neurocity

iTrader: (17)

Just refreshing this thread for people.

RalAegidius

So after reading O.L.T.'s huge thread about removing, cleaning, and resealing the headlights on our cars, I finally had the nerve to try it myself.

The results were great, and I have a whole bunch of pictures. Rather than duplicate O.L.T.'s information, my post and pics should be considered an addendum rather than a substitute. If you haven't read his guide, I recommend doing that first.



Removing the wheel is not necessary. Just turn it all the way inward to give you room in the wheel well.




You will need a socket wrench with a 6-inch extension rod and a 10mm socket to remove the 3 mounting screws for the headlight. This particular one is a 1/4" driver, but you can use a bigger wrench if you can make it fit inside the wheel well.




The wheel well liner has multiple pieces , and is theoretically attached to the body rim as well as its parts being attached to each other. Depending on the age/condition of your car, any or all of these screws might be missing. The only ones you really need to remove are the one holding the top and bottom parts of the liner together, and one holding the top part of the liner to the car body.




Once the liner screw(s) are removed, push the edge of the liner toward the front of the car to get it out of the groove on the car body. Then, pull back the corner gently. You just need to be able to get your hand/wrench in there. The liner may be brittle, so be cautious.



Once the liner is pulled back, you should be able to see two nuts holding the headlight enclosure's threaded pins. Use the 10mm socket with extension to loosen them, then use your HAND to unscrew them fully once they are loose. Otherwise who knows where they will fall. If you need to replace these screws, they are M6 flanged hex nuts with a 1.0 pitch.




Your 3rd screw is on the top.

RalAegidius

The enclosure will need to be lifted slightly to get it past the bumper edge.




Check for the locations of the flat clamps on the enclosure -- these are the best places to pry to lift it. Be very careful not to damage the bumper or the paint. You may wish to tape or put a cloth here first.



Once screws attaching the headlight to the car are removed, you will still have to do some wiggling to get it out. This is one of the places you can insert a screwdriver to GENTLY pry the enclosure forward.




This is 1 of the 3 electrical plugs you will have to detach when removing the headlight from the car.




The turn signal bulb and its socket unscrews from the enclosure with a simple quarter-turn. When reassembling, there's only one way the small tabs can fit into the different-sized holes on the enclosure. Take a look at it before spending 20 frustrating minutes trying to re-screw it back in. My error is your benefit.




This curved, rubber tube is part of the ventilation for the enclosure. Be careful not to damage it while handling. In older cars, this part may be hard and brittle. If it breaks off, Crazy Glue fixes it pretty easily.

RalAegidius

BEFORE BAKING:



The enclosure will have a handful of small bracket clamps on the top and bottom. These can be removed with gently prying with a screwdriver blade. Pay attention to how they attach so you can put them back on later. The wide clips are the same shape but attach differently depending on whether they are on the top or the bottom of the enclosure.




There may be additional small screws holding the enclosure together after you remove it from the car. Remove these screws prior to baking in the oven.



It's recommended that the headlight be placed on a cookie sheet or somesuch to prevent it from coming into direct contact with the oven wall or racks. Preheat the oven before putting the headlight in, but DON'T preheat the tray.

Let me take a moment to discuss the baking process. OLT recommends 10 minutes at 300F, with the oven pre-heated. I ended up having to do this process twice on each headlight -- basically doing 2 sets of 10 minutes at 300F, with a few minutes rest in between. The first heating was not enough to soften the silicone.

In any case, I do NOT recommend just doubling the heating time. Your oven may heat differently or have an inaccurate gauge. Do OLT's 10 minutes at 300F, then take the headlight out and try it. If you cannot get it apart, reheat the oven to 300F and put it back in for another 8 minutes or so.

Remember to wear oven mitts when you take it out of the oven!!!

RalAegidius

I recommend that you begin the separation on the fat end of the enclosure. It's easier to get a good grip on both parts, and the groove in this location is shaped to make separation straightforward. You may find the turn signal mount hole to be a convenient spot to stick in a finger for leverage. Pull firmly but slowly.




