How to Fix Headlights--Cloudy, Yellowed, Cracked, Moisture, Broken

How to Fix Loose Parts Inside Headlights

2010-01-22T11:02:00.000-08:00

To fix loose interior parts inside the headlight, first take all the bulbs and covers off. Look around very good with a flashlight to see if you can tell what part came loose. Sometimes a ball comes out of a socket, and you just need to pop it back in. Sometimes a post will break loose and you can use a regular plastic epoxy to glue it without taking the light apart. Only take it apart if you absolutely have to. Fix what you need to fix, and put the headlight back together.

How to Clean Water/Moisture Buildup from Headlights

2010-01-21T11:12:00.000-08:00

The next problem I will explain is the problem of water getting inside your headlights. If you want to dry the headlight out, you can take the bulbs out, and place a shopvac hose over one of the holes until all the moisture gets sucked out. If you want to clean the water spots left inside the headlights, you can soup up some type of flexible rod or wire with a piece of microfiber cloth such as the ones sold by Amazon Cables Unlimted ACC-FIBER6 Ultra Absorbent Microfiber Cleaning Cloths (6 Pack) on the end of it to fit through the bulb hole. Just put some ammonia-free glass cleaner on the end of it and wipe away! If you want to clean the inside really well, you will have to take the headlight apart. Depending on the type of adhesive used on your particular headlight, this can be easy or difficult. Pinch some of the adhesive at the seam of the lens and the housing. If it stretches like gum, it is probably a type of hotmelt. In this case, all you have to do is heat up the seam with a hot air gun (such as the one pictured below at Amazon) until you can easily separate it. If it doesn't stretch, it is a type of epoxy adhesive. In this case, you will have to find a way to heat up the whole headlight. One option would be to put in in the oven for a few minutes at a time. Just be very careful not to let it get too hot and melt. When it is so hot that you can barely touch it, take it out and shove a flathead screwdriver into the groove all the way around. You might need to add additional heat with a hot air gun or a propane torch. Heat is the key. All adhesives break loose at a certain temperature. As long as the bond-breaking point of temperature is lower than the melting point of the plastic, you will be fine. Most headlights fall into this category. If you keep heating it, but it won't budge, then you won't be able to get the light apart without seriously damaging the housing. Proceed at your own risk.

Once you get the light apart, you can use a microfiber towel and some ammonia-free glass cleaner to wipe all the interior parts to a shine as long as the water damages isn't too severe. You can tell by whether the chrome has turned black or not. If its already black, don't even touch it unless you want to make it worse. To put a hot melt light back together, just heat up the hot melt in the channel of the housing until it gets really hot, then stick the lens back on and squeeze it as tight as you can to get a good seal. If the light was an epoxy bonded light, you will need to purchase some type of good plastic bonding adhesive to put in the channel. Just make sure you clean all the old epoxy out of the channel first! As an extra precaution, you can even spread caulk around the seam to be sure no water will be able to penetrate the headlight assembly again.

How to Fix Cloudy, Yellowed Lenses on Headlights

2010-01-20T10:22:00.000-08:00

The next problem I will cover is the problem of extreme weathering on the outside lens of the headlight. This is a fairly serious problem with older cars and significantly reduces your headlight's effectiveness to light up the road.The reason is because headlights spend much time sitting in the sun and getting very hot. The sun wears down the protective coating that the factory put on the lenses. Then the coating starts to peel and look very nasty and yellowish. This problem isn't the end of the world--you again have several options. OPTION #1: buy one of those kits available such as the one in the picture below. Most of the kits work surprisingly well. The advantage to this particular one is that it contains a special UV coating to protect the headlight from the sun. The problem with most others is that they only last months at most. Then you will be back in the same boat. The reason being that those kits have you sand the surface of the headlight to remove the nasty yellowed coating. Then the bare plastic is exposed. Then they have you use a polish on it. The polish is just that--polish. It won't last very long. OPTION #2: Take the headlight off your vehicle, sand it down with a palm sander beginning with 400 grit wet sandpaper and working up to 2000 grit wet sand paper. Clean the surface well with surface prep cleaner. Then you can spray an automotive clearcoat on the plastic. If there are a few imperfections in the clearcoat, they can usually be buffed out. Otherwise, you could take the headlights to an automotive shop that can paint a high quality automotive clearcoat on them. This option should last several years longer than simply sanding and polishing because the clearcoat will protect the plastic lens from the sun.

