Headlights have water on inside face of glass after rain.

[Alex]

Hi all,

Just replaced my headlights on both sides of the car due to rusted cones.

The gaskets seemed all ok and held water when I poured it in from the inside, so I didn't replace them.

Water is still making its way into the headlight assembly on the inside.

It isnt a great amount of water, but small amounts.

Where could this be coming from? All gaskets are tight.

[Randys01]

I think the gaskets you are  referring to hold the lamp fitting in to the body cavity. The actual lens glass is affixed to the reflector via a thin gasket held in by clips which are rivetted.

[Alex]

I think the gaskets you are  referring to hold the lamp fitting in to the body cavity. The actual lens glass is affixed to the reflector via a thin gasket held in by clips which are rivetted.

Yes, regardless- both held water out (well in).

[Randys01]

Obviously the gaskets are not water tight. Either the rivets have not "taken" or the gaskets  have perished...
To hold the glass in with rivets is a crap design from the get go... but on the other hand they seemed to last for years.
You could try sealing the top of the glass/reflector/gasket with a glue. For starters tho make sure the reflector is 100 % dry.........run the headlights for awhile and warm it up /dry it out. Then gingerly spray the lights with water. See what happens.

[Alex]

Obviously the gaskets are not water tight. Either the rivets have not "taken" or the gaskets  have perished...
To hold the glass in with rivets is a crap design from the get go... but on the other hand they seemed to last for years.
You could try sealing the top of the glass/reflector/gasket with a glue. For starters tho make sure the reflector is 100 % dry.........run the headlights for awhile and warm it up /dry it out. Then gingerly spray the lights with water. See what happens.

I agree that the gaskets are likely the issue. But I did observe that the headlights were able to keep a large amount of water inside them when I was cleaning them. (Perhaps just enough is entering to condense on the glass, but not enough for me to notice when I was working on them). I suspect the glass gasket is the issue, as you did state that it is riveted in, so it probably has gotten a bit weak over time and cannot be adjusted.

I am strongly considering using some silicon to seal the glass section better, worst comes to worst, *if* I do crack the glass or need to replace it, it isn't impossible to remove silicon, just tedious.

[Randys01]

Im surprised you used water. I use metho. Water takes forever to dry out and generally leaves spots.
Anyway, I agree that the best way ahead is a light bead of silicone around the lens gasket..no doubt some type of sealant was used originally.