Headlight removal

  Top of Page

hi

can anyone pls tell me how to fully take apart the front headlights on a Gen 3 Lib. mine are foggy on the inside and i want to clean them. any pics wuld be good too.

cheers

toolman
useravatar

Posts:  48

Status:  Offline

Re: Headlight removal

  Top of Page

so no1 know how to clean the myst/foggyness out of headlights? i need to know coz mine has heaps and looks s***

toolman
useravatar

Posts:  48

Status:  Offline

Re: Headlight removal

  Top of Page

You should be able to figure out how to take your headlights out of your car just be gentle as you don't need to apply much force. There is no need to remove the front bar, just a few retaining screws and plugs, very easy.

To take your headlights apart, remove any screws that may be holding the lens onto the housing, from memory there are at least 6 with one hidden behind some sticky foam (I have a B4). Put these in a safe place for re-installation later. Dont' worry about removing the rubber seal around the top edge. I also removed all the other bits like the plugs and bulbs as you need to place the headlights in the oven. Not sure if everyting needs to be removed I did just in case.

As I said you need to bake them in the oven. This will loosen the glue between the front clear lens and the rear of the housing. Pre-heat the oven to about 120-130 degrees celsius and place one headlight on on a tray with baking paper for 6 minutes. Dont place it too close to the heat source

Take the headlight out of the oven (using some oven mitts or gloves). Use a couple of flat blade tools like screwdrivers to pry apart the headlights. Stick one screwdriver in between the lens and the back of the housing and pry it apart. It won't come off in one go so just work your way around the headlight. If you work too slow the adhesive will harden, in this case just place the headlight back into the oven and start again. You might need to adjust the time you leave it in the oven depending how warm the housing still is. Don't get any adhasive on your reflector or lens and becarefull not to scratch anything.

I'm sure you can work the rest out. Just repeat the whole process in reverse order once you are ready to seal up the headlights.

Just as a suggestion I would take a closer inspection of your headlight housing and make sure everything is sealed up. I can't remember my headlight suffering from foggyness.

OZsuby
useravatar

Posts:  86

Status:  Offline

Re: Headlight removal

  Top of Page

Sometimes the polycarbonate lenses go 'foggy' when exposed to ultraviolet light (wrong headlamp globes), look at some of the late 90's Fords. This cannot be cleaned off so, as OZsuby said, make sure its dirt or similar before you go ripping the headlamps apart.
Cheers
J

RX25SE
useravatar

Posts:  634

Status:  Offline

Re: Headlight removal

  Top of Page

there is a polish that gets it out but only for a limited time....my advice would be look for a secondhand headlight....cheaper in the long run. as if you pull it right apart, when it comes to sealing it up it will no seal and you wil get moisture in the headlight etc, which will cause more headaches as the bulbs will burn out and other things will corode due to the moistuer being there...

Subarujunkie
useravatar

Posts:  3351

Status:  Offline

Re: Headlight removal

  Top of Page

hmmm....thanks for the tips guys. iknow for sure its moisture on the inside of the lights coz it doesnt come off when i wipe it on the front...what if i did what OZsuby said nd pull it apart and then when i goto put it together agen i run sum silicone around the outside join?

toolman
useravatar

Posts:  48

Status:  Offline

Re: Headlight removal

  Top of Page

It they were my lights, I would pull the headlight from the car then inspect them to try to figure out why there was moisture building up in the headlights in the first place then go from there. It may be a loose fixture or some unexpected hole etc. Taking the headlights out of the car is really easy and only takes a few minutes. However pulling the lens apart from the housing is royal pain in the a*s.

If your deadset in pulling it apart, remember to reheat the headlamp in the oven when it comes time to reseal and use as many clamps as you can fit on the headlamp. Alot of projector retrofitters don't worry about the silicone, they just reheat and reuse the existing adhesive, however it dosen't hurt to use some 100% rubber silicone.

Are both headlamps foggy or is it only one? Are there actual moisture droplets or is it hazzy blured rough up plastic?

RX25SE - When you say "sometimes the polycarbonate lenses go 'foggy' when exposed to ultraviolet light (wrong headlamp globes)" does this mean the lens becomes foggy on the inner side (reflector side) of the lens? I have heard that the protective layer on the outside can be damaged via cleaning etc and become hazzy but I haven't heard about it getting damaged from the inside.

OZsuby
useravatar

Posts:  86

Status:  Offline

Re: Headlight removal

  Top of Page

Not exactly sure of the science behind it but when these types of headlights were first used the headlamp globes were emitting UV light which reacted with the polycarbonate turning it cloudy. You may have noticed that current globes have 'UV cut' or similar on them to prevent this problem. Im guessing that the quality of the headlamp plastic has also been improved.
Theyre not really damaged from the inside but I guess as the light passes through the lens it would react all the way through.
Cheers
J

RX25SE
useravatar

Posts:  634

Status:  Offline

Re: Headlight removal

  Top of Page

well iv tried to remove the lights from the housing by heating it up etc, but i culdnt get it to come apart... one is alot cloudier than the other. culd it just be from light exposure wear n tear nd its jus tarnished the covering....

toolman
useravatar

Posts:  48

Status:  Offline

Re: Headlight removal

  Top of Page

I pulled a fog light apart to clean it. It took about 20 minutes at about 150 Deg C to get the mastic soft. I just kept putting it in, leaving it for another 10 minutes & so on. I used a putty knife with a broad thin blade to lever it apart. It requires a bit of force to break the initial seal, so a narrow blade increases the chance of breaking something.
I used mastic after I'd reheated it & pushed together. It hasn't leaked since.
Just make sure it really is fog inside - my headlights looked a bit foggy & I used a plastic cleaner. Look like new, but you do have to keep doing them every 6 months or so. Someone mentioned a protective film that gets taken off with cleaning, & this makes sense.

peal
useravatar

Posts:  56

Status:  Offline

Re: Headlight removal

  Top of Page

ahk, wat kind of plastic cleaner did u use peal? i washed the lights and the fog disappeared but then it came back when i dried it. so i know its not on the inside. i then used mineral terps nd it has kinda worked but still not really clear.

toolman
useravatar

Posts:  48

Status:  Offline

Re: Headlight removal

  Top of Page

I used Meguires, but most of the polish companies have a specific headlight cleaner. Any autoshop like Supercheap will have some product.
I wouldn't use turps or any other solvent, as it may react with the plastic.

peal
useravatar

Posts:  56

Status:  Offline

Re: Headlight removal

  Top of Page

oh ok. cheers for the help ill try it this weekend.

toolman
useravatar

Posts:  48

Status:  Offline

Board Info

Board Stats:   Total Users: 12431  Total Topics: 19479  Total Polls: 12  Total Posts: 151087914  Total Posts Today: 6
User Info:   Newest User :  Beans GT   Members Online: 0   Guests Online: 107
Online  There are no members online
Generated in 0.587 sec. Queries: 112
RSS - Subscribe to ozLiberty feeds Twitter - follow our tweets MySpace - Join our groupFacebook - Join our group