Are my headlights that bad ? - opening a can of worms ???

[vatovey]

Morning all,

Failed MOT on Friday afternoon  s:( s:(  , fortunately it was something relatively simple - needed new front brake discs and pads, I fitted these on Saturday and will have mot retest this afternoon, on Sunday I gave the car a wash and wax - very nice results  s:) s:)



Anyways, when I was washing the car, I noticed that there seems to be quite a bit of condensation in the drivers side headlight, with the passenger side light not far behind either.

I was thinking of taking them apart and trying to repair whatever is broken, has anyone had any success in repairing mr2 headlights ?, or is it a case of replacing with new ?

Or... am I just overreacting  ?

[ad_car_08]

Can't say I've ever had that much condensation in my headlights. Any that does appear to form is always gone a couple of days later after some night time driving - I presume?

I have noticed that you're headlights are suffering that yellow'ish fog that used to bug me so much with mine. I'm not sure if there's a better method/product to use - in which case I'm sure someone will be along shortly to correct me - but after trying various things one day I found Turtle Wax Bug & Tar remover the best at getting rid of the yellow fog. Granted it needs a bit of perserverance & elbow grease, but seemed to work for me.

[roger]

If you've just washed it on what was really quite a cold day, then let it sit in the sun I reckon you'll bound to get a bit of condensation, just from the difference in air temperature from outside to inside.

I wouldn't worry about it too much yet, but if it happens a lot in the future then remedial action might have to considered.

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I have the same problem the yellowing of the headlight is on the inside there is also a bit of condensation. Can you tell me with the turtle wax did you clean inside the lens of the headlight to get rid of the yellowing

If anyone else has ideas of how to cure the yellowing headlight problem please post? I have read the sandpapering off the UV layer with very fine wet sand paper then reapply a UV coating for protection but not sure how the results would be. I dont want to buy new headlights as they are hard to find I believe.

[Ilogik]

Meguires PlastiX works treat, other option if they are really bad is to wet and dry them. Depends if your have a spyder web like effect in the plastic, this is no repairable. I got a quote for headlights from toyota, £110 a unit. Wonder if CTP can do them cheaper.

[vatovey]

doesn't look like  s:( s:(

 m http://www.cheaptoyotaparts.co.uk/index ... &Itemid=26 m

If Toyota dealers can do them for £110 each, I might just get a set from them instead.

[Ilogik]

the above are facelift mate, toyota want 110 each unit for post facelift. Car looks so much better with new looking lights though.

[vatovey]

thats good news  s:) s:)

I have just taken off the front bumper to remove the front lights, I am going to have a go at repairing/cleaning my headlamps before I take the plunge and spend £220 on a new pair from Toyota, when I eventually get to the stage of putting the headlamps back together, in order to get a good watertight glue seal - what glue should I buy ?



--

Anyways, when I took the bumper off I had a quick look at the main radiator, and the air-con condenser unit right by it, not good - not good at all, the pair of them were falling to bits   s:( s:(    s:( s:(    s:( s:(    s:( s:(  

When I touched them they literally disintergrated in my hands, but surprisingly - the car doesn't overheat, and the air-con works fine, so I am stuck as to what to do now, should I replace, or simply wait for them to fail, then replace ?



Which radiator is which by the way ?, it looks like the rad nearest the front of the car is the air-con condensor and the rear rad is the main radiator.

[Ilogik]

im not sure on rads, if the stock one does the job just look out for one from a car being broken.

[cclarke99]

I've seen worse radiators still working, but a lot have failed (mine included) on the older cars so I'm not surprised it's looking a bit tired. For that reason I'd replace it now as sods law says it will eventually go at the worst possible moment. I worry (possibly for no reason) about loss of coolant, and consequent engine damage so like to keep things in good repair.

Theres a post on Spyderchat which details the exact process for resealing the headlamps. It didn't look that easy and in my experience the condensation soon disappears if you use the car

[grsymons]

I used the spyder chat guide to split my headlights (pre-facelift), its a doddle.Just make sure you are not going to upset anyone by using the oven to heat the glue   s:D s:D  

It turns out that mine were shot and full of micro fractures, so I bought new from toyota.


EDIT: sypderchat link added below
 m http://spyderchat.com/forums/showthread ... match-car! m !

