cloudy headlight lens for 2001 Jeep Cherokee

[Donald]

The Cherokee I am getting has both headlight lens cloudy. No moisture that I can detect. Is there any way to fix this or did Jeep use the wrong plastic? I do not think its on the outside, its either through the plastic or on the inside. I assume its plastic and not glass, but not positive. The only access would the hole for the bulb, my hand is not quite that small. I could remove the lens, and remove the bulb and pour a liquid in, if I knew what would clean it.

At NAPA they seem to be over $250 and only $68 at RockAuto, why such a big difference?

 

[OVERKILL]

You can buy a plastic polish designed for this purpose, I believe Meguiars makes one. A buddy of mine used it on his Fox Mustang lights and it worked extremely well.

 

[duaneb9729]

i have used the Meguiars product also and have had success with it
myself

 

[Rolf]

Originally Posted By: Donald
The Cherokee I am getting has both headlight lens cloudy. No moisture that I can detect. Is there any way to fix this or did Jeep use the wrong plastic? I do not think its on the outside, its either through the plastic or on the inside. I assume its plastic and not glass, but not positive. The only access would the hole for the bulb, my hand is not quite that small. I could remove the lens, and remove the bulb and pour a liquid in, if I knew what would clean it.

At NAPA they seem to be over $250 and only $68 at RockAuto, why such a big difference?


Most problems are on the outside. They're plastic and they eventually dull. There are several products for dealing with it, e.g.:

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en...ucts/Headlight/

If there is ingress of moisture, you may wind up with it evaporating inside the housing and causing a buildup on the inside of the lens, including fungus growth it is routinely in dark storage.

This can result from a number of things, including someone replacing a bulb and leaving off any factory gaskets or seals, which causes moisture to enter the housing with cooler air after the headlights have been used and then turned off.

Depending on the cause and the condition, taking it off the vehicle and cleaning it with a solution of trisodium phosphate and sodium perborate and hot water might clear things up.

The price of the headlight assemblies is a function of where they are made. OEM are highest, Taiwanese and Korean middle-priced, and Chinese and some other places in the Orient the lowest.

I'd take a good look at the knock-offs before using one - some of them are pretty miserable.



'

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Get some 2000 grit wet sand paper. Go over your lense with it. Then if you have some sort of polishing machine that can spin at a good speed use that and some polish to clear the sanding marks. If not use a drill and a Mother's Powerball with clear plastic polish from either Meg's or Mothers or some other good company.

 

[mstrjon32]

The Jeep Cherokee has sealed headlights, the entire assemblies including the glass are replaced when they fail. Just replace both lamps with brand new ones if the old ones look bad.

 

[wapacz]

I have bought replacement headlights for my 95 gmc serria from rock auto. It been a few years and so far so good. I did go with the insurance rated replacements and not the cheapest ones.

My problem was yellowing which well happens to plastic.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: mstrjon32
The Jeep Cherokee has sealed headlights, the entire assemblies including the glass are replaced when they fail. Just replace both lamps with brand new ones if the old ones look bad.


I think thr 2001 Grand Cherokee Laredo has replaceable bulbs rather than a sealed (old style) headlight.

The lens seems to be plastic. Cannot see how it would be cloudy if it was glass unless it was dirty.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Meguiar's Plast-X may help clear up the lenses. I used it on a friend's Honda and it did OK, not clear like a new lens but better than it was before. There is also a kit you can get at Advance Auto Parts and also at Walley World that has the chemicals and polishing/sanding cloths to use on the lights. It costs about $16 or $17 here. Napa also sells a similar kit that is more expensive. I do not know how well the kits work though.

Once you get the lights cleared up, you can wax them with Meguiar's Step #3 yellow carnauba wax to keep the sun from damaging the lenses again. I wax mine about once every 4 weeks.

 

[Mr Nice]

Will any type of wax keep the sun from turning the lens yellow ?

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

I don't think it's only the sun. Grime thats left too long also seems to turn them yellow faster. I just use PlastX once every few months then put a layer of long lasting wax or sealant (most of the time it's either Collinite IW845, 4* UPP, or Klasse AIO). And then whenever I wax the car, the lights also get waxed.

 

[Gary Allan]

I think it's long term abrasion that etches the plastic. I've had good results with polishing compound ..the Dupont (or whomever) stuff. I'm sure there's better agents ..but it worked well.

 

[MrCritical]

I don't know of anyone who hasn't had good luck with the Meguiars.

 

[Jimmy9190]

I met a man not long ago who has a business here in Tampa called "Clear Again". He works mostly at car dealerships and has a chemical/abrasive and polishing compound that he uses with electric buffing tools that restores clouded lights to new condition. He does excellent work but it's expensive. He charges an average of $80 to the dealer who then marks it up to $200 to $300 to the customer, depending on the vehicle. When he is done with a vehicle he leaves his business card and an instruction card for the customer in the vehicle explaining to use the Meguiar's carnauba wax on the lights. He told me the carnauba wax works best at protecting the plastic from the UV rays that cause the lenses to get cloudy and yellowed. I imagine any type of carnauba wax would work, but he recommends Meguiar's, and it is readily available at lots of different stores.

I had to replace my own headlight lenses last year. They were just barely starting to get discolored and one had sprung a water leak. New lenses cost me $320 from the Dodge dealer so I keep my lenses waxed regularly. Here in Florida the sun is murder on headlights. I use the Meguiar's #3 and it works very well.

 

[MrCritical]

You can buy the aftermarket headlamps for $100 or less apiece. (usually).

There's no way I pay that to clean the old ones.

 

[rpn453]

I did my girlfriend's 1993 headlights last weekend. They were very yellow and very cloudy. I wet sanded with 1500 to get rid of the yellow and then polished them with a polishing compound using a polishing wheel attached to my drill. They're almost as good as new now. I was very impressed with the outcome.

There are a couple of threads on this in the automotive lighting section if you want more info.

 

[Donald]

There appear to be (consumer) several kits on the market that include a few grades of cleaners or polish, an attachment for a drill and some clothes. Any one have some good results is some Megulars Plaxtix cleaner/polish does not cut it?

 

[M3 Mitch]

I have used the NAPA kit with good success on plastic lenses on a Subaru. I think any good wax will reduce the sun damage (UV I guess)

The NAPA kit has a mandrel for a drill, self-stick abrasive pads, you wet the headlight with a sprayer using plain water.

 

[PW01]

Here is a good "How To" article on how to restore the lenses yourself...


http://www.rangerpowersports.com/forum/showthread.php?t=231494

 

[Jim Spahr]

Here's a tip I saw on the Two Guys Garage TV show. Use regular toothpaste and a wet towel and polish the lens. First try this in an out of the way spot to test it. IOW no etching or swirl marks. The idea is the toothpaste has a fine polish in it.