Best fix for yellowed/ discoloured headlights?

[classycars]

There is the mothers crome and aluminum polish that works well . you need to use it once a week for a few weeks then the lights stays like new , the first use will have it looking like new again but will get discoloured soon after , reason being that all plastic are built to bio-degrade after some time , using the mothers over a few weeks removes the layer that started to bio-degrade. hence the reason for making these lense of carbon fiber ..... I believe autosol has the same effect but i'm not sure .

[Sumana.00]

the 3M headlight restore kit works wonders!!!

[5forward]

Ok,so besides products to remove the "yellowness"...is there any method of prevention?

[Rory Phoulorie]

Ok,so besides products to remove the "yellowness"...is there any method of prevention?

Search the Ole Talk forum. There's a thread on restoration of plastic lensed headlights. The Power Seller Karim Khan offers lens restoration services. He claims the product he uses helps to protect the restored headlight from the UV discoloration.

[evolution91]

I wet sanded lightly with 600 grit wet-or-dry sand paper followed by 1000 grit until I could no longer feel or hear the pitting under the sand paper.

Then polished with ultra-fine grit white polishing compound, followed by standard car polish (McGuire's).

NOTE
The trick is to sand left to right. Do not sand in a circular motion.
Use PLENTY of CLEAN water; don't be sparse with water, keep the surface and the sandpaper wet. It should glide under your fingertips; there should be no real dragging after the first few seconds.

When you think you're done, you're not, keep going until you feel nothing under your fingers. Then change to the finer grit paper and do it again.

i messed up my lights rell bad wit that sandpaper thing

[evolution91]

try the turtle wax kit, i hear it wrks gud, take it from a uwi boi to

[DSM_05]

Ok,so besides products to remove the "yellowness"...is there any method of prevention?

Yes. You can buy a Plastic Sealant (online?) which will seal in the repaired headlight.

The Meguiars Severe Headlight Restoration Kit comes with one I believe. Contact "LubeTech" (check your directory), since they are the Meguiars agents.

[Dave]

got a bottle of the Bars restorer and protector to try out and it works well, just as the add on the radio said, wipe on and wipe off
The headlights they "restored" were by no means as bad as some off the examples we see everyday

[~Vēġó~]

that turtle wax also scratched up my lens....maybe I didn't use enough lubrication.....fine scratches....could that be repaired?

[DSM_05]

^Depends on how badly...but yes it might be able to.

[~Vēġó~]

I'll have to post a pic....should have just used the compound instead of going through the entire sanding process, as my lights were not that badly discoloured.....stupid stupid me!

[DSM_05]

^^A general rule of thumb is to use the least aggressive method to solve your detailing woes.

In this instance, you could have just purchased some Meguiars PlastX or Mothers Plastic Polish (you can get the latter almost anywhere these days), and apply it to your headlights.

You'd really have to work it in....about 2-3 minutes of rubbing on each application. But it's near impossible to damage your headlights with these polishes.

Mothers also sells the powerball for headlights (attaches to your drill), which is also nearly idiot-proof when used with Plastic Polish.

Seal of that work with a plastic sealant, and you're in business......headlights should remain clear for many months after.


In your case, the wet sanding marks would only be removed (IF they can be removed) via a buffing machine with the appropriate polish.

[DVSTT]

What about the kit that turtlewax sells? That seems to be quite good but i have yet to try it

[billgrimshaw]

I have done a lot of research into this and the problem with all the kits I have looked at is they are all pretty good at cleaning and do make the headlights look like new. However using these kits actually removes the thin UV polymere coating that the manufacturer applies, hence they soon become discolored again pretty quickly. I have developed a kit and a method which also involves applying a new UV protective coating after cleaning. The lights should then be good as new for at least a couple of years. The manufactuer of the UV coating says they should be good fo 5 years. While 3M make a spray UV coating you can use which I have not tried the correct method is to apply an OEM product which is then cured (hardened) by using a UV lamp.

[Hook]

Interesting. I do a lot of my driving at night and my lights only barely get yellow after a few months, mostly over the low beam portion of the lens. I know another driver of a similar car (purchased a two months after mine in 2008) who rarely drives at night and her lenses have only ever needed polishing once per year if so much.

I was convinced it had everything to do with the heat from the bulbs and not UV damage.

[black start]

being trying to find this thread a while....real good info here

[equipped2ripp]

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=416660

[supanats]

I drive everyday, nighttime and day time and I have used the "brake fluid approach" to remove the heavy YELLOW deposits on my lenses without scratching up the lens or cutting off a layer of the lens and with positive results. Just remember to use plenty of water to wash it off after and don't keep the fluid on the lens too long. Afterwards use a plastic polish on the lens, I used Waxco plastic polish $40. and you'll be shiny and new without the haze or Yell-owing. Mine is going in 2 months!

Try it on a small portion FIRST and not the whole lens
Good luck to ya.

[equipped2ripp]

The Turtle Wax kit is a waste of time... Used it about 2 months ago and now the headlights are discoloured again. It did make them look like new, but it didn't last. Gonna use a 3M kit tomorrow.

[~Vēġó~]

^^^good to know that it wasn't me alone!!!! my lights seem to look worse than before....post your experience with the 3M....

[Biggs3ne]

Where can I get the 3m kit? and what is the cost?

[roadracer7]

colgate toothpaste,cloth and elbow grease an' yuh'dun'.

[bruizer]

Autosol first , elbow grease, car polish, elbow grease and wipe clean.if that dont work then buy new head lights, I bought a gold a33 cefiro with the lights almost d same color as d car, after one application lights were like new.its been two years now with only 3 application since d first one and it stills look like new ,very inexpensive

[eitech]

Mothers plastic polish works well

[STi VAN]

any toothpaste with high flouride aquafresh or sensodyne
trus meh it does work real bess
gotta apply it like polish and keep rubbing till it get hard
leave for 3mins
rub with dry cloth
den with semi wet cloth until clean and
vwalla

[Dave]

The Bars with a good car polish still continues to work for me.
Even though the Bars is advertised as a all in one product, the car polish shines it more.

[jack hammer]

just re clear coat your head lights and done. if you polish them they will look clear for a while then go back to how they looked before.

[Hook]

The clear coat could take headlight heat?
I bought a pair of used headlights a while back that I had to sand the clear coat off, because it had started to yellow and look like varnish.
It's been several months and I haven't had to clean them since.

[Rory Phoulorie]

The clear coat could take headlight heat?
I bought a pair of used headlights a while back that I had to sand the clear coat off, because it had started to yellow and look like varnish.
It's been several months and I haven't had to clean them since.

No. I bought a pair of headlights where the guy applied clear coat to them. After a few months, the clear coat began to discolour and crack up. What grade sandpaper did you use to remove the clear coat without damaging the lens? My lens is plastic.

[Hook]

I wet-sanded them, starting out with 600, then 800, 1200, 2000, then compound, then plastic polish.

In retrospect, I should've started with a rougher grit, maybe a 400 or even 220, and used less pressure, since there are now some minor internal cracks that you only see when the headlights shine through it.