Fixing cloudy, fogged, or pitted headlights
In the 1980s, Chrysler started using plastic headlamp covers which, over time, because yellow, cloudy, and pitted (the problem seems to have gotten much worse with the 1993 LH series and succeeding vehicles); sometime from 2001 to 2003, the plastic was dramatically improved, without noticeable aging. This problem appears to be almost unique to Chrysler Corporation and Chrysler Group vehicles.
“beans” wrote:
Here's how I made a pair of extremely clouded headlights look brand new. This method is based on information from a number of posts here at Allpar and what I had handy yesterday. I used 600, 800, 1000, and 1200 wet and dry sanding paper; I buffed the surface with Meguiar's #2 Swirl Remover and finished with Meguiar's PlastX.
I used the electric buffer for about 20 seconds with the Swirl Remover on each light, and followed with hand buffing. I would definitely say, a power buffer is not needed for this. (I have one, so I used it). After I finished, I thought, it may not be a bad idea to wear a glove during the wet sanding process.
- Wet sand with 600 grit sandpaper until the surface is smooth.
- Surface is even after 800 and 1000 grit wet sanding.
- Polishing begins with 1200 grit wet sandpaper.
- Buff out with very light cutting compound (e.g. swirl remover).
- Finish polishing with a good plastic polish (e.g. PlastiX).
Numerous people confirmed their success in making terrible-looking, almost useless headlight lenses look brand new. Some noted that haze which appeared to be on the inside of the headlights was actually on the outside after all. One person used a $10 kit called "5 Minute Optical Polish for headlights" which comes with a disk for electric drills and 6 adhesive foam pads with compound in them that you wet down. Another person used a Permetex kit from Autozone which essentially contained the same materials. The price for sandpaper is highly variable from store to store - $3 to $8 per sheet (only one sheet of each grade is needed).
We tried this ourselves. On the first headlight, we started with 800 grit, which was a mistake; you really need to start with the 600 when you have a badly dulled headlight. We moved on to the 1000 grit, and then directly to the PlastiX. This was also a mistake. You get far, far better results following Beans exactly. Start with the 800, move to the 1000, move to the 1200, move to the PlastiX. (Our swirl remover ended up being more coarse than 1200 grit sandpaper.) In each case, we wet-sanded.
When you first start, you'll notice that you can't really see what you're doing because the headlight is covered under a milky gel, unless you've got a constant stream of water going. Be pretty thorough with this. It took us around five minutes doing it by hand on a 300M headlight (these are bigger than most) to get all the effects of aging off. If your headlights aren't in as rough shape, you can probably get away with a lot less time. Keep rinsing and make sure you got all the yellow off.
Next, we get rid of the pits and scratches introduced by the 800 sandpaper by using the finer grades, gently and thoroughly. Don’t be shocked when you've finished with the 1000 grit sandpaper and your headlight now looks like it's a frosted shower window. As it dries, it will look worse and worse. Don’t panic. The PlastiX will miraculously fix that!
Finally, use the PlastiX as indicated - unless you've noticed an area you want to hit with the 600 grit again, and then go up through each step until the PlastiX. You don’t want to start over, and PlastiX is expensive.
When you’re done, it should look as good as new. But do both headlights on the same day unless you want your car to look funny for a while!
Feedback
Rudy wrote to say that Mopar now has a headlight kit which appears to be similar but much pricier. Part number 68043526AA has a list price of $45 and includes a packet of cleaner, a packet of sealer, four 3x5 finishing papers, a pair of gloves, a lint-free towel, and a foam brush. An apparently identical kit is sold by Wix.
Jeff Riley wrote: “If the lens is not in too bad shape I have had good luck using metal polish such as Mothers’ mag and aluminum polish, or Blue Magic metal polish cream; I have even had luck removing the "haze" from the plastic windows on my Jeep Wrangler using these polishes.”
