyl material as you've guessed is to seal the engine bay off from the cabin air inlet side where the fan motor is,try and get this sealed as best you can, it does make a big difference to the cabin air flow if well sealed.

This is one of the main areas for exhaust gasses/engine smells entering the cockpit when the fans are turned on if the vinyl becomes detatched(early models)

h

edited to say use any sealant as long as its not silicone.

>> Edited by heliox on Monday 9th February 23:22

[griff430]

I think mine became full of dust when I decided to change the bulbs a while back, and managed to push headlamp assembly into the pod

2 hours and a lot of missing skin from the hands later, I finally managed to get the light assembly back in place, but unfortunately had a pod full of dirt.

As I've got the drainage holes, would it be wise to leave them unblocked (one is blocked, and the other isn't, so I don't know which is correct). I've not suffered any damp in the pods before, so I assume that as long as I dry them thoroughly before re-sealing them, they should be OK as they are?

Dan.

[shpub]

Just wondering if the holes were an attempt to prevent misting.