the inside of my headlights are pretty mucky . i dont want the hassle of removing them . anybody had a go at cleaning the insides in situ . if so a little advice would be nice

I used some meguiars swabs to do mine, before i ended up taking them apart.

They are like big plastic cotton buds

 

or an old artist paintbrush with a bit of microfibre cloth on the end, and use an alcohol based solution. I got a bottle from the chemist, used to clean wounds.

im running hids and its as though the inside of the glass is greasy . the heat from the bulb clears an area in front but leaves the rest looking a bit fogged up . did you notice much improvement with yours

Tons better after cleaning, but i did take the whole light apart in the end as i fitted halos for sidelights.

 

 

You will only reach the inside of the projector with the method i mentioned, but you can get access to the inner glass of the housing, by pushing the main beam reflector in a little. Its seated on round ended pegs, with 2 of them used for adjustment. You might be lucky to get at most of the glass that way.

Why dont you leave the headlights in place and just remove the glass? Easy job and then put the glass in the dishwasher, they come out mint and then time for a spring clean around the plastics inside. :wink:

Can you get to all the clips OK Daz leaving them in situe? Ive only done this with the lights out, so would be good to know for the future.

 

 

Graham

Why dont you leave the headlights in place and just remove the glass? Easy job and then put the glass in the dishwasher, they come out mint and then time for a spring clean around the plastics inside. :wink:

 

very interested in this daz .

very interested in this daz .

 

Ditto, this is a job that's on my list and I'd be interested to know how this works.

Yeh, easy! just remove the 6 (ish) clips around the edge of the lights and lift the metal strip above/below the light and heat the glue up with a hair dryer and pull the glass away, no need to remove anything apart from centre panel, its quite tight around the bottom of the wing, but mine was easy, I do it all the time to keep averything looking tidy

 

just like this, notice the right hand glass missing :flowers:

 

 

Edited December 14, 201015 yr by daZvert

Were those headlights previoulsy taken apart in the past ?

 

Becuase they can be a right bitch to seperate when you have them removed, let alone still on the car.

Edited December 14, 201015 yr by Yowser

Sweet. Do you need to re-glue it for reassembly, or does it stick if you head up the old sealant?

this could be the tip of the year daz . lets just hope next week there isnt loads of headlight wanted posts.

 

im gonna go for the rag on a stick approach for now just incase.

You do make it look easy that way daz!! :D

But there is a bracket each side, screwed from the side that holds the rubber in, did you just pull the rubber up or did you leave it off, if had them removed before.

no, headlights had never been opened before, the brackets either side just bend outwards, i used a chisel the first time to open them up after heating but use a glass sucker now, i dont reseal them just use the old glue, but it never seals like new, hence me cleaning quite often and they do steam up after heavy rain.

ive done both methods, in and out, but this way is much easier as the headlights are solid and nothing moves except the glass

you should really come to the zedworld chrimbo bash and show us all how its done .

:dance:

you should really come to the zedworld chrimbo bash and show us all how its done .

 

Yeah I agree, you can use mine to show everyone how it's done, I'll even let you do both sides........lol :innocent:

no, headlights had never been opened before

 

how did you get the insert black? I can't see how to take that out with lights in place as the two little screws at the front are a right pain...

I really like the sound of this as it's been something on my list for ages but having taken the rear lights apart...I'd be so scared of breaking the lenses doing it this way!!

Did this yesterday and it worked a treat. I hadn't realised how dusty they were on the inside, lights are much brighter than they were now although they're still crap, think they're just pointed in the wrong direction!

how did you get the insert black? I can't see how to take that out with lights in place as the two little screws at the front are a right pain...

 

The insert just pulls out bud, 2 plastic locator clips at the top, iirc , will have to check again though to make sure, but I dont remember unscrewing anything, I will find some pics in my files for you :biggrin:

yeah then we can all watch him break them and then point and laugh at him:rofl:

 

Funny you should say that as the first time i did this on my TT about 6 years ago i got them off all nice then sprayed the jet washer at them and one fell of the wall and broke in bits :no: I just use the dishwasher now :gunsmilie:

there are 2 little screws at the front of the inserts. Daz just broke them when he ripped them out :lol::lol:

This is so cool!

 

Share the knowledge folks.

 

I am now inspired!!

:punk:

 

 

 

Yeh, easy! just remove the 6 (ish) clips around the edge of the lights and lift the metal strip above/below the light and heat the glue up with a hair dryer and pull the glass away, no need to remove anything apart from centre panel, its quite tight around the bottom of the wing, but mine was easy, I do it all the time to keep averything looking tidy

 

just like this, notice the right hand glass missing :flowers:

 

 

The insert just pulls out bud, 2 plastic locator clips at the top, iirc , will have to check again though to make sure, but I dont remember unscrewing anything, I will find some pics in my files for you :biggrin:

 

no need... I know that on the three pairs I’ve got/had there are two screws holding the insert in at the bottom front.. you can just see the lugs on your pics... so they must have been pulled apart beforehand.

 

anyway your method is much easier than taking the lights out. :)