alexlate

Hello everyone,

Want to share something that happened to me about two weeks ago. After few days of particularly heavy rain I noticed that my passenger headlight low beam (only low beam and NOT the turning or high beam lights) on my 2005 C6 stopped working and had moisture in the headlight assembly. And when I mean moisture I mean lots of it. There would be drops of water along with tons of condensation. I researched this issue and saw people saying that it is quiet normal and I should just let it dry out. I even saw the official video from GM saying that it is ok for it to happen. Well I definitely felt something was not right because only one of my headlights had this problem (in addition to my low-beam getting killed at the same time) and not the other - but I deicided to play the waiting game for a week and hope for it to dry out while I'll buy a new replacement low-beam bulb because I assumed that's what it was. Once I got my order of low-beam lights (from Ebaymotors around $60 for a pair) I jacked up the car took the wheel off and took the little irregularly shaped rubber cover that is held up by six or seven plastic clips. To my dismay the back of the headlight assembly was completely wet dripping with water and low-beam compartment did not have the cover on! Somehow it detached itself and was stuck below. At that point I took the inner fender lining out to get a better look and everything I touched was completely wet. So I unplugged all the lights from the headlight assembly and let it dry for a day under hot South Florida sun. About 48 hours later I placed new low-beam light in - and it did not work. At that point I realized that the headlight was not the problem. That left me with tree possible assumptions - A. ballast got moisture damage; B. wiring got moisture damage somewhere; C. they both have damage and I am screwed.

Well still reading? lol. At that point I removed little tray that holds the ballast (4 screws). Btw I unplugged the headlight a from its power source in case you wondering - it is extremely dangerous to do anything without unplugging it for the risk of getting baked. As I was under the car when the ballast tray came off all the water that was inside it literally splashed onto my face. Ballast was completely submerged by the water in the tray that is holding it!

Slowly the picture became clear: As the rubber cover came off from the low beam the spinning tire kept spraying rain water that found its way behind the headlight access cover that it on the inside of the inner fender. There was so much water - simply too much for it to evaporate on its own. And due to brilliant (sarcasm) GM design water eventually made its way to the lowest point of the headlight assembly - ballast compartment.

At this point I got the ballast from the other side and plugged it in and hooray my low-beam worked. So it was not the bulb and it was not the wiring but the ballast itself. To make sure that's what it was I plugged the wet ballast into other side and sure enough it did not work. I took wet ballast out and left it to dry out for a day under direct sun (and it gets really hot here). After a day I re-plugged it and to my surprise it started working again.

The only problem that I was left with is for some reason my low-beam became less bright when I compared to the low beam on the driver side. I immediately thought it was ballast. Water damage decreased its power output. Well, again I swapped both of them out and the ballast from the drivers side - perfectly fine and having zero water damage. Well guess what - the low-beam still was a bit dimmer. At this point I cannot say if this was the case before the whole flooding catastrophe - I never scrutinized brightness so closely.

Does anyone know as to why one one of my low beams would be a bit dimmer? I know for a fact it is not ballast, not the light bulb, and not the wire that connect bulb to the ballast. High beam and turning light are just fine. And when I say dimmer I mean just a bit. You can tell when low beams are on in the day light - at night it seems almost fine.
Not a huge problem but for a perfectionist like me nevertheless annoying.

But anyways - at least its working because I know my good ol' pal Maroone Chevy of Ft Lauderdale would make a fortune off of me for this stupid mishap.

RicK T

Quite a story......and one I haven't seen before. Glad you figured it out and thanks for sharing. Please let us know the final result.

cclive

The bulbs put out a different light as they age, so the new bulb should not be expected to look the same as the old one until it runs a while.

CSixDude

The entire design of the headlight assembly on the C6 is very poor if you ask me. If anything happens to one of the lenses, you have to buy the whole $900 unit and replace it. That's pretty bad for something that is directly exposed and vulnerable to rock hits. Not to mention the way they will craze and crack on their own as they get old from heat. I also do not believe it is "normal" for them to get moisture or condensation in them. If it is, then something is wrong with the design.

I sure hope GM brings back the pop up headlights on the C7, or does something to improve the design of them.

