[Wolf 335]

Originally Posted by Socket

Removing condensate from headlights

So in my last post I mentioned that my headlights were full of condensate and needed some attention. With the mornings getting colder, the problem was only getting worse and it was only a matter of time before it shorts out the headlight ballast etc. So time to take off the front bumper and get the headlights out

With the headlights out, it was easy to see where the water was getting in. The was a 3 - 4 mm gaps between the lens and housing. On both the passenger and drivers side headlight. The clips were all in place and fitted properly but just looked like the sealant had shrunk (or not enough had been used when the lights were assembled ) Regardless they needed to be dried out and resealed with new butyl.

So into off with the covers and into the oven (100C for 10 mins), then a new bead of sealant and a quick pressure test (aka blasting with the garden hose) .

No leaks, so all good to reinstall..... problem fixed and good for at least another 50,000 km

Pics below

Pic 1 - Condensate in headlight
Pic 2 - Bumper and headlights removed
Pic 3 - That's a fair bit of water in there
Pics 4 & 5 - Pretty sure this is where the water is getting in
Pic 6 - Water in the headlight ballast
Pics 7 & 8 - All sealed up with new sealant
Pic 9 - Pressure tested and all good to reinstall
Pic 10 - Job done

Great effort in getting this fixed.

Can you share which sealant you used? Was heating required for removal or for curing?

[Socket]

Originally Posted by jzx_andy

Good work Socks.

How do you rate the AD08R's?

Thanks Andy.... AD08Rs best all round tire available imo

I have tried heaps of different tires including the pilot super sport 4s but the AD08Rs are my favorite in both the dry and wet

They are pretty exy and getting harder to find. I normally buy mine when they have 3 for 4 sale which keeps the cost down.

On my forth set now with 2 of my 3 sets of rims fitted with em

Hope this helps

[Socket]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

Great effort in getting this fixed.

Can you share which sealant you used? Was heating required for removal or for curing?

Hey Wolf. Great question mate.

I use butyl windscreen sealant. There is heaps on ebay and amazon but the cheaper stuff tends to be hard and doesn't seal very well. I personally use the Orgavyl brand stuff (see pic below). Its a few dollars more but it is soft and pliable and easy to work with.

The butyl sealant sticks to everything, so I wear disposable gloves and change them as they get ripped or gummed up. You can use your bare hands but it butyl sticks to your skin and is a bastard to wash off

Degreaser dissolves the butyl, so I use it to clean sealant residue from the headlight seal and anywhere it needs to be cleaned off (eg on the headlight lens).
I use the local brand from super cheap auto (see pic) but any generic degreaser will do

The headlight needs to be heated in an over at 100C for 10 mins to soften the sealant so the light can be pulled apart. Once heated the lens can then be pried away from the headlight housing, leaving the two halves with old sealant around the edges.

I use an old screw driver to dig out as much sealant as I can and then use degreaser soaked cotton sticks to clean up any remaining residue.

It is a time consuming and messy job, but it 100% worth doing. It makes the job of test fitting AE rings etc so much easier without old sealant getting in the way and making a mess.

When its time to reseal the headlights, I cut off a 3" length of butyl sealant (using scissors) and roll it out to about the thickness of a pencil. I then press the rolled out butyl rope into the channel around the edge of the headlight housing until there is a continuous thread all the way around

Next I press the lens back into the headlight housing and bake in the oven for another 10 mins (to soften the sealant) before pinching the lens and housing together with a some pillars. The clips on the headlight should click into place and hold the two halves together with a little of the sealant squished out of the channel to form a water tight seal.

Put everything back together and test by hosing down the front of the headlight with a hose. If no water gets in, then job done

Now that's the proper way of doing it. In this case I simply went over the old sealant, with a new bead of sealant and pressed everything into place.
Looks ugly as hell and has about four times more sealant around the headlight then it needs, because who has time to do it the proper way LOL :

[Socket]

Just ticked over the 200,000 km mark
SPCGRY still looking ok for its age

[Wolf 335]

Originally Posted by Socket

Just ticked over the 200,000 km mark
SPCGRY still looking ok for its age

E92s shape ages amazing.

I just hit 318,000km and I still find her looking sexy.

[ADEe92]

Nice one!

Have to admit mine is a youngster, has only just ticked over 100,000km so hopefully many more happy kms of motoring to come.

[Socket]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

E92s shape ages amazing.

I just hit 318,000km and I still find her looking sexy.

