Bad tail light housing

[lxrick]

Most of all lights have an open vented design to get rid of moisture, even headlights. For decades..
The problem occurs and gets now even worse because of the use of LED lights which are much colder than the old fashioned bulbs.
In the past the heat of the bulbs kept the moist away or dryed the lights quickly. This has changed and is a prob now.

Another issue are colder headlights with HID or even more with LED´s in winter. This is where "premium" car makers have extra heated headlights.
To prevent moisture and blind headlights full of snow that doesn't melt anymore while driving.

 

[Artie]

How many people read the manual prior to purchase?

I did as soon as I could download it after receiving my VIN... I also enjoy the dentist so I may be weird.

 

[JExpedition07]

I did as soon as I could download it after receiving my VIN... I also enjoy the dentist so I may be weird.

LOL, maybe not. How’s she look?

 

[Artie]

LOL, maybe not. How’s she look?

I’m a married man so that’s completely irrelevant.... /s

 

[JExpedition07]

I’m a married man so that’s completely irrelevant.... /s

Bahaha yep. Maybe a bit weird.../s

 

[Blackscreen67]

Dealer said this is a very common problem that results in many warrantied F150 lights. Not as common on Expeditions, but mainly due to being less in service.

 

[Uturn]

It looks like the main issue may occur during pressure washing. With the shape of the body under the taillights I could see where if when pressure washing the spray is aimed toward the rear at the front of the taillights the spray could blow through the bulb seals(which do not appear that tight) into the lenses. I looked everywhere for the vents, including blowing compressed air in to the lights, and could not find the vents unless they are built into the bulb sockets themselves.

 

[Sgt Darkness]

Noticed on my 18 one of the tail lights has moisture right in the same place. Will monitor to see if it get worse....

 

[Atticus Mabrry]

Really? I get hard shifting between any gear on every vehicle I've DRIVEN when they're still "cold" even with what was considered brand new with anywhere from 1-5000 miles

This is the worst! Even the passengers notice it. To the point I try and run the car for a while before I transport people when its cold. Hope this gets fixed SOON!

 

[michguy]

Since I am interested in replacing my 08 Expedition, I decided to look over the Expeditions at the local dealer to see if any exhibited the condensation issue. I only saw tail light condensation on one vehicle, a Limited model. I noticed that the tail light housing on the XLT models is somewhat different than the Limiteds which have LED lights.The cover on the Limited models even has a specific Ford part number whereas the XLT's have what looks to be essentially the same as on F150's. Anyway, I was convinced that perhaps this wouldn't be an issue on an XLT. HOWEVER, from reviewing the postings it appears that UTURN, who reported a literal flood in his light housing, described his vehicle as being an XLT. So much for me theory. So is this problem in fact not related to the LED set up? Is there a missing rubber gasket or some such that Ford eliminated to save 50 cents? I have been driving Expeditions (3) since 98 and never had this problem. I have had the "peeling paint on tailgate" issue that Ford refuses to accept responsibility for, and am somewhat nervous about the new model given Fords current cost cutting drive. Anyway, is it correct to say that this taillamp issue appears to be unrelated to whether or not the taillights are LED and XLT vs. Limited etc.?

As a side observation, from what I see and hear in my area, (southeast Michigan where there are a lot of A plan folks, which usually drives some demand for new vehicles), the new Expeditions are not exactly flying off the shelf, probably due to the pricing of the new model.