70454

Not to state the obvious, but with the re-install of the bulbs, could the viewing angle be off a bit?

alexlate

Fred - I totally agree with you on the headlight assembly structure. But as much as I love my Vette we have to realize GM is not our friend in this situation. The headlight assembly, along with just about everything else, is made to be the way it is on purpose. They don't want you, or me, or anybody else except dealer mechanic doing anything - and by anything I mean ANYTHING. If people would have an easy access for cleaning headlights themselves, like it's in Toyotas, Hondas, and majority of other cars, nobody would spend money on $900 headlight assemblies. GM wants money, more money than you paid for your dream car. Electric door locks, tire sesors - its all meant to break at some point and when it does, oh boy, you're in for a dollar ride.

So I would not be so optimistic about upcoming C7 - things will only get more complicated. I would not be surprised if the entire hood compartment will have one big cover (being sarcastic) that will have some specialty GM-type screws making it impossible to open. Message is loud and clear - GM does not want you to do anything - but pay pay pay.

alexlate

I tried everything including taking the entire headlight assembly out, taking all of the wiring out hosing the inside to make sure the actual low beam lens was clean. Everything seems fine and the bulb is still slightly dimmer. BTW the bulbs are the same from before - once I realized it was not the bulb that was causing the problem I put the old one back in so they exactly the same on both sides. Weirdness...

AORoads

so maybe the old bulb has diminished in output. try taking it and putting it on the right side, switching bulbs side to side. or try putting in a new bulb only on the driver's side.

I don't know if these bulbs are the same as others, but most now recommend no touching of the glass with hands/fingers, literally. and if done, wiping off with iso alcohol. did you touch the glass portion at all?

good write up. and btw, re the tire sensors? they are mandated on all cars from about '09 model year---that's every foreign and domestic car. Corv. was just slightly ahead of the legislation in doing it on C6s.

alexlate

Yeah I did rotate the bulbs as you mentioned I also plugged in new one. I think I'll let it go for now - as long as it works it's fine by me. And u are right about tire sensors - it was a bad example

Knob Jockey

HID Lamps increase in color temperature as they burn in and age.

The new lamp should look different than the older one.

If it really bothers you, replace the other one too and you'll have a spare.

Gearhead Jim

[QUOTE=alexlate;1575027216]Fred - I totally agree with you on the headlight assembly structure. But as much as I love my Vette we have to realize GM is not our friend in this situation. The headlight assembly, along with just about everything else, is made to be the way it is on purpose. They don't want you, or me, or anybody else except dealer mechanic doing anything - and by anything I mean ANYTHING. If people would have an easy access for cleaning headlights themselves, like it's in Toyotas, Hondas, and majority of other cars, nobody would spend money on $900 headlight assemblies. GM wants money, more money than you paid for your dream car.
...
[QUOTE]
Old saying:

"Never attribute to deliberate evil, something that can be explained by simple incompetance."

LKicklight

Recently had an opportunity to replace my low beam bulbs with some new 6000K's, when I removed the inner fender cover, the first thing I noticed was, the boots were off the back of the hi and low beam bulbs. To my knowledge, this is the first time the inner fender cover has ever been off.
Think I will go back in and use some kind of rubber cement to hold the covers on more securly.
Of course that all seems to be a waste, she never gets driven in bad weather anyhow!
LKicklight

PHLGUZZ

I also had a problem with my right side light assembly. I drove through a rather large flooded area and it sprayed all over my car. There was a sudden rain storm when I was coming home from a vette show. Well to make a long story short my head light assy got flooded with water and it would not go away.
I called my dealer to find out that my car had just went out of wauranty about 2 months ago.
So the only choice was for a rock to hit the lens and puncture a small hole in the lens. The insurance company had to pay for the repair.
The unit is 900.00 plus labor to replace.
So, hopefully if this happens to your vette maybe you'll get lucky and a rock well also damage the lens and let the water in.

LS WON

Is it true that new factory low beams are $200 a piece?

cclive

Ancient thread...

Levey

I know this thread is super dated, but I just had an experience too similar not to share.

My driver side headlight had a TON of water inside. the HID low beam also happened to be inoperative. Since the high beam and turn signal worked, I hope the HID bulb was out. I opened the bulb access flap to find both water covers off of the back of the headlight. No wonder there was so much water. New bulb produced no light. Fuses were all fine. I refused to accept that I would be buying a new ballast.

Then I found this thread. I went back out, took off all that inner wheelwell plastic, dropped the ballast (accompanied by a splash of water), dried it out, reinstalled, and boom! I didn't even need a new bulb.

Hopefully the moisture covers will stay on this time...

RicardoFors68

Love happy endings, good to know