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fogging headlights issue?

SpeedDemon

Ready to race!
Location
Delta, BC
Anyone here have issues with fogging on the inside of their headlights for their 2016 R's??
I was told that they're vented so it's normal, but after a long drive and then parking at my destination, they're still fogged up. I don't see any cracks and there is no chip.
 

Khans'GTI

Ready to race!
Location
United States
It's normal. Even my GTI with lighting package has,same issue. I spoke with VW customer care and they said it's Normal.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
 

Zach L

VR junkie
Location
Austin, TX
That is not normal no matter what they've said. All their headlights have been vented even as far back as Corrado. If you have condensation or moisture on the inside of the housing, it's not sealed properly. On this new of a car it'd be a manufacturer defect. Demand them to replace under warranty.
 

typeone

Ready to race!
Location
central MA
it's happened to my '15 with LP on a weird cold / humid morning on the way to work (1hr drive), took a while to clear up (a full day?) but never occurred again.

i was pissed when i saw it but read many posts that this can happen sometimes so i didn't sweat it.
 

GeoBog

Ready to race!
VW won't replace them under warranty unless you have water droplets inside the housing. If they are only foggy, they will tell you this is normal with HID lights no matter what. I say this is sh*t, none of my previous cars with HID had this unless there was a crack or bad seal on the headlight. This is mainly because the MK7 headlights are made by Valeo which are absolutely cr@p. I believe old golfs had Hella headlights.
 

OnePerfectDose1

Ready to race!
Location
SF Bay Area
Condensation is very common for OEM manufactures. Do a basic TSB search and you will find factory TSB's from almost every single manufacture. Don't believe it is just one company or headlight manufacture.

To clarify, headlights are not sealed. Due to heat from the lights and the colder dense air which collects in the lower area of the lights, the vents are open to allow adequate air flow. The reason they put caps over them is to prevent water and other monsters from entering, like a spider building a home. The vent caps are not sealed, pull off those vent caps and you can blow straight through them.

Trying to manage condensation is extremely tough and its a delicate balance. There is almost no way to create one headlight which can perform perfectly, when in the US alone, you have thousands of micro climates in one state. Consider stopping your car windows from fogging, its impossible! Therefore why every car has a defroster. No one complains about fogging windows because its accepted for but for headlights it taboo...

As GeoBog stated, unless your lights are actually beading and sweating it is considered normal. If you run your lights for 45-60 minutes and condensation is reduced it is considered normal. We may not like it or accept it but that comes down from the factory.
 

reallypeacedoff

Ready to race!
Location
Los Angeles
Condensation is very common for OEM manufactures. Do a basic TSB search and you will find factory TSB's from almost every single manufacture. Don't believe it is just one company or headlight manufacture.

To clarify, headlights are not sealed. Due to heat from the lights and the colder dense air which collects in the lower area of the lights, the vents are open to allow adequate air flow. The reason they put caps over them is to prevent water and other monsters from entering, like a spider building a home. The vent caps are not sealed, pull off those vent caps and you can blow straight through them.

Trying to manage condensation is extremely tough and its a delicate balance. There is almost no way to create one headlight which can perform perfectly, when in the US alone, you have thousands of micro climates in one state. Consider stopping your car windows from fogging, its impossible! Therefore why every car has a defroster. No one complains about fogging windows because its accepted for but for headlights it taboo...

As GeoBog stated, unless your lights are actually beading and sweating it is considered normal. If you run your lights for 45-60 minutes and condensation is reduced it is considered normal. We may not like it or accept it but that comes down from the factory.

This. I figured the word vent would have alerted people that it is normal...
 

Zach L

VR junkie
Location
Austin, TX
Yes they are sealed where the lens attaches to the back of the housing (black). Sealed does not mean fully enclosed our air tight. Of course they are vented, but that doesn't mean it's impossible to have a sealing issue. There may also be a design flaw with the new lights where they're either getting too little or too much ventilation. Whatever the case, owners should not be experiencing this on new cars. Just take a look around at other new cars.

After 10 years on golfmkv.com site I've never once seen a thread about OEM headlights fogging up or getting condensation on the inside; only for the cheap replicas, aftermarket ones, or when an OEM one is cracked from a wreck does this happen. People that take headlights apart for modification or lens replacement know that if a condensation issue happens, they weren't sealed back up properly when the housing were put back together.
 

OnePerfectDose1

Ready to race!
Location
SF Bay Area
Yes they are sealed where the lens attaches to the back of the housing (black). Sealed does not mean fully enclosed our air tight. Of course they are vented, but that doesn't mean it's impossible to have a sealing issue. There may also be a design flaw with the new lights where they're either getting too little or too much ventilation. Whatever the case, owners should not be experiencing this on new cars. Just take a look around at other new cars.

After 10 years on golfmkv.com site I've never once seen a thread about OEM headlights fogging up or getting condensation on the inside; only for the cheap replicas, aftermarket ones, or when an OEM one is cracked from a wreck does this happen. People that take headlights apart for modification or lens replacement know that if a condensation issue happens, they weren't sealed back up properly when the housing were put back together.

I agree it isn't pleasant to experience in a new vehicle but the fact is its more common than everyone likes to think. You are correct, you can never rule out a proper seal between the lens and the housing. Every manufacture has steps/TSB's to diagnose the issue as normal or defective.

There are post from MK5, MK6, and obviously MK7 with condensation issues related to OEM lights. I am not singling this to just Volkswagen, I have TSB's from Audi, Range Rover, Dodge... and they all say the same thing.

Search:

Headlight Condensation site:"x"

its endless and trust me it sucks. I've experienced it myself and it drives me nuts. I'm not saying just give in, some dealers don't know better and will warranty, I say its worth a shot to warranty. It may work for the better.
 

Zach L

VR junkie
Location
Austin, TX
Please show me a post for a mk5. Like I said, almost 10 years on the mk5 board and I've yet to see this happen once. And that board is full of people bitching about the tiniest of things.
 

SpeedDemon

Ready to race!
Location
Delta, BC
Thanks guys, I'll post pics soon. I've been noticing this and keeping a watchful eye to see how much it's been fogging, it's usually around the led's of the turn signals.

Hopefully the pics will speak for itself.

Thanks.
 

SpeedDemon

Ready to race!
Location
Delta, BC
sorry guys....took pics, but still new to this. Not sure how to post it here....it asks for a url??
 

Zach L

VR junkie
Location
Austin, TX
sorry guys....took pics, but still new to this. Not sure how to post it here....it asks for a url??
You have 2 choices. You can either host the pic online at a place like Photobucket where you upload it then it will give you the URL. Second option is to use a forum browsing app on your phone like Tapatalk, which is easier. It'll let you post the photo and will automatically host it for you on the app's servers.
 

OnePerfectDose1

Ready to race!
Location
SF Bay Area

GeoBog

Ready to race!
This is how mine looked like for almost a week this year around mid-june after a few rainy days. VW warranty refused it as being "normal condensation" and then it cleared itself after two sunny days.



I can understand the term of vent on a headlight but I don't consider the above to be normal whatever anyone says. As I said before, I had HID on previous cars and never had this issue with them. The only time I had headlight condensation (mild foggy effect, nothing like the above) was when I opened the headlights to paint the inserts on my Megane and I haven't sealed properly the left headlight.
 
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