Headlight Fogging/discolouration

[JadeyBlitzen]

Hi

I saw this topic coming up once on the forum and i've seen so many people driving around with discoloured headlights. fixing them through a professional would cost you big bucks. so here's a cheap DIY method.

Stuff you'll need

2000 grade sand paper (1 nos.)

A bucket of water

Brasso or Speedy

a polishing cloth/an old t-shirt

This is what my headlights looked like before i started out

first of all you should decide if the headlamp needs to be taken off or not. my lenses overlapped the bodywork so i had to remove them to clean the edges. but when you are done getting the grit out of the edges put them back on cos there are so many openings that could leak water into your healights while cleaning them.

Now, tear off a piece of sandpaper the size of ur palm and soak it in water. when you start sanding the headlights make sure you keep the surface wet cos its a lot better that way for some reason. don't worry about overdoing it cos you can almost wash your car with this kind of sand paper so you can be a little hard on those extra yellowy areas.

once you are done cutting wash the headlights and wipe them dry and they should look white if you've done a good job.

Now begins the hard part. polishing the headlights took the most effort cos the shinier they are the newer they look. try as much as you can to get it upto the finish on your bodywork. that ought to bring out all the various accents inside your headlights. i'm still not happy with mine. so i might polish them a few more times.

you can swap 2000 grade for a rougher or smoother sandpaper. but i wouldn't advice going below 1500 and the lower the grade the harder it is to polish the headlamps

These are the pics after it was done

all it took was 60 rupees worth of sand paper and a couple of hours and a little help from fall out boy on the radio. i cut and polished my headlamps twice cos i wasn't happy with the initial results. if you go real hard on them you should be happy with the first time and the whole procedure will take you anything between half n hour to a whole day depending on your skills.

so that's nearly 3000 rupees saved

Now go out and treat yourself to something nice

[VITZ RS]

wowwo can u do that for my car also hehe

[shanX]

Did you sand just the outer surface? Or did you take apart the headlight and also sanded the inner area?

[MkX]

Is this Plastic/rubber head light? .. If so you can have same/better result with Tooth paste as well. There is a U tube vedio.. a guy who applying tooth phase and clean it. Some have already done and came up with better results. I think using tooth paste is little easier and will give you quick result.

[JadeyBlitzen]

Did you sand just the outer surface? Or did you take apart the headlight and also sanded the inner area?

its just the outer surface. rarely does a headlamp fog from the inside. unless its been letting water and other particles in

Edited September 18, 2009 by JadeyBlitzen

[Elvis_Pil]

This is an easy method to clean to outside- but dont the places that charge for the service do the inside? It's the stuff inside thats a pain to remove. Used to use toothpaste- but i prefer a certain professional product available in the market

[Tikiri]

Hi, Helpful hint, thanks

[Corolla121]

is there anyway to clean the inside surace. mine has slightly dark diesel smoke kind of thing inside.

[terrabytetango]

Great tutorial I was planning to do the same with my uncle's Corolla wagon, the lights look like really yellow.

[JadeyBlitzen]

is there anyway to clean the inside surace. mine has slightly dark diesel smoke kind of thing inside.

you can soak the headlamp in hot water or put it in the microwave to weaken the glue. but you might wanna be careful with the plating inside the lamp. and once you are done cleaning you'll need silicon glue to stick the lense back in place.

[Cham82]

Hey thanks a lot for the valuable advice. Here i found a metacafe video which shows what you actually exaplained, incase if someone needs to have a look

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1441188/diy_...light_cleaning/

Enjoy, cheers

Hi

I saw this topic coming up once on the forum and i've seen so many people driving around with discoloured headlights. fixing them through a professional would cost you big bucks. so here's a cheap DIY method.

Stuff you'll need

2000 grade sand paper (1 nos.)

A bucket of water

Brasso or Speedy

a polishing cloth/an old t-shirt

This is what my headlights looked like before i started out

first of all you should decide if the headlamp needs to be taken off or not. my lenses overlapped the bodywork so i had to remove them to clean the edges. but when you are done getting the grit out of the edges put them back on cos there are so many openings that could leak water into your healights while cleaning them.

Now, tear off a piece of sandpaper the size of ur palm and soak it in water. when you start sanding the headlights make sure you keep the surface wet cos its a lot better that way for some reason. don't worry about overdoing it cos you can almost wash your car with this kind of sand paper so you can be a little hard on those extra yellowy areas.

once you are done cutting wash the headlights and wipe them dry and they should look white if you've done a good job.

