I have a 97 Plymouth Grand Voyager. The headlights are quite dirty inside. It really seems to cut down on their illumination where the dims are "really" dim and brights not that much brighter than dims. I called a chrysler dealer today. He was quite familiar with the problem but said they are "sealed" units. They can't just be cleaned but must be replaced and it would cost $150-$200 each. He said his daughters car (also a chrysler) has the same problem and he hasn't replaced them because of the cost.
"mcl" wrote in message news:PMHuf.4$ snipped-for-privacy@fe07.lga...
I wish they were sealed, but they are very poorly designed non-sealed units. It can be removed and cleaned, but the reflective coating may not be in good shape after all these years. After market replacement units may be the best bet for your, and a lot less money.
These headlamps are of a completely lousy design. Even when brand new and picture-perfect clean, the low beams are almost useless and the high beams are only marginally better.
Well, he's not correct that they're sealed, unless what he meant is that the lens cannot be removed from the reflector without destroying the headlamp assembly.
If your problem is actual dirt inside the lamps, then you can try cleaning them yourself:
Remove the lamp assemblies from the vehicle, and remove the bulbs. Place one or two drops (ONLY!) of transparent liquid dish detergent in each lamp. (e.g. regular green Palmolive, regular blue Dawn, regular yellow Joy or Ajax, etc...pick something you can see through and that does NOT contain any kind of hand lotion.) Fill each lamp about 3/4 full of hot distilled(!) water. Cover the bulb holes (the clean palm of your hand will work) and vigorously shake/slosh/swirl the lamp to agitate the hot soapy water. Do this over a sink, and hold on with both hands so the lamp doesn't slip from your grip, fall and break. Then turn the lamp bulb-hole-down, and swirl the lamp to cause the water to drain from it in a circular fashion. Rinse the lamp repeatedly with hot distilled(!) water until all traces of soapsuds are gone.
To dry the lamps with minimal spotting, place them in your clean kitchen oven and close the oven door. Turn the oven to Bake/350 for 3 minutes, then turn the oven off and leave the door closed. In about an hour, your lamps should be thoroughly dry. If your oven is gas instead of electric, find an alternate hot/dry location (heat register?) to dry them with.
Notes:
1) It is possible that what appears as "dirt" in your lamps is actually degraded reflective material. If this is the case, the cleaning process will usually finish-off the dead reflector.
2) If these lamps are original to the car, it's probable that the lenses have gone cloudy and yellow due to UV exposure. You can try polishing them with e.g. Meguiar's Body Scrub car polish or any of several special "headlight lens polish" products that are more or less the same thing in a smaller, more expensive bottle.
3) The lamps are unrealistically expensive from the dealer. Taiwanese aftermarket ones can scarcely be too much worse and they cost a great deal less.
Daniel (previous post) has really good cleaning advice.
Here are 2 additional thoughts;
1) Seals do fail - I had a seal fail on a 2 headlights that eventually allowed me to eventually separate the lens from the reflector back. I was then able to clean all the old-dried-up glur off, clean the parts carefully and reseal the assembly using clear silicone. My repair long outlasted the original (and the car).
2) Inexpensive replacement headlights often leak - I had both OEM headlights on our '95 GC not leak for 3 years before an accident. My insurance company then insisted on saving money and forced the repair shop to use less expensive aftermarket units that both leaked within
18mo. When the first one leaked moisture, they replaced it with the same and it eventually leaked again. I then requested they use OEM headlights on both, and the seals have held up for at least 3 years.
Any polish is going to need to be redone periodically (every few weeks). There is a clearcoat on the new assembly (I do not know if it is identical or only very similar to the clearcoat on the paint). Once that is degraded (hazed) and subsequently polished, it is either gone or made much thinner, and you are left with much less scratch- and UV-resisant base plastic exposed.
Many have found that polishing as Daniel has suggested, or even sanding with successively finer sandpaper, ending with 1500 or 2000 grit, followed by painting with actual clearcoat will give as close to new appearance and zero maintenance longevity as you can get. It's either that or periodic maintenance (every few weeks) with another coat of polish. If you sand and then polish, make sure you thoroughly clean the polish residue off before clearcoating to prevent chemical reaction and/or bonding problems due to the polish.
One other note: After sanding even with the finest sandpaper, the surface will look hazy, and you'll think you totally ruined the assembly. Polish or clearcoat will take care of that by filling in the microscopic scratches to give a glass-clear surface, but sanding prior to polishing or clearcoating will give the quickest and overall best results.
Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')
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