Silicone seal will be soft upon removal from the oven, but the enclosure may still require a flat-bladed instrument such as a screwdriver to begin the process of separation. Remember to wear gloves because the enclosure will be hot to the touch! (No, it won't set the drop cloth on fire)




Separate the front and rear parts of the enclosure in even increments on each side. The long, thin running-light bulb is vulnerable to sideways movement. Pull the two parts away from each other parallel to this thin bulb mount.



Headlight enclosure disassembles into 3 main pieces, the front cover, the chromed plastic housing, and the rear mount where the bulbs and lens are.





This particular headlight had a damaged glass lens -- just around the edge where the round frame held it in place. The result was a considerable amount of glass dust inside the enclosure, which not only came out onto the floor, but got stuck all around the edge in the now-softened, warm silicone seal.

RalAegidius

This is the most tedious part of the process. You need to remove as much of the old silicone as possible in order to ensure a good fit for the re-sealing. I spent 3 hours with two small, short-blade pocket knives doing this. Personally I find it sort of meditative. It's something you can do in front of the TV as long as you watch your hands and wear gloves.

In the pic above I have removed old silicone (gray putty) from the receiving groove in the enclosure.

Clean the inside of the enclosure. For the black rear part, I just wiped it clean with a rag to remove dust and glass debris. The chromed part got a light pass with plastic polish. The clear front part was cleaned on both sides with plastic cleaner followed by plastic polish using a terrycloth applicator pad and a microfiber towel.

The glass lens should be cleaned with some kind of glass polish or glass wax. Use gloves when putting the lens back in place and don't touch it afterward, or you'll wind up with haze and fingerprints all over your newly cleaned lens.





For the re-sealing, I used 100% silicone "gasket and seal" adhesive. Put a new strip of silicone all the way around the enclosure in the receiving groove. Press the parts together firmly. Be careful not to get the silicone all over you. (If you do, it wipes off easily while it's wet) Put back any small screws you had to remove from the enclosure, and replace the bracket clamps.

To reinstall the headlight in the car, just reverse the steps you took to get it out.



Ta da! You are done!

RalAegidius

One more thing:

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to wear gloves whenever possible during this procedure. By my count, I avoided at least 5 serious slashes or cuts to my hands. Mechanic's gloves are your friend!

bcp_sc300

iTrader: (1)

NICE DIY!! Should had this when i did my HID 4years ago

Classified

By all means wear gloves! I did this awhile back and I did get some good scrapes that could have been easily avoided. Good write up too. For those that are nervous, don't be. Just do it and don't look back because the results are amazing and you'll be glad you did!

Nick Lewis

Awesome write up, I will be giving this a try in a couple of days..
Also, how has the silicon held up?.. I've heard of the headlight having
condensation even after resealing

SClean4

i need to do this, only cleaned the outside so far.


One of these things fell off my headlight while I had it out and didn't know where to put it back on at... so thanks for the info and pic. I might do this one weekend, along with my tail lights to clear.

Touge

iTrader: (4)

Excellent write-up!

RalAegidius

I just finished doing both lights yesterday, so time will tell. I've read people say that if the condensation recurs, it's because the seal wasn't done right, and/or the points of intended ventilation are not working.

VJZ

iTrader: (3)

Aw do I have to wear the gloves??

lol


It isn't hard.


Just make sure you don't do what I did:

I bought a headlight on Ebay from this b**ch lady who wouldn't honor her auction that said MINT condition and threatened bad feedback (Ebay doesn't care about you anymore to help with this). I Had to replace one from hitting
a deer. It leaked immediately after installing and washing the car.


So, i heated it up with a small heat gun and tried prying it open with a screw driver (HUGE mistake). This warped the black housing and I could never get the damn thing to reseal correctly, even after four tries. I just deal with it now in hopes of fixing it after I redo the front end of the car

RalAegidius

Ugh. I think the heat gun probably did an uneven job, and maybe overheated the enclosure at spot-points rather than all over. Putting the whole thing in the oven is brilliant, really (this is not an uncommon sort of procedure for headlight enclosures in other cars).

By the way, I'm a woman, and if I can do this, so can you. I admit I'm mechanically inclined, but a little common sense goes a long way with DIY projects like this one.