Clean Headlight Haze??

[TimRXUV777]

Hi,

I am hoping you guys can tell me the most practical/best result way to clean our plastic headlight assemblies of their hazy pockmarked issues? Did GM ever solve this or is this still happening to new GM cars? Both my Grand Prix and my Envoy have the exact same issues - the headlights look like I am viewing them through a drizzle and if you feel the plastic/composite you can feel a slightly rough surface where debri of various materials has obviously hit them and caused a depression and their seems to also just be a general haze on them. How do you polish these headlights to get them back to as near new condition as possible? Also, is there something you can treat them with to increase brightness and prevent this from happening in the future? I did a search on this subject but not sure if this site's search engine just sucks or I was using the wrong keywords but I really couldn't find anything. Thanks IA.

 

[The_Roadie]

Every car parts store has a headlight restoration kit. They involve polish and a drill accessory.

 

[BlazingTrails]

I just used the 3m kit on my passenger headlight. It works great and made my headlight look brand new. Only use a kit that involve a drill and sanding. Those polishes you wipe on/off do not work. Your will be easier than mine because you don't have the grill in the middle

 

[jomulk56]

Like the other guys said, get the polishing kit has sandpaper and the drill accessory. The polishes like PlastiX (or whatever other kinds there are) are more for upkeep and route cleaning to keep it shining.

 

[cstern71]

There is a little know issue that you will want to plan for as well.

I used one of the 3M kits on both of my parents cars. Headlights looked brand new. A few months later they call me and say they turned yellow and hazy again. The yellowing is actually a chemical reaction caused by uv rays from the sun. Headlights have a uv protectant that eventually dies from prolonged exposure and road debris. Sanding this yellow layer off and polishing up the plastic does nothing to protect the casing from the sun. They will turn yellow again.

I have yet to find a sealant/protectant in stock at an auto parts store. Its even better when a kit says to use "our headlight sealer after you restore." Well, no reason for autozone to stock the sealer. I ended up using wax since most of those have some uv protection to slow the yellowing process. Unfortunately, nothing short of new headlight casings will solve it.

The one variable that may yield better results for others is that my parents cars sit in the sun all day every day and I swear its 10 degrees hotter at their house than anywhere else. My assumption is this speeds up the yellowing process.

 

[Mark20]

I have seen headlight sealer/protectant in WalMart of all places.

 

[Chevy4ever]

all plastic lenses on any brand do this........in the old days, when lenses were made out of glass....aaah.......

 

[northcreek]

You might want to make sure that the inside isn't fogged. That was the case with mine so I replaced them with some OEM units that I found on Ebay. Not saying that this is your case but, you wouldn't want to spend all of that elbow grease only to find out that there was an internal problem...Mike.

 

[02TrailBlazer]

Like everyone else has mentioned, the kits work, And most of them come with a decent headlight sealer that will help with protection for a short while after clearing them up. That said, there's nothing wrong with getting some 1000, 2000, and 2500 grit sandpaper and wet sanding them until the haze is gone. Then use polish to get them looking good, I found that the Meguiars ultimate compound works better than the kit supplied polishes I've used. And after that's done I hit them with some sealer. My headlights look like new for a few months after. The sealer, unfortunately, is one of those products that needs to be reapplied regularly due to it not lasting very long, and exposure damaging it.

 

[mcsteven]

The kits do work, but they are about 25 bucks each. I think one kit will do both headlights, but if your taillights need it as well....

If you want to try some alternatives before spending money, all it involves is a little elbow grease. I cleaned mine with whitening toothpaste, some water and a rag. All you're looking for is a very mild abrasive. YouTube lists a number of ways to do it. The most common thing on all the ways is to use a good car wax on the lenses once you've cleaned them.

I would suggest to anyone wanting to save a buck to try it with some toothpaste first. You might also want to take the lenses out if it's an easy job. With our Envoys it's simply a lever and then unplugging two or three wires. Really easy to clean and you're not worried about getting any abrasive on the paint. I have a picture I will try to remember to post tomorrow (Monday) of the difference between the left and right after one was cleaned.

 

[bmcutright]

I just used the 3m kit on my passenger headlight. It works great and made my headlight look brand new. Only use a kit that involve a drill and sanding.

I used the cheaper 3M kit, without the drill accessory, on my pass headlight, helluva lot of elbow grease (8 hrs worth), and the drill accessory kit on my driver headlight. The drill sander was so much less work I have to side with that, but the sanding by hand is a little clearer. The kit w/o drill also had an extra intermediary pad that the drill kit didn't come with.

 

[BlazingTrails]

I used the cheaper 3M kit, without the drill accessory, on my pass headlight, helluva lot of elbow grease (8 hrs worth), and the drill accessory kit on my driver headlight. The drill sander was so much less work I have to side with that, but the sanding by hand is a little clearer. The kit w/o drill also had an extra intermediary pad that the drill kit didn't come with.

My headlight came out perfect. Couldn't tell a difference between the 2. (Drivers side is new because of deer damage)

After you do all the sanding thoroughly, The abrasive gray sponge is the key, keep it wet and keep working it until it is clear. Then you polish with rubbing compound. [emoji106]

 

[02TrailBlazer]

Smitty5150 did a great write up too!

http://gmtnation.com/forums/topic/453-headlight-restoration/?hl=%2Bwetsand+%2Bthe+%2Bheadlights#entry7123

 

[07Denali]

Ive used the headlight restore kits on a friends truck and it works good. what ive found works just as well is a mothers cone drill attachment and toothpaste with lots of water for the really hazed lights. havent had to do it to our current truck i usually just run my orbital polisher over the headlights while im waxing it using some mothers cleaner wax.