Hi,

Has anyone of you had a problem with moisture getting into the front headlamps of your UK Crossfire? I have had them changed twice and it's still happening. DaimlerChrsyler are saying it can't be stopped and if it clears after 20 mins when the headlamps are on this is normal. Write to me at barrywalsh@firenet.uk.net if you want to.

Many thanks,

Barry

 

I had the same problem from new. Bounemouth dealer did TSB. Have had zero problem since!

Might be worth checking that your dealer is actually applying the TSB and not just fitting new headlamps that all have the same problem.

Best of luck...hope you get it sorted.

 

I have this problem too. I bought the car (new) in March 06 and it's always had a prob with condensation in the headlights. What is this "TSB" you refer to? Would I be able to pop in to my "local" dealer and get it sorted, do you think?

Your advice appreciated!

 

Hi mate

I still have this as a problem even after going back to my dealer 3 times. They have even drilled small holes behind the lamps but I still get condensation. I think it is to do with the cheap plastic they use and it not being sealed correctly. I have got really quite irate with the dealer recently and will be going back again soon!!

Let me know if you have any better luck.

barrywalsh@firenet.uk.net

Barry

 

Barry,

I wish you luck with the dealers, mate. I've got a long story to tell about customer service (or lack of it) at some point (I've only just found this forum - how I wish I knew about it sooner!)

I also have problems with a lot of condensation actually inside the car - worst car I've had for it, including 4 or 5 soft-tops I've had (which you might be able to excuse). I'm actually thinking of getting a job lot of silica gel packets and drying it out!!!

I'd be interested to know what TSB is if you have any idea? I might actually visit the Bournemouth dealership, as bollox did, and see if I have any luck . . . I'll report back when I've got some news.

Regards,

Clive

 

Service Bulleting 08-043-04; Headlamp Condensation
This bulletin involves improving the headlamp housing ventilation by installing new style vents and plugs.

I had this done to my CF to no avail. The dealer then replaced my headlamps (I think) and they still have condensation in them.

Drilling holes in the housing would, IMO, let moisture in.

 

Clive

The TSB is a technical service bulletin issued to all dealers by DC to try and solve this issue which goes back several years. It doesn't seem to work and there seems to be a design fault with the lamps which they are failing to admit to. I think what we need to do is get a group of CF owners in the UK to band together and threaten them with action unless they admit the fault and/or get it corrected. Cheers Barry

 

Polywave,

Whilst I agree that drilling holes may not be an ideal solution (and shouldn't be the solution) there is some sense in it, believe it or not!

Without going too much into physics (bear with me!) I'll try and explain to the best of my knowledge . . .

[geek mode on]
As you may know, a constituent of air is water vapour. When air is cooled, it reaches a temperature known as it's dew point. This is where the air reaches it's saturation point. At this point, the water vapour in the air condenses and becomes visible (the reason why we get clouds!)

Ok, so we don't get clouds in the headlights! During the cooler months of the year, you will have noticed dew on the grass. This happens when the moisture has no mixing effect from the wind to create clouds so it appears as moisture (dew) on your car, the grass etc. This is, effectively, what is happening in the headlights.

The parcel of air sealed inside the lights is reaching it's dew point as it cools and is appearing as moisture on the glass. By drilling holes into the casing, this equalises the pressure (which also has an effect on the dew point) of the air inside with the air outside and also equalises the relative humidity. This should mean that it is much more difficult for the moisture to form within the lights (but could, as you say, let other moisture in!) As pointed out in the first post, after turning your headlights on, the moisture should clear pretty quickly - this is because the air is being heatedback above the dew point! (We all know how warm the lights get).

So . . . where does that leave us? Well, it seems to me that during the manufacturing process of the headlights, they should be sealed in specially prepared dry environment thus preventing any moisture being "trapped" within the lights. It would appear this hasn't happened in many cases (hence our problem!)

Now that we know this . . . what's the solution? Drilling holes will only hide the problem, as descibed above. In my opinion, what we need are sealed units that have been properly sealed in a dry environment. Perhaps there is a dealer "fix" to replace the air within the units with drier air or maybe they have some other solution - hence my post on here.
[/geek mode off]

Hope I haven't bored you with that explanation! If anyone can come up with an alternative solution, I (and many others, I'm sure) would be only to pleased to hear about it!

Regards,

Clive

 

Thanks for clarification, Barry - is it THAT obvious that I'm a newbie?! :wink:

I would be with you on any action plan you have to get the fault corrected although (and please don't take this as negativity; it's merely my cynicism) I think that they would be very reluctant to change their manufacturing process, which is (in my opinion) what they would need to do to solve the problem.

It would be interesting to know if this is a fleet wide problem, or something just confined to the UK . . . anyone from the US have anything to add?!

 

Well, I'm from the states, so I guess it's here too!

I do a bit of saltwater fishing up her in the Pacific Northwest (every opportunity to talk fishing hehe) anyways, as some might imagine, there's that dewpoint thingy going on. Fishing equipment manufacturers solve the problem by passing nitrogen (a cheap, inert gas) into the equipement to displace the moisture, then sealing it up.

DC? anyone?

 

Polywave,

Yeah the dew point thing happens wherever there is air. Yep, even in the North West! :wink:

I think the Nitrogen plan would work fine - let's face it, 80% of air is nitrogen anyway! Whatever they use, it would have to be moisture free and done in a dry atmosphere.

I've had a think about it and I wonder if they could make the "outer" part of the unit a sealed area rather than the whole unit, thus allowing access to the bulb area (so that exchanges can be made). I haven't looked at the unit itself in much detail - a job for tomorrow, I think!

 

Sorry to hear that you guys still have problems. I am pretty sure the Bournemouth dealer ordered stuff as I had to wait, although I don't know what. I have had zero condensation since the mod, it might be worth giving them a bell to find out what they did to mine.

pongo-pilot: The Bornemouth dealer also managed to stop my Roadster leaking - me dry man
pongo-pilot: great tag(I thought you guys hated that term)... where are you posted... salisburyish?

 

Bollox,

I'll be giving the Bournemouth guys a call in the morning - thanks very much for the advice! I'll mention to them about the dampness inside too - no harm in asking!

Ref the tag - yeah, Pongo is accepted - almost as a term of endearment from the others (crabs, fish heads & booties)! On a personal level, I hate that other tag . . . the one that begins with "sq" . . . if you know what I mean?

Salisbury(ish) is my stomping ground at the moment but I'm eager to get back out to Germany . . . totally different way of life there and besides . . . those autobahns.

I'll let you know how I get on.

 

This problem may be related to the heating / a/c system, a couple of years ago we had one of our Crossfire freeze up inside when ever it was really cold, you could actually see the ice form going up the windshield - pretty scary.
Our dealers mechanic figured that the chrysler fix wouldn't work and made his own mod which works great... something to do with opening a vent behind the radio...

If you like I can put you in touch with the dealer here he is great...

 

I have had my headlamps switched out twice under warranty and now the problem no longer exists. What I was told by my Service Manager is that there are still alot of defective headlamps circulating around, what he did was bypass DChryslers warehouse and order them straight from Germany (took a little longer) and problem solved. If you look on EBAY there are quite a few headlamps listed, more than likely all defective. Condensation in the cabin might be caused by the positioning of your heater control, I also had this problem and the Tech said to keep the heater in a particular setting/position and that will resolve fogging the windshield.

 

I've just bought an '06 and have this problem too. Ill probably wait until its first service to try to get it sorted.