badhombre

iTrader: (4)

ever since I bought my car I have had this issue. the parking lights seem to randomly fill up with water. sometimes one side, or the other, or sometimes both. and when they fill with water the bulbs blow, or they hold just enough water that it corrodes the contacts on the bulb. is this a common problem? what causes this? is the only way to get to those lights to take the front bumper off?

xBrandonx

iTrader: (11)

Any cracks on the lenses?

antsls1

iTrader: (3)

Honestly I would drill a very small hole toward the bottom of the lenses to let the water escape. It has worked for me now for a while. My aftermarket turns started filling with water and I put a 1/16 of an inch hole in em and they have been good to go. I may be scolded for this method but if u want a quick free repair I would say try it

BOBS99SS

iTrader: (2)

antsls1 has the right idea, i have done this and it worked verywell, got tired of replacing burnt out bulbs all the time, many others i know have had the same issue and have done this as well

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

If you want to never worry about it again....go to the auto parts store and buy new wire sets for both sides. Like $10.00. Splice them in with butt connectors and shrink wrappers.

THEN......do what I did.......this is from an old post of mine.....
************************************************** *******

I got these, they are much better than the garbage GM made for us. Glass and nice and clear colored. Sealed too, unlike the GM ones, so moisture shouldn't build up inside. Mine have been on for almost 2 years and I've never seen moisture inside. Thats whats going to keep the socket from getting water in them and burning out.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002PQ...0291045&sr=8-3

Then you want to get two EL12 flashers...auto parts storee....$12.00. And then buy some LED bulbs that never get hot and should last ALLOT longer than regular bulbs, if not forever. And they look much cooler when they are on and when they blink. ((video below))

Go here. Scroll down till you see this:
"NEW" 48 Led Switchback Two Colors - One Bulb "NEW"
Its pretty far down the page....$14.99 each. Get the "Amber-White" 3157
***Its the crazy heat from the reular bulbs that also causes the GM housings (plastic) to crack and get briddle over time, allowing more moisture to get in and look like ****. These should last forever, unless a rock hits it. These LED bulbs have no heat.***

http://autolumination.com/3157_3156.htm

Video: see how they blink from bright WHITE back to AMBER. And when the headlights are on, the DRL's are WHITE to match all the other lights.



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wssix99

iTrader: (5)

The lenses should be replaced. I think that the ones that LS6427 points to are intriguing and wish I had known about them before I purchased new plastic ones a while back.

If you turn on your lights and press the lens with your finger, that should expose the crack(s). Being right on the bumper, the lenses take a beating.

Using lens tape or drilling a weep hole will keep you moving while you wait for replacements, but you'll still get condensation in the lenses.

gm02ceta

iTrader: (9)

First you have to figure out where and how's the water getting inside? Carefully inspect them for separation between lens and back housing. If there's no cracks then the problem is most likely it's the rubber gasket that surround the bulb socket is letting water in. Most Pepboys or Autozone will carry gaskets similar to the factory bulb gasket. I purchased some o-ring type gaskets and haven't had a water or condensation problem since.

garygnu

is the bulb socket properly inserted in to the lenses housing ?try a new O-ring like suggested above.

ghardester

I live in a very rainy area and have had problems with water getting into the DRL/turn signal lense housing.

I finally drilled a 1/8 inch hole in the lowest part of the lens and have had no problems since. The water drains and the heat from the daytime running lights dries out the rest.

It is a poor design. Water can be forced up from the bottom through the bulb fitting and then has no where to exit. I have used di-electric grease in liberal amounts on the O rings and finally just drilled the hole in the lower front of the lens.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

If there's water pooling in the lens, then its cracked. If you throw rocks and road debris at any thin piece of plastic over time, its going to break. A bad gasket won't let that much water in. (BTW - You can get new ones for $.50 and $5 shipping.)

The cracks are usually impossible to see on the plastic lenses. But, if you illuminate them, and press around the lens with your finger (from the outside) the surface of the lens will move and you'll see where the cracks are.

badhombre

iTrader: (4)

thanks guys. I had to do the same thing with my passenger tail light awhile back. i discovered the other night while replacing a headlight that with the bezel off and the lights popped up, I can reach down and access the screws holding in the lenses, so I will pull them out and inspect them. I will try the hole method there too

badhombre

iTrader: (4)

that does look really good! I may get some of those bulbs to go in mine even with the stock lenses for now. I didn't even know they made glass ones. thanks for the info!

TruBloodTransAm

iTrader: (24)

Damn I hate those DRL's!!

My old housings had cracks in them, and the bulbs would always go out. I ended up getting some new housings online and new sockets from AutoZone. So far so good.

notsue

Used to take care of a TransAm... the cheapest solution I found to keeping the lights from going out without having to fix the cracks or drill drain holes was to make sure the connector was very clean (use electrical cleaner and wire brush) and then fill connector with dielectric grease before inserting bulb. Never went out again no matter how much water got in there. That grease is amazing.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

There's an access door on the bottom of the bumper. Take out two 10mm bolts and the door will open up for you to access the bulb and nuts that hold in the lens.

badhombre

iTrader: (4)

did not know that. thanks that will make life a little easier for me.

and as for the grease I will probably do that to protect the connectors from getting damaged any further. the biggest problem I have is the water gets high enough in there that it hits the hot bulb and the bulb literally explodes. I have to dig the busted pieces out of the lense. I will probably be doing a combination of the drill mod, led bulbs and the dielectric grease. thanks for the help guys, those damn bulbs were adding up, not to mention getting annoying

eb110americana

iTrader: (4)

Yes, this is a common problem. I replaced my seals with a set that I made from a letter-size sheet of foam rubber I bought at Michael's (the arts & crafts store) since no one seemed to carry the exact part on the shelves. The bonus is that the foam is a bit thicker than the factory seals, so it gets more compression when the bulb is in and creates a kind of custom fit as it shapes to the parts. Still, I must have cracks in there as others say, since I still see moisture when it rains. However, the improvement has been marked, with the new seals I've only replaced the bulbs once in the 18 mo. since then instead of 2-3 times each year.

The di-electric grease helps, but it is not a solution as the heat from the bulbs eventually dries it out and water seeps between the cracks of dried grease. The problem is that the bulbs are mounted vertically and water pools at the bottom of the socket, rusting the contacts. The water also has the ability to shock the hot bulb into burning out or breaking (personally I've never experienced the latter, but plenty of the former) if it pools high enough.

@LS6427: I really like your solution. I did not know they made glass housings, I'll surely be getting those when I replace the old plastic ones. Is there a way to wire it so that the DRLs also light up white? I wouldn't even mind if they were only single brightness instead of the stock dual setup. They could just be on all the time and then de-illuminate in short bursts for turn signaling. It would be neat if the light between the short bursts of "off" were orange, but white is fine too.

joecar

LS6427, those LEDs are a good find

Decadence75

iTrader: (17)

Unfortunately these are no longer made of glass. I just received a pair today after having to wait a whole month for them to ship it. I was disappointed when opening the box and finding out that they were plastic lenses same as all the other guys are now.

JB Rekit

I don't drive my car often (2000 WS6), so it is very seldom I get caught the rain, but when my sockets corroded beyond salvaging and I had to swap them, I just got some clear silicone caulk and caulked around the front plastic lens that has a horrible seal with the body of the lamps reflector. It has about a 1/16" - 1/8" gap between them that looks like it was made for putting a nice bead of caulk in (or for channeling water into the fixture to store permanently as there are no drains for it to exit once its in there and they were kind enough to put a foam rubber seal on the socket...)

just my $.02