[vatovey]

my local motor factors company was closed when i just went to price some air-con and main rads  s:( s:(

bought some megs plastiX while i was out, the oven is pre-heating as I type this, nuts and bolts have been removed... the bun is about to go in the oven  s:) s:)

just hope it all doesn't melt into a goo   s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

[grsymons]

If you are giving it a go be really carefull when you split the lens. make sure that you dont end up pulling long stringy bits of glue that then stick everywhere. its a pig to remove from plastic afterwards.

[vatovey]

will do, thanks for the last minute warning, have put first headlamp in oven - ready to come out right now  s:) s:)

[vatovey]

have split the lens from the casing successfully, have tried cleaning the lens up with megs plastix, yellowing/cloudyness aint budging, going to look into using sandpaper now, am sure there was a good guide on here or another website about that.

[ad_car_08]

Hi,

I have the same problem the yellowing of the headlight is on the inside there is also a bit of condensation. Can you tell me with the turtle wax did you clean inside the lens of the headlight to get rid of the yellowing

If anyone else has ideas of how to cure the yellowing headlight problem please post? I have read the sandpapering off the UV layer with very fine wet sand paper then reapply a UV coating for protection but not sure how the results would be. I dont want to buy new headlights as they are hard to find I believe.

Nah, just the outside with the headlight in situ.
Granted you need a small amount of patience and a little elbow grease, but I found mine definitely vanished using this stuff

[vatovey]

Finished re-assembling headlights and bumper this evening, also polished up the headlights with a rotary polisher.

Am reasonably impressed with the lights now, not many sandpaper scratches left at all.

For anyone thinking of sanding thier lights, I suggest starting at 2000 grit and going up to 3000 or above, I started at 1200 grit, then 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000 - but starting so low meant that I had lots of deep scratches at the end, fortunately I have a rotary polisher which got most of the scratches out with the aid of PlastiX and T-Cut.

[JoniiBoii]

Still really need to do this! I can see it going really wrong though!

[Deadmanwalking]

Question, is there a downside (trade off) for using Meguiars Plast-RX to remove yellow? Will my lights become clearer but duller for example? Or just look like new  s:D s:D

[JoniiBoii]

well ive got plast-RX and yes it does work, for a week, if that....plus id like to colour code the inner parts of the light ...

[Anonymous]

well ive got plast-RX and yes it does work, for a week, if that....plus id like to colour code the inner parts of the light ...

The plastic polish should last a while if you spend enough time to poilsh out the lows.
On reding this thread i was thinking exactly the same thing! Has anyone broken down their lights and colour coded and have a picture reference?

The way you disassemble these units is exactly the same as the RX7 rear lamps, You take them apart and spray 3" circles to the earlier spec units to copy the later 99 spec's that everyone desires but at almost no cost this way.   s:D s:D  

I used a heat gun to get apart (melt glue) and ensured lots of sealant when putting back together to avoid the 'condensation problem'. I am tempted to do my 2's to paint though this time, what are peoples opinions on this mod?

I have to be honest and say i dont like the 'Bling' later spec headlamps, they are too 'crome' which normally reminds me of very poor lexus wanna be rear light units, boy/girl racers usually bolt on their corsa's from halfrauds   s:? :? s:?

[MisterK]

I read this post yesterday & noticed the recommendation about the Turtle Wax Bug & Tar remover.  As it is such a nice day today decided to give the car a wash & wax - using dodo juice purple.  Noticed a small blemish on one of the headlights so had a go on a the small area with the Bug & Tar remover I have sitting in my garage.  With a bit of elbow grease the blemish is no more & the lense cover is like new.  You watch, when I next have to go out in the car on Wednesday to go to work, it will be raining & all my hard work will be messed up!

[nahk54321]

This is all very useful information. (Yes I know it's an old post, but while I'm here I thought I would ask & if someone can help it will help very much & maybe others browsing this page in future)

One of my headlights does not have condensation or yellow marks but... has tiny micro fractures. I rub my hand over these micro fractures I can't really feel cracks. Still flat smooth surface. So must be on the inside.

I'm thinking of doing the same as the gentleman above (Vatovey) by opening them up & using the same sandpaper & buffing them.

Would this work & get same results like his pics???