Ok, I have a 2002 Honda Accord that was suffering from the infamous fogging, yellowing plastic headlights. It was very slight and I was able to buff them out by hand with ZPC. They turned out magnificent, the only problem is, they start to fade again after about a month. The car went 5 full years with zero headlight maintenance and now I have to stay on top of it religiously. I keep the headlights protected with my current LSP (Z-2 Pro) What's going on? Is my LSP making them fade faster?
Deteriorating Headlights. Help!
- Thread starter mborner
- Start date
That's because you're not fully correcting them with ZPC by hand. That's not enough cut and polish to fix them well enough. In order to actually restore them, you'll need to wet sand with a range of 1000-3000 grit, depending how bad they are, then polish them out with PlastX or another polish. Best results will be seen by polishing with a machine, but hand results can do well enough if you really put your back into it.
The headlights were not bad enough to use sandpaper. After polishing they were pretty much perfect. It's funny because Plast-X is what I used first. It worked Ok but no better tnan ZP-C. Is there some kind of factory protective coating that I buffed off? I just wish I knew why they fade so fast, now. I've been having to polish them with ZP-C about once a month.
mborner said:
If it keeps coming back, then what you are doing is not enough and thus it is bad enough to wet sand. They fade so fast because you're just masking the problem. If it was fixed, it would not come back... unless you drive through the desert every day or dry your headlights with a sand blaster.
Danase said:
Now don't get me wrong, I'm just trying to figure this out logically and not trying to say someone is right or wrong... but if he went 5 years of having to do no maintenance and now all of a sudden a polish only lasts a month before they start hazing again... wouldn't you try wet sanding with something like a 3000 grit? I've never had problems return after wet sanding and using plastX. However, I have seen problems return after using just PlastX or another polishing compound without wet sanding prior. I would think this would be a sure-fire way to fix this problem and not just partially fix it for a bit, unless somehow this accord's headlights are different than every other one I've done...
Anyway, just trying to offer some experiential insight here. Just seems to be pretty logical to me that more abrasive steps need to be taken than what is being done. But, as always, I'm open to constructive argument.
Some have posted that there is a UV resistant coating on these headlights. If so, he probably polished off the coating. UV is causing the plastic to fog after a month of exposure.
To the OP - do you park your vehicle outside during the day? If so, try parking it indoors during the day if possible and see if that increases the time between polishes.
To the OP - do you park your vehicle outside during the day? If so, try parking it indoors during the day if possible and see if that increases the time between polishes.
I realized I should have posted pics with my original post, sorry. These were taken after they were polished. To me, for a 6 year old car with 66k they look pretty darn good. Sorry I don't have any before pics.
Rob22315, the car is garaged at night and left out all day, always has been. I now back my car into its parking space at work to try and keep as much sunlight off them as possible. (hasn't done much good)
BuffMe, I hear what you are saying but after polishing, there is no oxidation on the headlights. Are you saying it's like mold? if you don't get it all off it just keeps coming back??
Danase, Original bulbs from day one.
Thanks for everybody's input. I may just suck it up and replace the headlight lenses. I hate to do it because after polishing, they look almost brand new.
Rob22315, the car is garaged at night and left out all day, always has been. I now back my car into its parking space at work to try and keep as much sunlight off them as possible. (hasn't done much good)
BuffMe, I hear what you are saying but after polishing, there is no oxidation on the headlights. Are you saying it's like mold? if you don't get it all off it just keeps coming back??
Danase, Original bulbs from day one.
Thanks for everybody's input. I may just suck it up and replace the headlight lenses. I hate to do it because after polishing, they look almost brand new.
mborner said:
Hmm... those do look pretty good just after polishing. I see what you're saying about not wanting to take sandpaper to them as it's not apparent they would need it (although I do see a bit of haze in the first picture which I think could definitely benefit from some light wet-sanding, but I digress...). I think the next step here would probably be the following:
1) Wash the headlights followed by a 50/50 IPA (isopropyl alcohol) and water mixture wipedown
2) Pick up some sort of cheap orbital at the store and polish then up nicely with the PlastX
3) Do another IPA wipedown
4) And this time, protect them with a couple coats of your favorite sealant or wax and make sure to reapply after every wash.
If it's just simple oxidation reappearing, the sealant or wax should at least stave it off for a little while longer (sealant lasting longer than wax). However, if it keeps coming back too frequently to handle after this process, I would try a light wet-sanding with 3000 grit wet/dry paper, b/c you're gonna replace them anyways and it's worth a shot.
chips-b-gone
New member
mborner said:
Mborner,
I do headlight restoration professionally for a few dealers here in WV as well as retail jobs. After about 6-8 months of testing sanding and cleaning various test lights this is what I found when I started out.
You are doing the right thing by sanding them down and getting the damaged/contaminated UV protective layer off of the lense. I usually start with 400-600 grit wet/dry sandpaper. The worse the lense looks initially the easier it will be to strip because the UV layer is already deteriorated and damaged. Work your way up progressively to about 1500-2000 grit sandpaper.
At this point they will look pretty good wet but like crap when they dry. Next using buffing compound and buff them out. I do this by hand but can be done my machine too.
Here is where you problem lyes(sp).. You have stripped off the UV protective layer so now you have to replace it or the lights will continue to fade. Think of it like this, most people if they layed out in the sun without sunscreen they would "fry". They same thing with your headlights, they are frying due to the UV from the sun.
There are many types of products to try BUT take it from experience, if you "try" too many times on the same lense before you know it you will have a hole sanded thru it due to restipping it because the last product you tried didn't work. A company called Dvelup.Com :bow (the spelling is correct) has a kit for 48.99. This "mini kit" has enough supplies to do 4-6 lenses. This is a "wipe on" type kit so you do not have to worry about overspray like some of the other UV products and they will back it up to 2 years. I put a 4 year warrantee on my jobs (2 year unconditional and 2 year prorated). I have never had a complaint or a comeback!!!
I hope this helps you and others with this same problem. Honda, Mercedes, Chrysler Products including Jeep and Freightliner (Big trucks) are probably the worst for this problem, although it exists with any automaker.