Condensation has appeared inside my 2009 Mk3.5 headlights. Has anybody else experienced this? and more importantly have you / they found a solution please.
Thanks in anticipation
Chris
Yes, I have something similar, but no, I’m afraid I don’t have a solution.
Are you sure its condensation and not UV light damage.
Usually damage from sunlight and can be polished off.
I use T Cut but polishing kits can be purchased.
See this website for more info:
http://guidetodetailing.com/damage-repair/restoring-plastic-headlight-lenses/
Happy polishing
If it really is condensation, just drive around for a while with the headlights on. The heat from the bulbs will soon dry them out.
JS
Tried polishing it with G3 Scratch Remover and BINGO!!! Fantastic result…!!!
Glad I could help. Happy motoring!!
Hi peeps.
I’m new here and I was looking at replacing the headlight assemblies on my 03 plate because they’re quite " cloudy". Do you think it’s UV damage and elbow grease would save me a couple of hundred quid?
Clearly I am not an expert on this but I would suggest trying to polish a small area to see if it improves things. If yes then keep polishing, and if no then you’ll only have wasted a little time, and you can get the new lamps you were already planning to buy.
I used some polish I had lying around (G3 scratch remover), but I believe T Cut works (see earlier post) and I did see specialist kits on Amazon / eBay.
Got to be worth a try?
Get polishing, it does not take a lot of effort to bring the lenses back to an almost new state.
This thread prompted me to do a web search into a possible treatment for protecting the plastic lenses against the UV. I did not find anything satisfactory. Some waxes make claims to be effective, with shill reviews to support them, but then there are lots of real reviews from people who have tried them and say they are useless. Who do we believe?
Once a headlight has been t-cut to remove the fogged layer, any of the manufacturer’s original protection that might have been left will now have vanished, and the fogging will happen much more quickly.
I know that some UV-blocking coatings do exist for plastics because my conservatory roof has one such to prevent the polycarbonate hardening off and becoming brittle, and it is still reasonably clear after several years and doing much better than the previous untreated one it replaces.
So is there something that will actually work to protect the plastic headlights?
EDIT. Has anyone tried this stuff? Apparently it is OK for polycarb after all, but does it actually work?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Surface-Sealant-Coating-Repellent-Plastic/dp/B00A3S1RGU/
I have done it on a few cars and it does take a lot of time, but saved 100’s of pounds in the end. There are some good videos on the correct way to do it and the kit is cheap enough.
John
I keep my headlights nice and new looking by regular use of the polishing machine and some compound. I mask up the paintwork around the headlights to avoid potential damage.
Thanks for all the help.
I’ll give it some elbow grease.
UV headlight coating breaking down, it really depends on how bad it is. If really bad then wetsanding and polishing back is the only real solution.
In regards to protection then Optimum Opti-Lens (not cheap cheap) should see you fine (I will need to do mine on the mk3.5 as well soon): http://www.motorgeek.co.uk/cgi-bin/ecom.cgi?Command=ShowProduct&db_pid=1030
Biggest difference is this is resin based.