Hello friends; My 2004 crossfire has foggy headlights. It may be caused by water condensation, dirt, etc. I talked to the Chrysler’s service manager who did not offer any solution other than to buy a new one (no brain to think). Does anyone have the same problem, and if so, is there any possible way to clean them. Thank you

 

Meguiar's G1900K Headlight and Clear Plastic Restoration Kit

 

Thank you bmorgan. Would this clean it from the outside or the inside? My problem is the insides and since the lense is sealed, I wonder how can be cleaned.

 

Double check that. I may appear to be on the inside but it is actually on the outside. Many have experienced the same. bmorgan's recommendation should work.

 

OK, if you have visible droplets on the inside of the housing, there is a TSB for it. TSB: 13-Jan-05 - 08-002-05 - Lighting - Condensation in Headlamps

This, if you have the dealer take care of it, a 4-6 hour spell with the car on a battery charger and the headlights (lows and highs) on to dry out the housings. With the big rubber caps off.
Then they install a kit whcih include 2 little rubber caps to replace the small "T" things in the upper, outside corners and 4 big caps with permeable membranes to replace the big solid rubber caps. Instructions can be downloaded at time of purchase and should be provided by the parts department.

This kit costs ~ $25. The labor for them to do this is ~ $125.

My suggestion is to buy the kit, dry them out yourself and put the caps on.

Pocket the $125.

I did this exact thing and it worked.

 

My 2004 Coupe has had "clouded" headlight covers from the day I bought the car. When they were selling me the car, they said they would replace them as the problem was equally bad on both sides. When I bought the car, they said "no can do". I have the extended warranty and two dealers said they were "not covered under warranty".

I've lived with the problem but have been very annoyed by them. The rest of my car looks flawless; then you look at those plastic covers and wonder. (see photo #04)

I did buy two new light units off eBay but have been two lazy to install them and, until recently, I didnt have a house with a garage. Now I have the garage.

I decided today, since it was rainy, to try the polishing process. I bought a packet of "CV Headlight Restorer/Defogger" at Wal-Mart for $20. I had read about this product in this forum months ago. Its a 4 step process:

Step 1 involves wet sanding the light cover with a fine sandpaper for about 3-4 minutes. (see photo #10 before wiping off residue)
Step 2 is about the same, except you use a finer grade of wet sandpaper for this step. (see photo #14 after sanding and wiping)
Step 3 involves using a polishing compound -- requires about 1 minute or maybe two.
Step 4 after cleaning the cover thoroughly, you apply a thin coating of some clear sealant by wiping it on with a small patch of cloth. You wait about 3 minutes between coatings; I applied about 4 to each light unit.
(see photo #20 and #24 showing other side after it was done)

They claim, after about 15-30 minutes, you're ready to go and drive it.

Everything is provided in the package. I did not mask off my car body around the light, but that might be recommended. I worked just extra carefully.

I'm very pleased with the results; hope it lasts now.

 

Thank you DICKBEE for your useful post. I will buy the kit and follow the procedure. This kit is also useful on other cars' headlights too. Everthing is made from plastics these days and plastics do absorb the photons from lights and go through molecular rearrangements. So, it make sense to skim off the first outer layer of the plastics by wet sanding. When I do the procedure, I will post my results.

 

I used this and didn't have much luck with the outcome.
It wouldn't remove the entire area and it is on the outside of the light.

 

I saw this product at Wal-Mart and it cost the same as the CVS stuff. From the packaging I concluded the CVS was a little more "aggressive" and that's what I needed.

I did buy a bottle of Meguiars "PlastX" ($5) as something I may use to retain the finish of my headlights.

 

Thanks so much to everyone for the advice on how to get rid of the fog on the headlights. I just bought a used Crossfire and after buying the Megaiure's product (primarily) along with Kaboom (great for shower doors too!) and spending 30-45 minutes of buffing with an electric drill and some strong elbow grease, they look about 80% new, which I'm pleased with.

Here are the before and after pics...

 

Nice pics, what camera did you use?

 

Anyone have for sale a passenger side headlight lens or is the whole assembly that is needed?

