Clear Corners and DRLs Just Don't Get Along,.,.,.

[F1GT]

If you have DRLs and get the Clear Corners, whether they be diamond or regular, it WILL warp!!! I am on my third set. The first two were regular, so you cant seen thru to the lens much. But the 2nd set, it burnt rite thru one day from water leaking in and all.

The 3rd/current set is Diamond Clear. I drilled a couple of tiny holes on hidden locations to try to dissipate the heat to prevent warping.
Then I found out was leaking water in because a few weeks after the install it rained and water got in and you can see it!! I put RTV silicon around the already warping bulb inlet and all over the entire assembly, but water still gets in.

I LOVE the clear lens, but the damn DRLs are warping the cheap plastic. I took a look at my stock ones, had them "on" for 9 months and still looks good, as it should, since it's factory.
I like the orange glow from the DRLs too. So, I am SOL.,.,.,.,.,

just thought I shared that,.,.,hehe
[img]graemlins/burnout.gif[/img]

[Mister_Johnny99]

Well, this is certainly a timely post!
I just went through this 2 days ago!
I've had the clear corners since day-1.
I got them from RKS.
My car is just over a year old.
Couple of weeks ago; I noticed some moisture in the lenses. Note to self, dry out lenses.
Last week; Right turn signal not working. Put in new bulb. Problem solved.
Next day; Bulb burned out again. Upon closer inspection, I see a quarter inch of water in the lenses.
Next day; Remove lenses to dry out(PITA). WTF, they're all warped and melted back there!
So I clean it up best I can and put it back together untill I can fix it better.

Solution; I have export headlites w/city lites, so I'm rewiring the DRL's to the city lites, and I ordered new clears from APC for half the price of RKS!
Stay tuned!

[Mister_Johnny99]

Hey F1GT!
Who makes those diamond clears?

[TheV6Bird]

OK, two 98-02 guys had the same problem. What about 93-97 Camaro guys? Did GM use a higher wattage bulb or something in the 98-02 models?

I don't have DRLs on my car, but have any 93-97 Firebirds had this problem?

[F1GT]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Mister_Johnny99:
Hey F1GT!
Who makes those diamond clears?<hr></blockquote>

dunno who makes them, but I bought them HERE
[img]graemlins/burnout.gif[/img]

[F1GT]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by TheV6Bird:
OK, two 98-02 guys had the same problem. What about 93-97 Camaro guys? Did GM use a higher wattage bulb or something in the 98-02 models?

I don't have DRLs on my car, but have any 93-97 Firebirds had this problem?<hr></blockquote>

Well, if you have DRLs it's a different story because the bulb is on the high wattage filament during the day, which gets pretty hot, so will warp the cheap plastic.
[img]graemlins/burnout.gif[/img]

[nikon]

huh...I got the ones from apc....now I will say it did melt a hole in the back of the right side clear corner....but still works fine...the left side I never had any probs...but I found that the way i was putting the bulb in was making it touch the side (on the right)...sop I flipped it around and haven thad any probs since .... I got some eurolite bulbs in there ;)

[Mister_Johnny99]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr> dunno who makes them, but I bought them HERE
<hr></blockquote>
COOL!
I think those will match my export headlites better!

[Red2K1]

F1GT,

One simple solution -- disable your DRLs. That is what I did and no problems. DRLs are not required by federal law contrary to what some may say.

[hou-tex-six]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Mister_Johnny99:

COOL!
I think those will match my export headlites better!<hr></blockquote>


What are export headlights? Never heard of this.


Cp

[nikon]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by hou-tex-six:



What are export headlights? Never heard of this.


Cp<hr></blockquote>

euros...look in my sig ;)

[Mister_Johnny99]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>What are export headlights? Never heard of this. <hr></blockquote>
Cars that are made to be shipped overseas have many subtle differences from cars that are made for sale in the U.S. When looking up specific parts, you will find one part number for the standard part, and another one that says "FOR EXPORT ONLY". Somthing I picked up from the Impala_SS guys is to replace the headlite assy's with EXPORT models. They have a much better beam pattern, and include a small extra bulb called a "city lite".

[97chevycamaro]

Your supposed to put black silicone around the edges of those so water wont leak. On mine it had a warning that said "To prevent water leakage in the lenses you must apply black rtv silicone around the edges of the lense, If this is not done water will leak into lenses and cause bulb failures and there is no return for this item"

[F1GT]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by 97chevycamaro:
Your supposed to put black silicone around the edges of those so water wont leak. On mine it had a warning that said "To prevent water leakage in the lenses you must apply black rtv silicone around the edges of the lense, If this is not done water will leak into lenses and cause bulb failures and there is no return for this item"<hr></blockquote>

It is not leaking from the lens, but from the the gap created from the bulb warping the plastic around the top of the reflector housing. I have applied "HondaBond"(Honda's Gray RTV Sealant) all around the lens b4 I installed them. But it still leaked in. So, for sure its not the lens, but the gap from the warpage caused by the hot bulbs.

[img]graemlins/burnout.gif[/img]

[F1GT]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Red2K1:
F1GT,

One simple solution -- disable your DRLs. That is what I did and no problems. DRLs are not required by federal law contrary to what some may say.<hr></blockquote>

Like I said, I like the orange glow and Clear corners, so I'm SOL unless they make it out of some HT plastic or find some low temp bulbs.