How to Fix Cracks and Broken Tabs on the Housings of Headlights

2010-01-19T11:54:00.000-08:00

The first problem I will cover is a crack in the body of the plastic housing or a broken tab of the headlight. At this point, you have two options. The first option is use an epoxy that will bond that type of plastic. It is vital that the correct type of epoxy is used for the correct type of material. For example, an epoxy that is made for metal might not bond plastic as well, vise versa. Some general use epoxies will bond very well to certain types of plastic but might not stick at all to other types. Unfortunately, the most common types of plastic used in the automotive industry can't be bonded with regular epoxy. Chances are, your headlight is made from polypropylene (PP).

You can usually find some capital letters printed somewhere on the headlight housing. PP is a smooth plastic that is slightly flexible. If your headlight has other letters on it, seems to have almost no play, and is a rougher texture, a regular epoxy might work on it. But if it's PP, your options are more limited. One option is to use a product made by 3M called Scotch-weld. This epoxy is made for thermoplastics like PP. It will be your best choice when repairing cracks or broken tabs in the headlight housing. Amazon sells it along with the special dispenser that is required to use it. Here is a link to the epoxy:3M Scotch-Weld Structural Plastic Adhesive DP-8005 (for most headlights) Here is a link to the dispenser:3M Scotch-Weld 9170 EPX Plus II Applicator with 2:1 and 1:1 Plunger (required to properly mix the epoxy for the headlight)
The next option you have is a device known as a plastic welder. There are many different types of plastic welders, and some are easier to use than others. The more common type is the air-powered type that is connected to an air compressor. It is basically a handle with a metal tube running through it. As the air moves through it, it is heated by an element in the handle, and the air comes out hot. The hot air is used to melt a plastic rod into the existing plastic, bonding everything together. The downside to this method is it is very difficult to master and the results aren't usually very pretty. A less common type of welder that is much easier to use looks very much like a soldering iron with a special tip on it. To fix a crack in the housing, the hot tip of the iron is used to melt a groove all along the crack, and then the crack can be filled in by pushing the plastic ridges back into the groove. Then you can add more plastic if you want. Tabs can be fixed the same way. Simply melt all around the tab while holding it in place, then fill in the cracks and add extra plastic for strength. The key is to mix the plastic from the two pieces together so it keeps its strength. If you simply try to tack it on, it won't hold very well. If this method seems like it would work better for you, click on the picture below and you will be taken to Amazon were you can purchase the complete kit. They are really great to have around, and you'd be surprised at how many things people throw away just because they are made of cheap plastic and broke. Many of those things are easily repaired.

Introduction to Headlight/Headlamp Repair

2010-01-18T16:16:00.000-08:00

Modern headlights are expensive! This is especially the case with newer vehicles that have fancier lights on them. It is surprising how much technology goes into them now. Some have High Intensity Discharge (HID) systems built into them. Some even have wipers built into them, similar to a windshield wiper in order to keep them clear of snow and rain! Almost all the newer ones contain fragile yet beautiful chrome bezels and shiny interior lenses. Much time and money goes into designing and manufacturing the modern day headlight. It's no wonder why they cost as much as they do. A headlight for a small economy car might sell for around $150-$200, while the headlight for a higher end luxury or sports vehicle could easily end up in the thousands.

The problem comes into the scene when you find out that you need to buy yourself a new one. fifteen years ago, a new headlight would cost about twenty bucks. So it might be surprising to you when go the store and find out you will be forking out several hundred for your vehicle today. The good news is that if you are somewhat handy with basic hand tools, you can easily repair that headlight yourself, saving hundreds of dollars.

The following problems are almost always repairable: cracks in the plastic, severely weathered front lenses, broken off tabs, interior water leaks, and loose interior parts. You will surprised at how easy it is to fix some of these problems that people often spend hundred to replace. Take that headlight out of your car and get to work!