2nd Generation Headlight fogging

I saw a 2nd generation Intrepid (unknown year) the other day and the
headlights looked pretty foggy, as in the plastic was no longer clear.
Is this a common problem? Mine look crystal clear although I often keep
my car in a garage during the day (out of the sun) and the lights were
replaced under warranty in 2002 because one of them had condensation
issues. Perhaps keeping the sun away helps.

Anything that can be done to keep the headlights like new? I clean them
with mild car wash soap when the car is washed.

 

Here you go, Greg: http://www.autosportcatalog.com/index.cfm?fa=p&pid=332


The fogging is a surface phenomenon.

If they need a little polishing before you install the XPels, you can
use plastic polish (Meguiar's makes one called Plastix™; also, I find
Zymöl™ does well) - if needing more serious polishing, you can use
successively finer grades of sandpaper ending with 2000 grit, followed
by polish. If yours are in good shape, best to leave them alone (other
than install XPels now to prevent future deterioration) because when you
sand and polish, you are removing a thin layer of UV protective material
- but if it's already cloudy, no harm in sanding it off. You would need
to polish periodically after that as they will cloud up again more
quickly (every few weeks).

Some people also use clear coat on the headlights after polishing them
out if they don't plan on using the XPels. That essentialy restores
them to new appearance and resistance to clouding.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

Thanks for the info! The X-Pel / 3M product looks interesting. Do you have
any experience with it? My lights are fine at the moment although the hood
has lots of scratches and paint chips from flying debris...

 

I am embarrassed to say that I have had a pair sitting on my shelf for
quite a while now. Just like medicine that is not taken, they aren't
doing me much good sitting on the shelf. In my defense, I am planning
some mod's to the headlight assemblies, and they are not easy to get in
and out, so that mod is still on my to-do list and I'm waiting to get
that done before I put them on. In the meantime, I am periodically
polishing them following the sanding on two of the headlights and just
polishing without sanding on the other two (I have two Concordes). I
only hope that when it finally happens that the adhesive will be OK
(will release from the backing paper, and will hold well when applied to
the headlights).

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')