Now begins the hard part. polishing the headlights took the most effort cos the shinier they are the newer they look. try as much as you can to get it upto the finish on your bodywork. that ought to bring out all the various accents inside your headlights. i'm still not happy with mine. so i might polish them a few more times.

you can swap 2000 grade for a rougher or smoother sandpaper. but i wouldn't advice going below 1500 and the lower the grade the harder it is to polish the headlamps

These are the pics after it was done

all it took was 60 rupees worth of sand paper and a couple of hours and a little help from fall out boy on the radio. i cut and polished my headlamps twice cos i wasn't happy with the initial results. if you go real hard on them you should be happy with the first time and the whole procedure will take you anything between half n hour to a whole day depending on your skills.

so that's nearly 3000 rupees saved

Now go out and treat yourself to something nice

[GuruG]

@JadeyBlitzen good write up...Need to add one more thing. U can use transparent sticker to cover the glass/plastic after polishing, it'll act as a shield and the result will last longer.

[Ruslan]

-- Double Post --

Edited September 26, 2009 by Ruslan

[Ruslan]

Jadey,

Thanks for the great write up machan, i did the same on mine couple of months ago. and now it's time to do it again. this time got another headache, cos one of the Fog Lamps/Driving lights got busted (See the picture). do you guys know any place that can repair the lamp without using stickers inside the reflector (Check with the Delkanda usual joint, but the bugger quoted me something around 4000/- just to repair using stickers ) mind you pair of new lamps of these will cost around 20,000/-. so I'm looking for some easy way out.

Edited September 26, 2009 by Ruslan

[Car Maniac]

Jadey,

Thanks for the great write up machan, i did the same on mine couple of months ago. and now it's time to do it again. this time got another headache, cos one of the Fog Lamps/Driving lights got busted (See the picture). do you guys know any place that can repair the lamp without using stickers inside the reflector (Check with the Delkanda usual joint, but the bugger quoted me something around 4000/- just to repair using stickers ) mind you pair of new lamps of these will cost around 20,000/-. so I'm looking for some easy way out.

bro Ruslan, these fog lights of yours are from Corolla 121's right? And if I can remember you have a Luxel grade corolla (122)!!!!!!!!! Machan an original fog light set would cost around 20,000 bucks according to you but I know a Taiwanese original type these fog light set cost around 6,000 - 7,000 rs max. I have bought this Taiwanese fog set few years back from a shop in Darley road, Rumal Motors. (please moderators remove this name if its against forum rules) and fitted that to our previous 121 corolla. They looked perfect. These lights are identical to the original lights and easily fits the lights bays on the buffer nicely. Mounting brackets are also given with the lights.

Im sorry bro I have no idea who can clean these lights. But I suggested as above was because if its not worthy for you to repair for a higher cost, then you can buy a taiwanese fog light set and get that fitted for a worthy price as I told. Its the same shape, crystal as the originals. No one can say they are after markets.

Good Luck!!!!

[JadeyBlitzen]

Jadey,

Thanks for the great write up machan, i did the same on mine couple of months ago. and now it's time to do it again. this time got another headache, cos one of the Fog Lamps/Driving lights got busted (See the picture). do you guys know any place that can repair the lamp without using stickers inside the reflector (Check with the Delkanda usual joint, but the bugger quoted me something around 4000/- just to repair using stickers ) mind you pair of new lamps of these will cost around 20,000/-. so I'm looking for some easy way out.

actually i got the same problem with one of my foglamps. i think mine would look ok with the sticker solution.

i agree with car maniac. the taiwanese made good facsimiles of japanese optional/aftermarket equipment.

[Ruslan]

Car maniac, thanks machan for the info. Will check that place.

[harshansenadhir]

Car maniac, thanks machan for the info. Will check that place.

why don't you try out a simple diy job for this. You can buy a good quality nickel looking sticker from darley road like jee*a plastics.

[riddle]

can we do the same for the tail lights?

[Uditha88]

Is this Plastic/rubber head light? .. If so you can have same/better result with Tooth paste as well. There is a U tube vedio.. a guy who applying tooth phase and clean it. Some have already done and came up with better results. I think using tooth paste is little easier and will give you quick result.

Tooth-Paste seems work. But have to go grocery after job done.

Edited March 7, 2011 by Uditha88