Scotty

 

I also just had this start with my 04 at the top of the lamp. Buffed it out eaisily with 3m ultrafine polish. Its expensive stuff but we have it in the shop. It came off quick! I did it by hand to and make sure not to linger or press hard. Perhaps mothers or meguiars fine polish would work too

 

Early on (a few years ago) I had a lot of success buffing headlights out with either 3M or Meguiars Plastx. Both are great products and with an Orange cutting pad and the Porter cable it was a 5 minute job. Some of the ones I've seen lately though are a lot worse and the technique I mention above does not get the haze/fog out. Those that are pitted and heavily hazed need the kits with the sandpaper to get them back to good condition. Meguiars makes one, there are other headlight restoration kits out there as well, I think Adams makes one too. My only other suggestion here is that you make sure the plastic is hazed and its not condensation, that's a whole other issue.

 

Hello, I just wanted to let you know that you're post was very helpfull and accurate from the TSB to the installation instructions the service department provides. And I was able to do it right at home and fixed the problem on the spot. Thanks again!

 

WE are a two Crossfire family. When we purchased my wifes it had the clouding in (so I thought) the headlights. We purchased the car without me knowing the replacement cost of the units. Holy crap!!! My wife came up with an alternate plan.....just swap out the pristine headlights in my Xfire with hers. I want to thank you all for the info as the Meguires kit saved me from using my Xfire as a donor!

Mark

 

I just did my wife's 2006 Crossfire with the Sylvania kit. They were so bad, that you could barely see the projectors inside the headlights, yellow, and material coming off if you rubbed your finger over the lens. After the three sandings, polish, and sealer, they are now crystal clear - not a single mark on either. It did take about 30 minutes on the rough sanding on each to get the damaged material off, but overall, I don't think new would look any better - even shining a flashlight through you can barely see the lenses - no clouding remaining at all!

And Consumer Reports tested this kit, and found it to be one of the few that the sealer lasts in the long run . . . I'll have to wait to verify that, but it's 100% good so far, and under $20!

- Tim

 

I have to add I don'treally care at all for those retail kits. I've tried a couple of them and it was a waste of money and lots of elbow grease-frustration. My fingers ached from those little multi-colored abrasive pads you haev to use and they hardly make a dent.

The solution was to go with some tips from another forum and you get really serious about it!

You start by taping-off the entire lens from the body area really well, then:

1-Go at it with a small, hand-held electric orbital sander with 400 grit wet and dry and a trickle of water while you sand. Don't freak out! It's going to cloud the lens completely. Just be sure you are thorough and get every edge and nook sanded completely and uniformly.

2-Next, hit it with 800 wet and dry and the sander, water trickle, etc., and go until the surface is uniform.

-Use long, smooth strokes back and forth across the entire width of the lens surface until uniform.

3-Next, same thing with 2000 grit paper.

-Wash and rinse with a little soap and water to get rid of sanding grime and any loose abrasives.

4-Finally, hit it with a buffer or moist buffer bonnet on a drill and use a Heavy Duty scratch removing polishing compound like simple Turtle Wax, wipe off and then a lighter polishing compound, like TW, with the buffer.

The lenses on my 2004 coupe look brand spanking-new! I not only eliminated the fog and yellowing, but took out a lot of scratches and dings. And all told, it took less time than the commercially available kits that don't work and cost on average around $20 a pop.

 

And as I said just one message above yours - the Sylvania kit got mine to looking factory new, with not a lot of effort. The only difference in the procedure you describe and that kit is that the kit has a UV sealer - your method does not - so mine are less likely to yellow out again . . . No, I didn't use a power sander, but I could have - I just didn't want to take the risk - and other than the initial 400 grit sanding to clean of the damaged material, it took no more than 5 minutes per grade . . . a fair trade (to me, at least) to remove a chance of a sander burn either on the lens, or the car from a slip . . . ).

- Tim

 

I know this thread is old but I purchased a 2004 Crossfire (2nd one I have owned) and to pass Maryland State Inspection I need to purchase a new passenger side headlight so now there is a very noticeable different with the drivers side.

I'll be purchasing one of the kits listed above and I'll let you know my findings when I tackle the job this coming weekend.