Headlights

[fenderbender]

My car's headlights seem to have this dirty haze inside. I removed the headlight assembly from the car. I planned to remove the headlight's glass from the plastic casing in order for me to wipe clean the inside of the glass. The glass seemed to be tightly glued to the plastic casing, and I was not able to dismantle it.

Given this, how can I clean the inside of my headlights? Do you think pouring glass cleaner through the hole (part were you slip in the halogen bulb assembly) would remove the haze?

[johnart]

you may use the glass cleaner from the opening at the back however the reflector which makes the lights bright will be damaged in the process. Unfortunately if the headlights are getting dark and blurry its time to replace them. In some internet sites I have seen the headlights are replaced when the car reaches 100k km as a recommendation from the manufacturer.

[orly_andico]

you can try removing the front glass. use a heat gun or a high power hair dryer to soften the glue which attaches the front lens to the body. be very careful, i broke *both) of my front lenses doing this.

the effect is very worth it though; pouring glass cleaner in through the back just doesn't cut it. after removing the lens, wash with soap and water. the difference is amazing, they are like-new.

(in my case, since i broke the lenses, i glued them back together with Loctite Glass-Bond; so they look good as new but if you look closely you can see the breaks -- so i'm gonna replace the headlights when i have more cash, so if you're gonna clean your headlights, be careful not to break the lenses)

[ian_rex]

i have the same problem with my headlamps (Civic 96), do i need to remove pa rin ba yung headlight assembly? if so, muikhang mas sound advice yung bumili na lang. pero ok din ha, mukhang "smoked" headlights nga e. (refer to my avatar) kaya lang ang drawback is when driving at night medyo malabo kahit mataas ang wattage ng bulbs ko.

[Ungas]

Not all headlights can be cleaned and dismantled. There are instances that the reflective part can be damaged in the process. Alam ko sa Civics pwedeng tanggalin ang lense cover sa housing. Just like chieffy did to his ride. Sa RAV4 ni BlackMagic nasira yung reflective part naman nung sinubukan linisin ng cleaner.

[orly_andico]

BTW i tried cleaning the insides with warm water and soap first. Nasira yung coating.

Other people (particularly the Banawe boys) would recommend liquid sosa. I'm sure that's even harsher. Kung nasira yung reflector sa warm water and soap, liquid sosa pa kaya...

What I did with my lights is, after I removed the headlight lenses, I sanded the reflectors and spray-painted them with silver paint (100 petot at True Value). The silver paint is not as reflective as the original paint, but it will do for now. Particularly since they are just on the high beams (the low beams on my car have their own housing)

Ang alam ko newer cars do NOT use glass lenses anymore, so the risk of breaking/cracking the glass is much less. Still, kahit glass yung lens, it should be possible to dismantle and fix, and restore to like-new condition. You just have to be patient and careful (which I was not..)

[Walter]

Some shops charge 300 pesos to clean headlights. They use welding to "pop" out the lens.

[GlennSter]

mga nalinis ko nang headlights are tht of ACCORD, SAFARI , and LANCER ITLOG.

what i do is put cotton together with water and a little soap..tapos uga ugain mo..ung cotton pupunasan niya ung loob ng lens as you shake it....

then use HAIR DRYER to dry the inside....

[BlackMagic]

We now offer cleaning of headlights without dismantling them nor wetting. Bring it to our shop and we would gladly do it for P500 a pair.
Note: Yung lens lang ang malilinis. Yung reflector part di namin gagalawin.

[the_wildthing]

Pano yun loob?

Eto yung nakita ko sa web:

http://faq.auto.light.tripod.com/hl-general.htm

How do I clean a reflector lamp?
Cleaning the outside of a headlight should preferrably be done with soap and water, and is considered very streigth forward.

However, cleaning the inside of a headlamp becomes more tricky since you will face the same challenges as cleaning the inside of a bottle:
Remove the headlight bulb.
Remove the headlight from the car.
Fill the headlight about 1/2 full of distilled water and put in a few drops of dishwashing liquid.
Cover the bulb opening and shake the housing for a minute or so.
Pour out the soapy water.
Fill the headlight about 1/2 full of distilled water.
Shake, drain.
Repeat rinse.
Rinse again with 1/4 cup of rubbing alcohol added (promotes drying).
Drain.
Let headlight dry, open end down (overnight), or you can use a hair dryer to speed things up.
Reinstall headlight.
Reinstall bulb.

At eto naman sa labas:
http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/sho...=&threadid=322

[lance]

pinalinis ko sa banawe boys lens ng lancer itlog ko using liquid. ayun luminis lens pero nasira reflector!
bumili nalang ako ng surplus japan. problem is: right hand drive sa japan kaya iba ang light pattern nya! may madilim na part sa gitna & parang silaw ang incoming vehicles!
san ba merong surplus na phil. parts? or basta left hand drive.
yung taiwan na brand new right hand ba yun? ok ba yun?
thanks sa lahat ng magrereply!

[snyc3]

ok naman taiwan brand as long as it s in a box and just chk the rubber fillting bhind the light if it's properly fitted. Coz this is the part where water usually sips in and makes your lens cloudy. Also avoid using FAKE or unknown headlight bulbs w/ very high wattage coz this types burn your reflectors. I usually recomend branded lights like Raybrig, Philips, Hella, etc. Japanese brands usually has a 55/60W but w/ an equivalent of 100W in brightness. Just remember higher wattage means more heat unless u use a HID system w/c would cost around 20 to 30T +++ depends on the brand.

you can also clean the lens yourself using detergent soap solution, water, and dryer. The technique for this one is just to RINSE completely out the soap and make sure it is really dry b4 re installing it. Coz water could coz ur reflector to separate from its base coz it's only vacuum chrome. Goooooodluck

[mojako]

blackmagic/theveed
500 pre pair? ayos! how long does it take to clean a pair-civic?

[BlackMagic]

Mojako,
If the headlight is uninstalled na from the car, it should take no more than 20 mins for the pair. Nagpapatagal is yung pag tanggal ng headlights from the bumper.

[ian_rex]

sir blackmagic, yung smudge ba sa headlight ng civics, normally sa lens lang yun?

[BlackMagic]

yup.

[Bud_wiser]

sorry to resurrect this thread but I have to ask...

Is it hard to realign headlights after you remove them for cleaning? Kasi with older cars, you have the option to adjust your headlight vertically and horizontally. So is it the same with the newers cars, or are their headlight designed to be install-and-forget?

[Ungas]

Not really, all you need is a flat wall and 7-9 meters of flat, clear pavement to work on.

Afaik, all headlight assemblies have different set of screws that can be loosened to remove it completely without altering with the stock alignment.

[shampooking]

What I did to clean my headlamps was pretty simple: dishwashing liquid, water, and tada!, feeding bottle brush. Mas maganda kung makabili kayo ng brush with sponge, babaliin na lang. Safe pati sa reflector. Pagkalinis, heat gun pati labas para siguradong tuyo.