Dynamic bending headlight fault (DBL)

D.J. · Mar 2, 2025

Nedstand said:
The mystery to me is why it isn't on the routine maintenance schedule.

No shit...

If it requires periodic maintenance/replacement, it absolutely should be listed in the owner's manual.

Volfy · Mar 11, 2025

Geronimo said:
Just out of curiosity. What would happen if you just remove desiccant and bracket without replacing it?

I removed them from my '19 soon after I bought it in '20. Never replaced them and I've noticed no condensation ever since. Mind you I live just off the TX Gulf Coast famous for being humid year round. This week, day-night ambient temp has been between high 40F to mid 70F. Leave your car outside and it'll be covered in 2gal worth of dew in the morning.

By design, headlight assembly has to have a vent to equalize pressure inside with outside atm. If the air is humid, moisture will get into the headlight. Those desiccant will last probably less than a week around here. Utterly pointless. Fortunately, there is built-in thermal dehumidifier in every headlight assembly... the halogen bulb. Leave it ON and it'll dehumidify far better than those desiccant bags.

Geronimo · Mar 11, 2025

Volfy said:
I removed them from my '19 soon after I bought it in '20. Never replaced them and I've noticed no condensation ever since. Mind you I live just off the TX Gulf Coast famous for being humid year round. This week, day-night ambient temp has been between high 40F to mid 70F. Leave your car outside and it'll be covered in 2gal worth of dew in the morning.

By design, headlight assembly has to have a vent to equalize pressure inside with outside atm. If the air is humid, moisture will get into the headlight. Those desiccant will last probably less than a week around here. Utterly pointless. Fortunately, there is built-in thermal dehumidifier in every headlight assembly... the halogen bulb. Leave it ON and it'll dehumidify far better than those desiccant bags.

Thanks man, great info. I don't really care about bending lights, but warning light is annoying. I will just remove brackets.

D.J. · Mar 11, 2025

Volfy said:
Utterly pointless. Fortunately, there is built-in thermal dehumidifier in every headlight assembly... the halogen bulb. Leave it ON and it'll dehumidify far better than those desiccant bags.

.....
But... . The LEDs do run cooler, much cooler.

Volfy · Mar 11, 2025

D.J. said:
.....
But... . The LEDs do run cooler, much cooler.

True. with the GT2 (projector-type) LED headlights I now have on my '23 2.5T, very occasionally I'd see the fogging before the morning commute. Mostly over the upper portion with the amber lens area. I'd proceed to drive with the headlights ON, and by the time I get to work, the fogging would be all gone. Other times, I'd see the fogging disappear after sitting in the sun. However much heat the LED headlight does produce and/or absorb, it's apparently enough to dehumidify itself... at least with my car.

Curiously, I've never seen fogging inside the reflector-type LED headlights that came stock on my 2.5T. Not the halogen ones on the '19 base either.

theoreck · Jul 30, 2025

Wow... So Kia won't replace mine under warranty. And the TSB according to them is just a "How To" and not a "Warranty Recall" so they want to charge me to have them replaced... After reading the TSB, I realized this is a very easy fix so I decided to DIY. Then I realized the stupid plastic pieces and moisture packs are like $50 + Tax + Shipping $75-$80 for some stupid plastic brackets and moisture packs you can find on Amazon for a few bucks... Thus, My Asian side decided to just repair the brackets and buy some alternate Desiccant packs and DIY it all! Whole process including removal of the damaged brackets/packs, plastic welding the brackets, heat and reshape of brackets, and installation of new packs, and reassembly was just around 1 hour. I used a soldering iron and a large black Zip tie to weld the bracket tabs, a hair dryer to heat up and reshape the brackets until they were semi "Flat" again, and a simple drill bit to remake the screw holes. They fit like a glove, and bam my headlamps are moving again! For any of you that are DIY savvy, and you've got a soldering iron laying around, I've attached a few pics showing the process and how it turned out. Of course you can always buy the parts and do it that way, but this was fun for me and I enjoy tinkering on things myself.

Geronimo · Jul 30, 2025

theoreck said:
Wow... So Kia won't replace mine under warranty. And the TSB according to them is just a "How To" and not a "Warranty Recall" so they want to charge me to have them replaced... After reading the TSB, I realized this is a very easy fix so I decided to DIY. Then I realized the stupid plastic pieces and moisture packs are like $50 + Tax + Shipping $75-$80 for some stupid plastic brackets and moisture packs you can find on Amazon for a few bucks... Thus, My Asian side decided to just repair the brackets and buy some alternate Desiccant packs and DIY it all! Whole process including removal of the damaged brackets/packs, plastic welding the brackets, heat and reshape of brackets, and installation of new packs, and reassembly was just around 1 hour. I used a soldering iron and a large black Zip tie to weld the bracket tabs, a hair dryer to heat up and reshape the brackets until they were semi "Flat" again, and a simple drill bit to remake the screw holes. They fit like a glove, and bam my headlamps are moving again! For any of you that are DIY savvy, and you've got a soldering iron laying around, I've attached a few pics showing the process and how it turned out. Of course you can always buy the parts and do it that way, but this was fun for me and I enjoy tinkering on things myself.

Good job man.

fbo_stinger_p · 2025-10-05T17:44:01-0400

still same problem and i change it with new one in both sides
same us in photo still DBL not working any help ? i try to disconnect batt... also not working

D.J. · 2025-10-05T18:50:17-0400

fbo_stinger_p said:
still same problem and i change it with new one in both sides
same us in photo still DBL not working any help ? i try to disconnect batt... also not working

Can you elaborate on what you mean exactly by, the same problem?

Most people's problem was that the light was impacting physically against the swelled desiccant pack. Are your DBL motors not working, and they are not impacting the swollen desiccant pack?

fbo_stinger_p · 2025-10-06T09:22:31-0400

D.J. said:
Can you elaborate on what you mean exactly by, the same problem?

Most people's problem was that the light was impacting physically against the swelled desiccant pack. Are your DBL motors not working, and they are not impacting the swollen desiccant pack?

i mean after i change the MOISTURE ABSORBENT and BRACKET with new one in both sides same as photo i shared , the sign in dash is still there and the DBL not working nothing change my headelights even not dancing when i turn car on i dont know where is the problem

D.J. · 2025-10-06T09:58:43-0400

fbo_stinger_p said:
i mean after i change the MOISTURE ABSORBENT and BRACKET with new one in both sides same as photo i shared , the sign in dash is still there and the DBL not working nothing change my headelights even not dancing when i turn car on i dont know where is the problem

And this is after clearing the code? The code returns immediately?

fbo_stinger_p · 2025-10-06T10:09:16-0400

D.J. said:
And this is after clearing the code? The code returns immediately?

code is not showing in DTC , i sholud clear it from BCM ? OR there another way

D.J. · 2025-10-06T10:40:13-0400

fbo_stinger_p said:
code is not showing in DTC , i sholud clear it from BCM ? OR there another way

You could try a good old-fashioned battery disconnect.

fbo_stinger_p · 2025-10-06T16:38:29-0400

I Tryed , nothing change :.(

D.J. · 2025-10-06T16:39:40-0400

fbo_stinger_p said:
I Tryed , nothing change :.(

Sounds like you are going to need to get a good enough scan tool that is able to access the body control modules, and clear the stored code

Dynamic bending headlight fault (DBL)

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