Coating on headlight lenses

Tru-Blu

Tru-Blu

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Don't know why I didn't notice this before - what kind of coating is on the headlight lenses? Is it different between Gen 1 and Gen 2? I just noticed that I have some spots were the coating seems to be gone or eroded. It's only on the black brow part of the lense - not on the clear portion at all.

Has anyone encountered this, and if so, what did they do to address it?

Lens1.jpg


Lens2.jpg
 
That's the headlight delaminating. There is a UV coating that's supposed to protect the plastic. It's supposed to lasts 5ish years if the car spends most of it's life outside. AFAIK the only "fix" is to recondition the lens. There are products for that and I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than I will chime in. The headlights on my '06 did that and were replaced under warranty. My wife's '06 is fine.

You may need to strip it down and clear-coat it.
 
Here's my suggestion.

Wet sand
Buff
Apply a film like Lamin-X.

I don't really suggest clear coating, because it's tough to get clear to stick to the headlight plastic. It will look fine at first, but will start delaminating sooner than previous, as you are seeing there.

I will look to see if there is a good product for reconditioning. I'm thinking something made by eyeglass companies would work. But I'm shooting from the hip on that part.
 
Great - I'm assuming that this will be something that will NOT be covered under the extended warranty - even though it's the OEM Ford/Lincoln bumper-to-bumper one.
 
I haven't called, but went and checked the ESP Premium Warranty from the website, and this was in the Owner Maintenance (not covered) section:

Owner Maintenance Requirements
Service adjustments and cleaning, fi xed (non-moving) body parts, batteries of all types and cables, belts, hoses, hose clamps, brakes (front hub, drums, shoes, linings, disc rotors, pads), manual transmission clutch disc, coolant, exhaust system (includes catalytic converter), filters, fluids, lubricants, lights (bulbs, sealed beam, lenses), spark plugs, spark plug wires, squeaks and rattles, tires, tune-ups, wheel balancing, wheel alignment, LED lights, shock absorbers and compressed natural gas/liquid propane fuel system conversion components
 
So basically the only thing they cover is catastrophic engine failure and full blown transmission...

Yup warranties aren't scams at all..:rolleyes:
 
Hey now, my front wheel bearings and DCCV were covered under my ESP. Also got to rent a Bimmer Z3 for a week gratis while my LS was being serviced.
 
I'm not going to complain too much. My ESP has already paid for itself.

So, has ANYONE dealt with this on their lenses? The wet-sand and buffing is straightforward, but what I'm unsure of is putting something back on them for protection again. I'm hoping someone has direct experience with this.
 
someone here clear coated their lights. He had to leave the lense really rough so the clear coat would stick to the lense. They looked really good after
 
Mine are doing that as well, it starts in the black, and it will creep down the headlight. Last Spring it was just a little, now its so annoyingly noticeable. I planned on using the 3M recondition kit from the autoparts store. It worked amazingly well on my 98 Suburban lights. After that I'll apply the laminex covers.

I'm seriously paranoid with this car though. I had no issues taking the kit to the suburban lights.. I'm terrified to go near the LS headlights with tools. (stupid expensive factory HID's)
 
I'm just curious how the Lamin-X covers work. If they're just big sheets of film, then I don't see how the different angles of the headlight lens assembly can be covered without getting wrinkles or buckles in some places.

I want to do this right, and want to make sure that the lights aren't gonna do this again for a long time. I've been trying to protect them with the Meguiar's product since I've owned the car, but the previous owner may have done nothing.
 
I am doing mine this weekend. They sell this stuff called bull dog that i use and it makes paint and clear stick on pretty much anything. I never used it on clear headlights before but im gonna wing it this weekend with my fogs and see what happens. ill post with my findings
 
I used the 3m re conditioner, two dry sanding types, SCARY, then wetsand, then buffed the sh!t out of them, didnt put any king of gloss coat on them besides wax, but I may try that laminx stuff. Check my pics if you want to see how they turned out. They want you to use a drill to sand although so its a bit janky. I wouldnt advise using and sanding harder then wet sanding as said above.
 
jolinc01 said:
I found this the other day while looking for a headlight restoration kit. http://www.cureuv.com/lightrite-headlight-repair-uv-coating-value-pak.html It has a lifetime warranty, which is good, but I've never personally used it. I also thought the same thing about the lamin-x. I'm sure it'd wrinkle at least 5 times on me if I tried it.
Click to expand...

That actually looks promising. Remember, you will have to cure that stuff by either parking in direct sunlight, or buying UVA floods to point at the lense.
 
Looks like I've got some stuff to check out - thanks for all the responses, guys!

I'll update when I have a game plan.
 
Make a habit of using Lamin x on there (once a week) and it will remove the clear coat little by little. That's what i have been doing and it looks a lot better.
 
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