300,000+ wow that's amazing... how's it running??

[Socket]

Originally Posted by ADEe92

Nice one!

Have to admit mine is a youngster, has only just ticked over 100,000km so hopefully many more happy kms of motoring to come.

Have fond memories of 100,000 km, you would be due for some major maintenance soon

[Wolf 335]

Originally Posted by Socket

300,000+ wow that's amazing... how's it running??

Rear shocks and bank 2 injectors are due for surgery.

Aside from that she's been running great (knock on wood).

[Socket]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

Rear shocks and bank 2 injectors are due for surgery.

Aside from that she's been running great (knock on wood).

Nice. Amazing mileage Wolf... hopefully many more to enjoy

[Socket]

Memories

[Socket]

Has been a while since my last post

Not much happening given Melbs is in lockdown 6.0

Did install a set of ADV O2 sensors because we keep burning out stock 02 sensors every 2000 km
Having a few problems getting them to play nice tho, so car is running super rough atm

Meanwhile Gary is in the shop getting some electrical work done. I will do a proper write up when the car is back hopefully later this week

[Socket]

MOD 134 - CLARION & ANDROID 10 HU

So its been a while since the last mod.... Regular readers will know I have done a fair bit of work on the audio system over the last year or two. I thought it was done with audio upgrades, but I had problems with my NBT and CIC HU (CAN wire issues). On top of this I had an old school Clarion HXD2 sitting in the cupboard looking for a home..... So after much deliberation I decided to get rid of the OEM HU and go a completely different route.

The major problem with this plan, is the OEM HU is the heart of the cars entertainment and information systems. Importantly providing an output to the in dash screen. There are android systems on the market that provide an updated screen display but generally they require the HU to plug into for power, audio etc. But to make room in the dash for the clarion, the NBT HU had to go. With the NBT HU gone, there would be no screen, telephone, nav etc
The solution came in the form of an Android 10 HU that with a bit of fancy wiring can run independently (does not piggy back off the OEM HU) and interfaces with the Clarion HU via an aux input

There is no way I could ever get this to work, so I bundled everything up and took it over to Automotive Integration in Moorabbin. Matt is a top guy who really knows his stuff. Not only did he get everything working together, but he also got the steering wheel controls idrive, reverse cameras and parking sensors fixed. Along the way sorted out a parasitic battery draw and tidied up all my RGB AE wiring.... I would totally recommend Automotive Integration to anyone in Melb who needs electrical work done

For an old school HU the Clarion sounds amazing. In terms of sound quality, it is at another level, even compared to master digital Flac files.

The system needs to be tuned again to balance the 8 output channels from the Clarion and Ill need to install some new dash trim but that is for another day

[umr]

Very nice, what do you plan to do with the open space surrounding the HU? You may possibly be able to hit up one of the 3D printers in Melbs and get them to print you the frame for the HU

[Socket]

Originally Posted by umr

Very nice, what do you plan to do with the open space surrounding the HU? You may possibly be able to hit up one of the 3D printers in Melbs and get them to print you the frame for the HU

I have a aerpro fascia plate on the way
It should have been here last week, only it is being delivered by Aramex who are by far the most hopeless courier company in the world

[TiAgAu]

Very cool! Those old clarions are nice units. Had no idea you could run it independently like this. Good job

[Aus335iguy]

Originally Posted by Socket

I have a aerpro fascia plate on the way
It should have been here last week, only it is being delivered by Aramex who are by far the most hopeless courier company in the world

Concur- Armax/fastway shitest ever couriers known


Shipping estimate 3 august… 16 th august still in transit.
I'm moving house tomorrow the courier can suck it

[Socket]

Originally Posted by GovernUrMental

Very cool! Those old clarions are nice units. Had no idea you could run it independently like this. Good job

Yes I didn't think the android 10 could run independent of the CIC HU, but yes it can

[Socket]

Originally Posted by Aus335iguy

Concur- Armax/fastway shitest ever couriers known


Shipping estimate 3 august… 16 th august still in transit.
I'm moving house tomorrow the courier can suck it

omg I hate dealing with them

[ADEe92]

Nice work! Does the Clarion have the ability to change the colour of the screen / back lighting to Amber to match the interior lighting?

[Socket]

Originally Posted by ADEe92

Nice work! Does the Clarion have the ability to change the colour of the screen / back lighting to Amber to match the interior lighting?

Ah no its pre RGB lighting hahah

[kookie]

Did someone say led replacement mod