DOT Headlamps -- damp inside?

[Morganizer]

I bought an L300, and somehow the first two owners neglected to replace the original headlamps. So I took it to a *reputable* Delica specialist (who shall remain un-named while I give him a chance to make good on his foibles) to have them replaced with DOT standard lamps. He warned me that there will be no dramatic improvement over the original ones, they'll just be technically legal in Canada. I told him to go ahead.

First thing I noticed driving at night is the signs on the right side of the road don't disappear in inky blackness just as I get close enough to read them. This is good.

Actually that was the second thing I noticed. First thing was that the beam of light has a rainbow-coloured fringe around it, and there's a kind of prism pattern on the ground just ahead of the vehicle.

Is this 'normal' for DOT standard headlamps, or is something really awry?

Third thing: driver's side headlamp has condensation inside it. I thought these things were "sealed beam".

Original lamps were by Keiko, new ones are by Depo.

Any advice on replacing headlamps would be appreciated, thanks.

[TardisDeli]

Sounds pretty normal to me. Deli lights are not the brightest light in the world. and no they are not ''sealed beam'' the headlight housing is sorta sealed but i've seen a lot of lights with condensation in them.

[jessef]

check the gasket on the bulbs. that's where moisture makes it's way in

[Artacoma]

I would check the aim as well , find a wall at a flatish parking lot and see if the beams hit the wall at the same height.

[TardisDeli]

HI, I have Never noticed a rainbow ring showing on the ground (and we see quite a few delica's from friends driving in and out of our back yard, and at mini meets in IKEA etc). Keito is the japanese company, Depo and souest are the 2 most commonly sold here in Vancouver. Depo has the better internal adjusters than the souest which seem to be able to be adjusted once before the adjustment screw threads are stripped and useless. Some owners take the adjusters from the Keito ones and put them into a souest thus you are using the correct reflector shape of the souest or Depo, but with the better metal quality of the japanese adjusters. Headlights are the weakest item on the L300. Jay TardisDeli is often helping other delis to adjust their lighting issues.

As Rik suggests, check the aim, that might be why you're getting rainbows, which actually are light beams Bending or Refracting off the reflectors, hence indicating badly aimed lights. For the headlight aim adjustment, a very rough method is to park on a flat surface, with a wall 25 feet away. Turn off the engine and lights, Get outside your van. Measure the height from the ground to the centre of each headlight, put a piece of masking tape on the wall at those heights and width. Now add a second set of tape marks on the wall 5 cm Not inches below the first marks. Turn on the headlights. Low beams should be focused on the lower set of marks (hint, think of low beams having the dipped light so they don't blind oncoming drivers). The higher marks are for High Beams. BEWARE when adjusting lights, don't be rough with the adjusting screws remember you may only get one adjustment from the very soft metal.

As Jesse Farsang said re the water, check the housing at the back of your headlights, where the wires go in and out, maybe you need some silicone to prevent water getting in (although it is not all that common a problem, hmmm, wonder are you also getting a wet carpet inside the vehicle from rain water, perhaps you have water running down an accesory wire such as an antenna or another light set).

When we're off road, I find the fog lights on the bambi bar actually have better effect than the usual headlights.
Christine.

[Morganizer]

Thanks for all the input. The original headlamps had silicone all around them, and maybe this is why. I will check them out. Argh, I just paid to have this done properly, and am going to end up doing the work myself.