cleaning headlights..??
03-05-02, 07:52 PM
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cleaning headlights..??
hey guys.....me and a friend are going to take on the challege of opening my up my drivers side head light, cleaning it, and resealing it so that i have to deal with my homies calling my car the one eyed *****
first of all....how do i get the light out..?? do i have to take off the whole bumper to do this......? and also what will be the best method of cleaning it and puting it back together...thank you for your help in this matter
first of all....how do i get the light out..?? do i have to take off the whole bumper to do this......? and also what will be the best method of cleaning it and puting it back together...thank you for your help in this matter
03-05-02, 08:18 PM
#2
whoah whoah whoah
Before you go taking it apart, have you tried some of the methods that other CL members have used? If you do a search you can get a list of suggestions. Off the top of my head I can recall sanding the headlight with sandpaper (i don't remember what grit #) and my personal choice (worked for me and several others) is to try meguiars step 1; remove oxidation.
nick
Before you go taking it apart, have you tried some of the methods that other CL members have used? If you do a search you can get a list of suggestions. Off the top of my head I can recall sanding the headlight with sandpaper (i don't remember what grit #) and my personal choice (worked for me and several others) is to try meguiars step 1; remove oxidation.
nick
03-05-02, 08:20 PM
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03-05-02, 08:28 PM
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thanks guys i apreciate the help...the thing about it is though....is that i have tried many different things to try and fix this problem.....plus....on the actual inside of the headlight on the housing there is like some type of crust or something....i guess from moister always getting inside....well here goes nothing....i will post some pix of the end result....thanks
03-05-02, 09:12 PM
#5
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Alternative Method
Use this link to take out the headlight.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...headlight+ikon
One word of caution, protect the surrounding area so as to not scratch or chip the paint, especially at the corner edges when you remove and replace the lamp.
But before you go and take apart the lamp, let me suggest an
alternative method of getting the inside clean.
Everyone seems to jump to the conclusion, that you have to take
apart the lense in order to clean the inside. Only if you have a constent problem and/or broken seals.
But before going through all the headaches and aggravation.
Try out this simple method! First, by removing the lamp take out the bulbs and inspect the headlamp. Then, depending on the year of the vehicle, there are two to three condensation vents on the back side of the headlamp.
One on top and two on the bottom or just the two at the bottom,
with rubberized vent tubes. Check to see that the vent tubes and vent ports are not plugged, if they are, blow them out.
This is one of the main reasons the lamps get condensated.
With the bulbs removed and the vent ports cleared. You are on to the next step.
Mix about a half of quart of extremely hot water with dishwashing detergent and pour the mixture into the lamp.
Shake to agitate the solution around the inside of the lamp.
Then rinse out throughly with cold water to remove the suds.
Repeat the first step, but this time rinse with a drying agent, like "Jet-Dry" or "Cascade Rinse" and hot water. This process is to eliminate water stops from occuring when drying out the inside of the lamp. Now with all the water rinsed out from the inside, take a Hair dryer and blow dry out the inside with a high heat setting and as the moisture desipates, change the setting to cool dry. (Or place the lamp in the dishwashing cycle). Either way the key here, is to make sure that all the moisture is out.
Allow the lamp to set for a day to cool down and allow it to breath. Then reinstall the lamp.
Total duration time of this procedure takes about an hour and half.
Since then I have not had any condensation problems and the lamp looks just as good as new!
This worked so well on my driver side lamp, that I now need to do the passenger side lamp for the two to match.
Good luck.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...headlight+ikon
One word of caution, protect the surrounding area so as to not scratch or chip the paint, especially at the corner edges when you remove and replace the lamp.
But before you go and take apart the lamp, let me suggest an
alternative method of getting the inside clean.
Everyone seems to jump to the conclusion, that you have to take
apart the lense in order to clean the inside. Only if you have a constent problem and/or broken seals.
But before going through all the headaches and aggravation.
Try out this simple method! First, by removing the lamp take out the bulbs and inspect the headlamp. Then, depending on the year of the vehicle, there are two to three condensation vents on the back side of the headlamp.
One on top and two on the bottom or just the two at the bottom,
with rubberized vent tubes. Check to see that the vent tubes and vent ports are not plugged, if they are, blow them out.
This is one of the main reasons the lamps get condensated.
With the bulbs removed and the vent ports cleared. You are on to the next step.
Mix about a half of quart of extremely hot water with dishwashing detergent and pour the mixture into the lamp.
Shake to agitate the solution around the inside of the lamp.
Then rinse out throughly with cold water to remove the suds.
Repeat the first step, but this time rinse with a drying agent, like "Jet-Dry" or "Cascade Rinse" and hot water. This process is to eliminate water stops from occuring when drying out the inside of the lamp. Now with all the water rinsed out from the inside, take a Hair dryer and blow dry out the inside with a high heat setting and as the moisture desipates, change the setting to cool dry. (Or place the lamp in the dishwashing cycle). Either way the key here, is to make sure that all the moisture is out.
Allow the lamp to set for a day to cool down and allow it to breath. Then reinstall the lamp.
Total duration time of this procedure takes about an hour and half.
Since then I have not had any condensation problems and the lamp looks just as good as new!
This worked so well on my driver side lamp, that I now need to do the passenger side lamp for the two to match.
Good luck.
Last edited by EmeraldLexuSC3; 03-05-02 at 09:42 PM.
03-05-02, 09:16 PM
#6
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Check out this article, as it refers to the headlights for the Supra, which sound very similar. I suspect the procedure should be the same:
http://mkiv.christurner.net/techarticles/headlights/
Hope that helps.
http://mkiv.christurner.net/techarticles/headlights/
Hope that helps.
Last edited by quick; 03-05-02 at 09:23 PM.
03-06-02, 02:46 AM
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thanks guys so much for your help!!...well just got finished removing the light....going to try a few methods first that i saw on the thread before i gut the whole light....but we will see....i will finishing everything tomorrow...in addition to cleaning my lights...i am also making a set of clear side markers for myself......just kinda need to know what to use to cut the acrylic....because when i tried to do it....it started cracking:eek:
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03-06-02, 04:45 AM
#8
Lexus Test Driver
just make sure to seal it tight, mine wasn't tight enough and I got moisture inside nextday. I needed to open it again and sealed tight. You dont wanna go through trouble again. 
one more thing, my headlight height is not same as other one. I think it causes by my head light cover..so when you put it back into the hole, make sure if it's original position. I dont feel doing it again so I just leave like that.
one more thing, my headlight height is not same as other one. I think it causes by my head light cover..so when you put it back into the hole, make sure if it's original position. I dont feel doing it again so I just leave like that.
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