Originally posted by FROSTY SVT:
where is this moisture being "stored"...any ideas?...thanks



Warmer air holds more moisture than cool air. That's why condensation occurs on your cup of icewater in the summer. The air, with water molecules "in suspension" (not sure if that's technically correct...) hits the glass, cools off below the dew point, and the water falls out of suspension into liquid form.

As for headlights, it doesn't matter how dry you try to make it in there, the ambient air is going to get back in. It's not a hermetic seal. Lights on, the air warms up, expands, and some of it leaves the headlight. Lights off, the air cools, causing a pressure differential again, and air is going to be drawn in, usually around the bulb o-ring.

Early Contique headlights are vented, to help manage the small amount of condensation that occurs. So, it's not really a problem unless the condensation starts to accumulate into a puddle, never goes away, etc. That could be a sign of a cracked lens letting in rain and road splash, or just a clogged vent preventing the exit of moisture.

Function before fashion. '96 Contour SE "Toss the Contour into a corner, and it's as easy to catch as a softball thrown by a preschooler." -Edmunds, 1998