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Cleaning out the headlights?

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Offline WVzuk

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Cleaning out the headlights?
« on: February 26, 2018, 06:46:26 AM »
I can't be the only one here who's dirtied up the inside of thier headlights by offroading through deep water crossings.  My passenger side light is especially bad with the entire silver reflective interior coated in brown.  I have tried to pry the lens apart from the body but I have managed to crack the plastic a little and chip the edge of the glass.  Its on their good but I was hoping to pry the lens of and clean everything up before resealing it all.  Has anyone here had success with this or did you just get new light assemblies?
« Last Edit: February 26, 2018, 04:42:46 PM by WVzuk »
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Online fordem

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Re: Cleaning out the headlights?
« Reply #1 on: February 26, 2018, 12:40:37 PM »
I've never done it (never needed to), but it's my understanding that most headlamps can be separated into the front & back sections after heating in an oven - you tube will probably get you more specifics, like temp, and how long to bake for.
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Offline Skyhiranger

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Re: Cleaning out the headlights?
« Reply #2 on: March 11, 2018, 06:41:27 PM »
I have used a heat gun to heat up the stuff that holds the glass lens to the plastic housing (concentrate the heat on the glass lens, not the plastic housing). Once heated sufficiently, I pried the lens off the housing. From what I recall (been several years ago, the last time I did it), I didn't have to use any additional sealant when I put it back together. Just heat it up again, to get it sticky, then push and hold the lens onto the plastic housing, until it cools off.
The reason I was doing it back then, I was replacing broken lenses on lights that had good housings (I was using good lenses from lights that had broken housings).
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Offline JollyZuk

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Re: Cleaning out the headlights?
« Reply #3 on: March 23, 2018, 02:41:20 PM »
While you are in there, you might try to figure out what you need to do to prevent water intrusion in the future. Headlight bulbs should have an Oring on them, and then a seal of sorts on the marker light bulbs. With everything in good repair you should have a water tight enclosure
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Online fordem

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Re: Cleaning out the headlights?
« Reply #4 on: March 23, 2018, 09:01:48 PM »
Umm - my car takes an H4 (9003) bulb - no O-ring seals on that, and there is a breather on the back of the headlamp - get into deep enough water and it will get in to the lamp.
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Offline JollyZuk

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Re: Cleaning out the headlights?
« Reply #5 on: March 24, 2018, 09:19:23 PM »
I guess I need to look into that...the 9003 may not have a seal. I am trying to remember what headlight bulbs I dealt with that did.
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Offline fuzzy1

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Re: Cleaning out the headlights?
« Reply #6 on: March 26, 2018, 07:07:50 AM »
Umm - my car takes an H4 (9003) bulb - no O-ring seals on that, and there is a breather on the back of the headlamp - get into deep enough water and it will get in to the lamp.

I think this depends on the year. I had a repeated condensation problem with my '97 Sport. It as well as my '96 Tracker use 9004 bulbs (with an o-ring) & had no breather tubes on the housing. While looking for a replacement housing I noticed the different styles. I ended up with a housing that has the breather tubes. There are some other differences, such as the size of the 'ball' on the adjustment bolts & a different grommet design for the same. Odd little things that apparently were redesigned over time. Just guessing it was OBD1/OBD2 era design difference.
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Offline JollyZuk

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Re: Cleaning out the headlights?
« Reply #7 on: March 26, 2018, 10:19:03 AM »
Ok, that is good info!  I looked at the spare headlight bulb I have for my 95 Kick, it is a 9004 also.  So I guess, if you are going to be doing a lot of water crossing, finding the headlight assemblies that use the 9004 bulb might be a good plan.
1995 Sidekick JLX
16v 5 spd, milled head, LROR Stage 2 clutch
2" Spacer lift, XL7 rear springs,  2nd Gen front springs, W-Body GM Struts on front
OEM ROOF RACK!!!