If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
|
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Are your headlight lenses getting cloudy?
Daniel J. Stern wrote:
> The headlamps in question ('92 Explorer) have low overall output, poor > focus, a low peak intensity, narrow beam width and high levels of upward > stray light. All of those factors add up to an objectively poor beam. Now, THAT is fascinating! Of course I don't have the ol' '92 around anymore so further discussion of it's headlight performance would be worse than subjective. I ran them day and night and changed bulbs perhaps two times in the 11 years I owned it. I put better-than-OEM Halogen bulbs in it, so maybe thats why I was happy with it -- or maybe they were holographic and gave only the appearance of projected perfection. I went from a '81 Chevy pickup to the '92 Explorer, and believe me -- the Explorer lights were infinitely better than those of the Chevy PU. The '99's low beams are average, the "brights" are pretty good, focus could be better, and I like being able to read the graffiti on the under-side of the over-pass, but the "narrow" comment above is absurd -- subjectively speaking -- but like I said, my everyday comparison is the '97 Sebring. I have yet to change a headlight bulb on the '99 Explorer. I can hardly wait to see what it will do with AM bulbs -- probably have to get a special license for it. My first car (and my only other Chrysler product) was a '47 Dodge, and with the lights and the tin-foil body work, I think I've had my last Chrysler, if the rest are like the Sebring. Don't even get me started on its electrics and ghost-ridden alarm system. And 25 mpg -- BFD. Jack |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
My lenses are very cloudy- any inexpensive replacements you know of?
|
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Try polishing them with a cleaner/wax compound. I've been successful
cleaning up light lenses that way. On Fri, 09 Sep 2005 02:08:44 -0400, "nashjeff" > wrote: >My lenses are very cloudy- any inexpensive replacements you know of? > |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
inside or outside??
"Big Shoe" > wrote in message ... Try polishing them with a cleaner/wax compound. I've been successful cleaning up light lenses that way. On Fri, 09 Sep 2005 02:08:44 -0400, "nashjeff" > wrote: >My lenses are very cloudy- any inexpensive replacements you know of? > |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Outside only! If they are clouded up inside, I don't know any way to
fix them. I think they are a sealed unit, but someone else may know more about that. On Fri, 9 Sep 2005 15:54:51 -0500, "stevie" > wrote: >inside or outside?? >"Big Shoe" > wrote in message .. . >Try polishing them with a cleaner/wax compound. I've been successful >cleaning up light lenses that way. > >On Fri, 09 Sep 2005 02:08:44 -0400, "nashjeff" > >wrote: > >>My lenses are very cloudy- any inexpensive replacements you know of? >> > |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
The headlight (and taillight.rear brakelight) lenses are polycarbonate
plastic. That plastic HATES petro products, including the solvents used in car waxes made for paint. Use a cammon polish or wax on the lenses and they will lokk great for a month, then start to haze and craze, and eventually they will crack if you keep up the abuse. Meguiars, Mothers, and others make polish products specifically made to polish plastic pieces. Small airplanes have plastic windscreens that suffer from scratching and discoloration if left on the ground unprotected, so an aircraft supply place may also be able to help you. Once you have the surface hazing polished out, resist the urge to add a coat of wax. It will only start the process all over again. In a big FWIW, there are complete replacement headlight assemblies available online for a lot less than what a dealer charges. You get new plastic lenses and new plastic mirror/reflectors, and they are screw-in replacements. They make a HUGE difference in night vision over the 14 year old lenses on your '92. No matter how tempting it is, remember: NO WAX ON PLASTIC LENSES! Cheers! dr bob '92 XLT still going strong Big Shoe > wrote: >Try polishing them with a cleaner/wax compound. I've been successful >cleaning up light lenses that way. >On Fri, 09 Sep 2005 02:08:44 -0400, "nashjeff" > >wrote: >>My lenses are very cloudy- any inexpensive replacements you know of? >> |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
"Jack" > wrote in message m... > Daniel J. Stern wrote: > > > The headlamps in question ('92 Explorer) have low overall output, poor > > focus, a low peak intensity, narrow beam width and high levels of upward > > stray light. All of those factors add up to an objectively poor beam. > > Now, THAT is fascinating! > > Of course I don't have the ol' '92 around anymore so further discussion > of it's headlight performance would be worse than subjective. I ran them > day and night and changed bulbs perhaps two times in the 11 years I > owned it. I put better-than-OEM Halogen bulbs in it, so maybe thats why > I was happy with it -- or maybe they were holographic and gave only the > appearance of projected perfection. I think they work so well that's it's difficult to tell if you have one not working unless you go out and look. |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Jack wrote:
> I went from a '81 Chevy pickup to the '92 Explorer, and believe me -- > the Explorer lights were infinitely better than those of the Chevy PU. Well, the 81 Chevy would have had good old sealed beams. Now 99.9% of the sealed-beams I've ever had were about 100 times BETTER than 90s vintage plastic Explorer headlamps (or pretty much ANY 1990s plastic specific-to-a-given-model headlamp). But its always possible that you had some really, really, really poor non-halogen sealed beams in the Chevy, or halogens with a cracked outer housing that allowed moisture to darken the reflectors, or a wiring problem. |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Steve wrote:
> Well, the 81 Chevy would have had good old sealed beams. Now 99.9% of > the sealed-beams I've ever had were about 100 times BETTER than 90s > vintage plastic Explorer headlamps (or pretty much ANY 1990s plastic > specific-to-a-given-model headlamp). My '92 Explorer headlights were glass. Jack |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
On Sat, 10 Sep 2005, Jack wrote:
> My '92 Explorer headlights were glass. Ummm...no. They weren't. Not unless you bought your '92 Explorer in Germany, where glass-and-metal standard-format 200mm x 142mm rectangular lamps were used (same size/shape as the large rectangular sealed beams in your '81 Chev pickup, but in Europe they were a replaceable-bulb H4 unit). North American-market Explorer headlamps used a plastic lens and a plastic reflector. |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Are your headlight lenses getting cloudy? | Rick | Chrysler | 80 | February 26th 06 02:06 AM |
Cloudy headlights - what to do with them... | Paul | Driving | 14 | May 23rd 05 12:38 PM |
Bad Headlight Relay? | Lynn Martin | VW air cooled | 1 | May 12th 05 10:57 PM |
Help identifying Antique glass headlight lenses ? | [email protected] | Antique cars | 0 | February 3rd 05 04:00 AM |
Headlight lenses | John Riggs | Ford Explorer | 7 | December 7th 04 12:46 AM |