'97 Headlights

[Smith1000]

I have a '97 with a little over 200,000 miles on it. I've noticed that the headlights are not as bright as they used to be. It is charging fine and the bulbs are bright, but it appears as if the plastic light covers are glazed or fogged over some, which restricts the brightness of the lights. Has anyone had this problem? I have tried to clean the outside, but it does not help. Is there a way to clean them or, do they need to be replaced? Thanks.

[chief153]

I have a `97 LeSabre that is the same way. I`ve tried plastic cleaner but nothing seems to help. If you find a solution please pass along the info...

[Airjer_]

I just did an article on this a little while back here it is.

For the past year I have been experimenting with different ways of restoring hazy and yellow headlamps to there original crystal clear appearance. This is an easy project for the do it yourselfer and would take approximately an hour or two to make them like new.

First step is to clean them with any mild detergent. Glass cleaner will work just fine. Next I tape off all of the painted areas that I don't want to accidentally hit with the sand paper. Now the fun begins. Starting with 800 grit wet/dry sandpaper I wet sand each lens until all of the degraded plastic is removed. You will see what I am talking about once you start to sand. I then clean the area again to remove any grit left over from the sanding. Then I go to 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper and generously sand each lens again. You will start to see the lens get clearer as you sand. After wiping down the lens again I finish the sanding with 3000 grit. Again you will notice the difference as you complete this step. Now its time to polish.

There are many kinds of plastic polishes available. Maguires and 3M are pretty good, I personally use a product that Cornwell Tools has. This will be the most labor intesive part of the job. I have a mini polisher so it go pretty quick for myself but it can still be done by hand with the same results. Polish until crystal clear! You may notice a few places that you missed after polishing, just repeat the above steps and they will look like new.

Here are the latest before and afters. This was a 98 ford contour and took me about an hour to get them 99% perfect!!

Before

After

[Smith1000]

That's incredible! I definitely need to try this over the weekend. Thanks for the detailed steps.

[imidazol97]

Originally Posted by Smith1000

That's incredible! I definitely need to try this over the weekend. Thanks for the detailed steps.

Advance auto parts has a Permatex kit for doing the lights and another brand in a foil pouch. They both include a polycarbonate finish layer to wipe on after you've gone through the four finesses of emery cloth and water.

On my 98 the surface and innards have a crazing type of cracking along with the frosting like layer on the outside due to deteriorated plastic.

[HotZ28]

I am not advertising this product, but you can Click Here to view.

[Smith1000]

Looks like good stuff. I was looking a little closer at the lense covers today. They are completely glazed and yellow looking.

[Airjer_]

The worse they are the easier it is to get them looking good. I have been playing around with this for over a year and have found that its much easier to do the really bad ones than the ones that are not so bad.

[Smith1000]

I tried this yesterday and it greatly improved the brightness of the lights, although there is some fogginess in a couple of places on the right side still. I don't believe that will come out all of the way. Regardless, it is a big improvement. Before, the inside of the light was not visible due to the yellow fogginess. I can acutally see the bulb and the inside area-not that is matters, but the lights are much better.

[davdogg42]

wowthats some solid advice on how to clean them
mine look like the before pictures 97 lesabre
i will have to try this
it might even improve the resell value of the car
GREAT JOB AND POST!!!!!

[imidazol97]

The other factor for the original poster is that the headlight bulbs dim with age. Go to Walmart and buy the double pack of GE low beam bulbs (2006 is that the number) and replace both bulbs in the low beams. If you replace one and then turn the headlights on at night, you'll see the difference.