discoloured astra headlights

[Astro_Boy]

Hi All
Anyone have trouble with the headlight lenses on their astra discolouring and looking like weathered or sunburnt paintwork?

I have this problem on my SRiT and have talked to the dealer about it who got the workshop guys to rub it over with some polish (whilst it was in for other stuff) and this seemed to improve the finish a bit but now a few months later they look as bad as ever.

Has anyone got the same problem, had it fixed under warranty, polished it out successfully or replaced with an after-market alternative???

I know some people have put eyelids on which covers the worst of it.

It seems like a small concern - but it detracts from an otherwise pretty tidy looking car.

Astro Boy

[xplosv57]

yeah i got that problem too with my headlight and foglights, it looks crappy and the only thing id do is buy new headlights (in my case astra turbo lights :) Otherwise im not sure what u can do, maybe u can spray the lid part black or something!

[Shaun]

I have same problem with my SRi T. Unknown why but it looks really craptacular

[blueraven]

if you recut the surface with snadpaper, then work it back a about 0.2mm and then the work it smoot with 1200 grade paper then give it a good power buff and a coating with a high quality plastic polish (not car polish, plastic polish is hard like um..a crayon?) that should fix it. a freind recut his mazda mx5 headlights to remove the exact same thing, and its still perfect at least 8 months later. basically you have to remove the layer that is oxidising and give th enew surface some decent protection.

mind you there are some quad lights on ebay now and then that i would love to buy :D no lense to craze up!

[rjastra]

Its caused by UV light. So the best prevention is to keep it out of the sun or maybe use headlight covers.

[platypus]

do what blue raven said - its an unfortunate thing about plastic.


but glass does discolour the same way too... same treatment to fix (except just polish it straight...

[Petey]

before heading the sandpaper route, get hold of some Meguiars PlastX & give them a firm rub...

use a cotton cloth & rub in a generous blob until it almost dissappears. do it 4 or 5 times vigorously. it should clear up the oxidised top layer of the headlights.

then put some wax or sealant on them to help keep them protected for a longer time...

if this fails, you can use the sandpaper route.

check out this website, theres a few how to's in there on both methods & general car detailing too.

www.meguiarsonline.com/forum/

cheers

[MatsHolden]

It's actually not ideal to sand the lenses back or even polish them, as the lenses during manufacture are coated with a UV protective coating to prevent the polycarbonate being affected by UV light. Polishing or sanding will completely remove this coating, therefore making your lense even more susceptible to UV deteriation. Also UV light isn't just emitted from the sun but also from halogen globes, if you don't use globes with a UV protecting glass then that can also cause your lamps to discolour and frost.

[jerrypufflewell]

I remember reading somewhere that ADR compliant globes have the UV shielding glass... or was that the lenses? Anybody know? I could look it up but I lazy. I presume you are using legal bulbs astro-boy?

[R3N]

It's actually not ideal to sand the lenses back or even polish them, as the lenses during manufacture are coated with a UV protective coating to prevent the polycarbonate being affected by UV light. Polishing or sanding will completely remove this coating, therefore making your lense even more susceptible to UV deteriation. Also UV light isn't just emitted from the sun but also from halogen globes, if you don't use globes with a UV protecting glass then that can also cause your lamps to discolour and frost.

If it is already discoloured/opaque, then shouldn't be a problem sanding back/buffing it then giving it a coat of wax. Its a mystery how it happens, even if they came with a UV protective coating from the factory.

It also depends though, is the discolouration on the inside or the outside. If it is on the inside, it is most probably caused by cheapo fake xenon look bulbs without the UV glass. If it is outside, try the plastic polish... nothing to lose if it already looks like that anyway. You would still have the UV protective coating on the inside as well.

[OzzySRi]

try using 'PLEXUS'

[platypus]

I remember reading somewhere that ADR compliant globes have the UV shielding glass... or was that the lenses? Anybody know? I could look it up but I lazy. I presume you are using legal bulbs astro-boy?

yeah they do - but the lenses should be uv coated so the plastic doesn't deteriate


and the UV protection is an organic dip coat - it is absorbed into the lens by molecular exchange

[kirssn]

Has anyone got the same problem, had it fixed under warranty, polished it out successfully or replaced with an after-market alternative???



hi,

am onto my third set of headlights now - 2nd set did what yours have done. they were replaced under warranty.

I did have the set that this happened to and we used wax to fix the problem which it has and they are now on another car that is more weathered than mine and you can't tell that there was once a problem.