Is This Normal? Gm Says It Is!

ultravorx · Jan 21, 2003

I finally got a pic of my fogging up headlight. I showed the dealership the pic, and the truck, and emailed it to corporate. EVERYONE says its supposed to happen :8:

I've never owned a car where headlights fog up, i dont know how this is normal.
Frank
p.s. the condensation is somewhat worse now than when i took the picture :6:

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baron138 · Jan 21, 2003

Mine got to the point that there was water pooling in the bottom of the houseings. The dealer called Chevy, and asked them. They said that they knew of some condinsation problems. The dealer replaced them under warranty

olsontru · Jan 21, 2003

Never noticed any condensation here. Of course my weather is a far cry from yours.

Horacio · Jan 21, 2003

I get condensation in the fog lights once in a while!

endeavorc · Jan 21, 2003

I have had condensation in the fogs and headlights, all replaced under warranty.

CodemansMom · Jan 21, 2003

We have the same thing happening with our Av. Our service manager said that they couldn't do anything under warranty until there was noticable 'puddling' in the bottom of the fogs. :8:

Advised us to drive with them on for 3 or 4 hours at a time.... :7:

That's just fine if we plan to drive 3 or 4 hours at a time, but a 20 minute trip to town makes it worse!!! we just drive with them on every time we turn the key...

Will they get a clue

zimmthumps · Jan 21, 2003

I have never noticed any fogging/condensation in any of my light housings, but I know it has been discussed here quite a bit.

aprgriggs · Jan 21, 2003

Mine left blinker housing had condensation and the dealership fix it under warranty. I think the factory is finally coming around to realize that the headlights do have a problem.

ultravorx, maybe try a new dealership. Some service department are more relaxed than others.

ultravorx · Jan 21, 2003

I've tried 3 other dealerships plus corporate, and i get the same cock and bull story "condensation is normal" :7:

Why cant i live where the dealership actually takes care of there customers. :6:

Frank
Love the av

, hate the service :C:

NJAV · Jan 22, 2003

I know what you mean....I recently discovered after 1 year...that my passenger side DRl/fog housing has the condensation going on real bad....I'm almost up again for an oil change so I will menion it to the service dept...and see how they react to it....

I'm not going to stand for "That is normal" or "That is the way it is".....you know why?....because "That is not acceptable!"....

Dave

powersurg · Jan 22, 2003

This is a reletively new problem for me as well. My DRL's and Fogs are a little cloudy. I was wondering, for those members who have the 55watt lights does the higher amount of heat produced by the lights dry up this condensation?

If it does then we have all found a justification for doing a mod. >:D

MyBigToy · Jan 22, 2003

No condensation here, I've had my AV since June '02. I had this one time on another car and took care of the issue by drilling an extremely small hole in the top of the housing. It vented the housing enough that I never had the condensation again.

Chief · Jan 22, 2003

Without seeing the headlights in person I'd have to say - it kind of depends.

Some condensation in the headlights is possible. Hey, get a glass seal it up tight and leave it out in the sun and you'll get some water vapor in there. If the conditions are right it could happen and the heat from the headlight burns it off.

Heavy condensation, or especially any water pooling IS NOT normal. If you've got condensation to the point that it is compromising the beam pattern you've got a problem.

My advice if you think it's that bad - go to another dealer.

marc_w · Jan 22, 2003

Every once in a great while I'll notice a little on my lights.

I'm REALLY surprised GM is swapping these parts out though!

I don't think there is anything actually wrong with the lights, it's just that there is moisture in the air, in side of the housing.

Has anyone tried pulling the bulbs and letting everything sit for a few hours?

I'd imagine the wrong time to put the bulbs back in would be a day where the humidity in the air is really high. That air gets trapped in there and causes problem like this...

wolfman · Jan 22, 2003

The first thing I would try would be to dry the headlight casing out (with a hair dryer and a microfiber towel) and make sure it is not cracked or damaged. The second thing I would do would be to make sure that the bulbs are locked into place and that all the rings that hold them in are ok and tight (some here have had to tighten them). I would do this before screwing around with these dealers. IMHO just my .02$

sjudson · Jan 22, 2003

I have noticed that if there is any water in fogs that since putting 37.5 watts in it clears up fast!

powersurg · Jan 22, 2003

sjudson said:
I have noticed that if there is any water in fogs that since putting 37.5 watts in it clears up fast!

I suspected this to be the case. I wondering if there is a hotter Amber for the DRL's?

baron138 · Jan 22, 2003

The bottom line is we drive trucks with stickers up to almost $40,000. Water in the lenses is not acceptable. Here in NJ, they used to fail people on a reguler basis at inspection stations.

ultravorx · Jan 23, 2003

I agree with baron138, I could have bought about 6 kia's

for the price i paid, and i garentee you that none of the lights would fog up. Its just sad that chevy wont stand behind there mistakes :6:

Frank

powersurg · Jan 23, 2003

ultravorx said:
I agree with baron138, I could have bought about 6 kia's ? for the price i paid, and i garentee you that none of the lights would fog up. ?Its just sad that chevy wont stand behind there mistakes
Frank

In the over all scheme of things I would rather them not stand behind foggy fog lights then a transmission or a transfer case!!!.

ktr-sa · Jan 23, 2003

There is a service notification about this - essentially it says that if the droplets no larger than 1 mm in diameter, ?"replacing a lamp housing will not change this situation when weather conditions are conducive to condensation forming. Lamp housings that contain significantly larger water droplets or free standing water have a special cause for the water intrusion and may require changing the lamp housing."

Service Notification

If your situation is different and the service department isn't reading the notice carefully, they might be the ones who are jerking you around. And make sure there is no physical damage caused by impact with something soft, like a bird - it's been known to happen.

ultravorx · Jan 23, 2003

Thats a great stamnet and all, but the problem is mine ONLY fog up when i turn the lights ON

When the lights are off, it goes away, figure that one out :7:

Frank

ktr-sa · Jan 23, 2003

ultravorx said:
I could have bought about 6 kia's ? for the price i paid. . . .

At least you're just disappointed - you could be suicidal.

02-Z66 · Jan 27, 2003

i had this problem. however it did not start until i took my headlight bulbs out to put in the Silver Stars. i did it on a damp day. it was drizzling a little. i noticed the condensation in the housing. after i was all done i turned the lights on and it fogged up even more.
i took the bulb out and let the housing air out for awhile. the i tightened the ring on the back of the headlight assembly. the Silver Star did not lock down as tight as the OE. after that i have never had another problem. :B:

WPTT · Jan 27, 2003

I had condensation in my left fog light and the dealer replaced it under waranty, no problem!

Is This Normal? Gm Says It Is!

aprgriggs

CAFCNA FOUNDER

wolfman

WPTT