Condensation Inside Headlight!

[itpesaf]

Hey guys,

I seem to be getting what looks like condensation within my headlights. It got a lot worse after the last wash I did, because now there is whitish stuff in there which I think might be from the high pressure soap spray I used. I polished up the outside of the headlights a few weeks ago, but the condensation inside is really pissing me off!

I have read on us forums that you can open the headlights by baking them - and I was going to do this to clean the inside lens and spray the insides black, but apparently if I so much as even look at the inside of the lens it will get scratched up beyond repair and look crap!

Just wanted to see if anyone on here has ever opened up the headlights, and if so did you attempt to clean up any condensation on the inside of the lens? what and how did you do it?

I was wondering could I use one of those headlight resto kits but on the inside of the lens? maybe some light sanding?

Any help would be much appreciated - also if anyone has a spare drivers side headlight hit me up

Cheers

[..350GT8..]

U can bake them then pry them open.. Have done this on my old s2000.. Just needs a good wipe.. Cos there really isn't anything in there to get if dirty enough to need a buff.. Just a good clean rag and give it a good clean..

Then put them back together..

[itpesaf]

so its ok to wipe the inside lens? I've read some thread from the us where they say the inside will scratch up because of the uv layer and it will look much worse? Will a simple wipe down with a clean rag and water/glass cleaner scratch up the inside of the lens?

[..350GT8..]

i dont think it should do anythings.. last time i used a chamois and just gave a quick wipe.. but make sure theres nothing left in there when u go to put it together..

[Deep Dish V35]

the other thing you can do is get hold of some silica gel (the sachets you find in shoe boxes) and securely mount some inside the rear main holes of the headlight assembly. the gel will absorb moisture and reduce future fogging.

worked in my bmw

[81gSKy]

My RHS Headlight is stuffed, oxidation inside and outside. I followed a DIY thread and it worked as mention by baking and prying, but my headlight was too far gone to restore. So I put it back together and it's working as per usual, now I'm on a group buy for new headlights. So really it depends on how bad it is damaged, I tried it cause there's nothing to lose.

[itpesaf]

yeah I would love new headlights but I'm a bit poor to afford them atm. I might give this a shot on the weekend, hopefully i can make them look better - I'll take pics regardless and post up a diy. If they turn out good I'll be blacking out the insides also.

As for putting them together again, are there any good products I can use that will last a long time? I'm thinking silicon rubber or marine silicon sealant?

[sonicii]

if you have a coupe.. these are on ebay.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Nissan-Skyline-V35-350GT-G35-Genuine-Factory-Headlight-LEFT-/270953236988?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3f161249fc

[itpesaf]

Cheers mate - I'm going to give opening up the headlight a crack and see if it will work.

According to the US boys the lens from the inside is VERY easy to scratch because of a very thin UV coating on the inside - would this be the same for the jap cars?

I'm thinking I'll open it up and first just run some water through it, if it gets rid of those white marks from the wash then I'll dry to get rid of the condensation and then reseal, However if I can't seem to get rid of the white marks just with water (and depending on how brave I'm feeling) then I might try some alcohol, if that doesn't work I might try wet light sanding to remove the thin coat, polish it up - then I'll seal it using a UV sealant so that it doesn't go hazy (any recommendations?)

Edit: there is a headlight resto kit they sell at autobarn (not like most of the pos brands) which has everything including a clear coat/sealer which you need to allow to dry off for 1 hr, Might buy this and give it a shot on the inside of the lens.. Looks like I'll be the pioneer for this as I can't seem to find anyone else who has every attempted this before which is kinda weird as our headlights are notorious for going all hazy.

Edit edit: I'm doing this tonight! From what I've read the best way to clear up any haze would be to wet sand - with the use of 1200 grit as your final, then polish and then apply a couple coats of a good clear coat instead of a headlight sealer (I'm going to be using high temp engine/caliper enamel). A guy who did it this way has said his headlights still look new 2 years later!

Edited April 11, 2012 by itpesaf

[itpesaf]

tried it. EPIC FAIL

[Vimana]

elaborate.

[Deep Dish V35]

yes, wet rub with 1200 grit works.

if you dont retreat the plastic with a new UV coating, it will go cloudy again... but that is easily fixed with plastic polish once a month..

[itpesaf]

Ok well it didn't turn out as bad as I thought -

This is what the headlights looked like before -

I don't know what all the white stuff was (definitely on the inside as I had done a proper headlight restore a week prior) but it was stuck to the lens, only way to remove was to sand..

Another shot -

So I decided to bake them! Trust me, this is not for the feint of heart, it took a lot of courage so I'm proud of that I baked them for around 7-10 mins at 100 degrees.

After baking I opened up the lens (It is stuck on with some silicon/rubber adherent) and proceeded to pull it all apart. After doing so I cleaned the insides of the headlight with glass cleaner and a microfiber cloth and then tackled the inside of the lens.

After a few wipes I started to smudge the clear coat on the inside so I had to sand. I wet sanded the inside lens first using 600 grit then gradually moving up and finishing with a light sand using 1500grit sand paper. After sanding the insides I cleaned the lens using glass cleaner and polished it up. After wiping away all the polish I clear coated it using a high temp enamel spray. I coated the inside lens with 4-5 light coats.

After assembling everything back together (I did a proper clean of the outside of the lens as well) it turned out something like this -

No more yellow haze!

All in all I reckon the result was pretty good - I will never do this mod again though, it wasn't easy and it took quite a long time.

Ohh and the epic fail I was talking about - well if your thinking of doing this PLEAASE PLEAAAAAASE don't do it if your not a very patient/meticulous worker lol, the actual technique I followed wasn't bad at all (results were good) however a major flaw in this diy was me! I rushed it a little at the beginning and accidentally dropped the inner headlight casing and viola -

I put a clean snap through the plastic If I could have been f**ked, and if it wasn't so dark I probably could have fixed it as I was planning on painting the insides black anyway - however I really couldn't be stuffed opening the other headlight just to pain the insides so I left it. Its actually not that noticeable, especially from far away - but its there and for that reason I will probs just buy another headlight to replace it and just keep this one as a spare.

Still it looks a lot better than before when it was all murky and oxidised inside..

Edit: I reinforced the factory rubber seal with some marine silicon on the outside so hopefully I won't get any more water getting into my headlight

Edited April 12, 2012 by itpesaf

[81gSKy]

Great attempt, too bad my headlight was too far gone to repair... Would of saved $500 in purchasing new headlights, but oh well an excuse to mod... I'll give sanding a go after I get the new headlights in.

Edited April 13, 2012 by 81gSKy

[itpesaf]

Yeah they turned out good - but just bought a right hand side drivers headlight in good condition for 300 delivered - and thats just because of the bloody crack! I would have kept the headlight otherwise.

I might open her up again when I get the new headlight and see if I can repair the crack and cover it up well by spraying the inside of the headlight black.