Headlight Seals

[Bear]

"08 Expresso and the black rubber seals around the headlight are beginning to deteriorate, are these replaceable items?

[denisond3]

Im sure they are replaceable, but do they do anything important? I have a 97 Neon that had rubber seals around the headlamps. They shrivelled up and fell off years ago.
If I -wanted- to get replacements, and the auto parts places didnt have them, and the dealer prices were not pleasing, the next logical business to try would be a collision repair or collision parts place. They are like auto parts stores, but they concentrate on body parts, grilles, headlamps, tail-lamps; all the things that get smashed in accidents.

[Bear]

Got some from Parts Geek online at about $5.00 each, installation is a PITA as the headlights must be removed (more later) and the lower bolt is behind the grill and virtually invisible. I took out the four bumper cover bolts and that allowed me to move the headlight up and away ( a little bit) from the bumper cover (all other parts of the gasket are accessible without removing the headlight) and I was able to slip the lower portion of the gasket under the headlight and attach the other sections, she is done and about 30 minutes to do the job.

[Johnobub]

Originally Posted by Bear

Got some from Parts Geek online at about $5.00 each, installation is a PITA as the headlights must be removed (more later) and the lower bolt is behind the grill and virtually invisible. I took out the four bumper cover bolts and that allowed me to move the headlight up and away ( a little bit) from the bumper cover (all other parts of the gasket are accessible without removing the headlight) and I was able to slip the lower portion of the gasket under the headlight and attach the other sections, she is done and about 30 minutes to do the job.

My 1999 Dodge Neon headlights are cloudy and I want to replace them with new ones. It's good info to know about the seals since mine are also bad and need replaced also.
Thanks for the information.

[Bear]

Are you sure you need to replace the headlights? Mine were cloudy and I bought a sheet of 800,1000,1500,2000 grit wet or dry (the black stuff) and then washed the headlights and keeping them wet as well as the sandpaper I started with the 800, moved to 1000,then 1500 and finally 2000 grit. Let them dry and using some plastic polish (I bought Meguires PLASTIX) and hand buffed the daylights out of them and they look like new. A lot less expensive than new headlights.

[Johnobub]

Originally Posted by Bear

Are you sure you need to replace the headlights? Mine were cloudy and I bought a sheet of 800,1000,1500,2000 grit wet or dry (the black stuff) and then washed the headlights and keeping them wet as well as the sandpaper I started with the 800, moved to 1000,then 1500 and finally 2000 grit. Let them dry and using some plastic polish (I bought Meguires PLASTIX) and hand buffed the daylights out of them and they look like new. A lot less expensive than new headlights.

I saw the headlight lens cleanup sold at the autoparts stores but I wasn't sure if it would be worth the trouble and didn't know how to go about using it; I thought you had to use it from the inside of the headlight, seemed impossible to do, so I never bought any of it.
Your idea seems to be a good one and not as expensive as the headlight cleanup kit. How long does the headlight keep clear using your method? I was thinking maybe the new headlight will have a different material on the lens part that wouldn't get cloudy but maybe they will get cloudy also.

[Bear]

The Kits are pricey compared to what I did and I do not believe they do any better job. Once you have the lens cleaned up, it should last at least six months, and then all you need to do is re-polish with the plastic cleaner.

[ErickTR]

Originally Posted by Bear

The Kits are pricey compared to what I did and I do not believe they do any better job. Once you have the lens cleaned up, it should last at least six months, and then all you need to do is re-polish with the plastic cleaner.

To be sure, The headlight kits will include all the items you identified. Some work with power buffers and others by hand.
Resurfacing will clear the cloudiness away but headlights don't always need resurfacing.
Actually the only time you need to resurface a headlight when it has a damaged surface or partially removed UV layer.
Resurfacing a headlight to remove cloudy oxidation will destroy the UV protectant and leave the headlight exposed to the yellowing rays of the sun.
Polishing will slowly wear the protective UV film down to nothing too.
For the removal of cloudy oxidation acrylic headlight deoxidizers offer a fast, safe non abrasive alternative.
That way you leave the UV layer intact.