Headlight Resto Guru's please help

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So I have done a few dozen vehicles now, and I have had a problem with a few. Oddly, all of the problem cars have been Hyundai's. Here is a picture of what I am dealing with. Now, most of the cars have come out perfectly(or as close as reasonably expected), but I had a Santa Fe, Accent, and 2 Elantra's that had some areas like this. It's an odd blurry or cloudy area. It looks just like a foggy lens, but it is completely dry. I see no evidence of an issue on the inside of them either. I don't see any "edge" to the foggy areas that would indicate some of the original coating still in place.

My question(s) are these.
1. What is causing this?
2. Can it be remedied?
2a. If so, how can it be remedied?


Thank you in advance.
 
There was a tsb if I remeber correctly and I believe it was something about this. I believe it is literally in the plastic, not on the inside. Nothing can be done that I remeber. I believe it called for replacement I look it up when I go to the shop tomorrow. I'm not positive if it was Hyundai or Toyota so I could be talking out of my butt.
 
Mobile detail said:
There was a tsb if I remember correctly and I believe it was something about this. I believe it is literally in the plastic, not on the inside. Nothing can be done that I remember.
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Interesting. It's bad enough the exterior surface on plastic headlights goes bad but for car manufactures to switch to a new plastic resin the turns foggy through the entire matrix means there's no way to fix the problem at all except to replace the lens/light.

Could be a new business for detailers, instead of buffing out headlights everyone will be in the replacement business.



:)
 
Mobile detail said:
There was a tsb if I remeber correctly and I believe it was something about this. I believe it is literally in the plastic, not on the inside. Nothing can be done that I remeber. I believe it called for replacement I look it up when I go to the shop tomorrow. I'm not positive if it was Hyundai or Toyota so I could be talking out of my butt.
Click to expand...

Please do. I have a friend at Hyundai now, but he hasn't been there very long. I will ask him to check as well.

I have done at least as many Toyota vehicles as I have Hyundai. I have had zero issues with Toyota yet. I did have a Chevy Cavalier today that had a little bit of this showing, but it was small and over the side, not directly in front. Not nearly as noticeable.

Thanks for the replies. All help is appreciated.
 
Ok so I didn't find the actually TSB yet# , I was super busy today but I did find numerous files regarding Hyundai headlights, especailly Santa Fe, Elantra,Accent, and Sonata. The problems listed stated that the seal on many of them fail causing moister to occur on the inside and that replacement was the only sure fire way to correct due to the fact that you can not reseal them if you tear them apart to buff the inside. (hope that made sense)

Another problem was the headlights themselves causing damage/yellowing to interior of headlight assembly by running to hot and causing "pitting" . Replacement and "updated" headlight bulb install rec.

I did read on some postings that people were literaly putting the headlight assembly in the oven to bake them to melt the seal then buffing the inside. Then they were trying to remelt everything to get it back together and using marine glue. It didn't seem to work that well lol. This seems way beyond an acceptable method for restoring headlights. It also seems that this is a super common prob with Hyundai.

I would just tell the customer up front that due to Hyundai defect, that perfection can not happen unless you replace the headlights. You can make them a lot better (and judging from the pics it looks like you have) and just leave it at that.


I'll try and find the actual TSB this week and post it. I hope this kinda helps.

Cheers!
 
Mobile detail said:
Ok so I didn't find the actually TSB yet# , I was super busy today but I did find numerous files regarding Hyundai headlights, especailly Santa Fe, Elantra,Accent, and Sonata. The problems listed stated that the seal on many of them fail causing moister to occur on the inside and that replacement was the only sure fire way to correct due to the fact that you can not reseal them if you tear them apart to buff the inside. (hope that made sense)

Another problem was the headlights themselves causing damage/yellowing to interior of headlight assembly by running to hot and causing "pitting" . Replacement and "updated" headlight bulb install rec.

I did read on some postings that people were literaly putting the headlight assembly in the oven to bake them to melt the seal then buffing the inside. Then they were trying to remelt everything to get it back together and using marine glue. It didn't seem to work that well lol. This seems way beyond an acceptable method for restoring headlights. It also seems that this is a super common prob with Hyundai.

I would just tell the customer up front that due to Hyundai defect, that perfection can not happen unless you replace the headlights. You can make them a lot better (and judging from the pics it looks like you have) and just leave it at that.


I'll try and find the actual TSB this week and post it. I hope this kinda helps.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Thanks again.

I have talked to my friend at Hyundai as well. He found other TSB's but also, not the one about this issue. The up side for me is that this is a used car lot and he really, si impressed by my work, and these few cars, while not perfect, are still a lot better. All he really want's is for the lights to be clear(er) so they look more appealing and by having all of his cars done, he promotes safety by not selling cars with poor light output. I have to say, I wish all car lots felt that way.

Here are a few more that I have done for them. I think these offset the the fact that some aren't quite so clear. :buffing:
 
ray6 said:
Excellent work!

ray6
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Thank you. I try to treat every car as if it were my own. Using that thought, makes me always strive for perfection, and also allows me to know when enough just has to be enough.

BTW - Did another Hyundai Accent today and it came out great. So I guess not all Hyundai's are a problem. I didn't take pics. I kinda just take pics of the worst lights or new car models that I haven't done yet.
 
You might try spraying or wiping the headlight with alcohol before restoring. For a few seconds the headlight will clear up enough that you might be able to see if there is interior damage. Then you would know what the headlight will look like after restoration. You may not have to forewarn the customer needlessly.
ray6
 
Thanks Ray,

I think I may have seen you make that comment before. I have started using the OMS to get a look at the lens. It seems to be working. I have a used car lot that likes me to do almost every car, unless I tell them I can't fix it. They actually don't look for perfection, so even ones that are damaged on the inside, or have discoloration to the lens it's self get done, as long as it will improve light output.
 
I've done one Elantra and one Santa Fe and neither had that issue.

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mhphoto said:
I've done one Elantra and one Santa Fe and neither had that issue.
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I have done 7 Hyundai vehicles. Only 2 cars and one SUV had the issue.
However, I have done over 75 vehicles and ONLY HYUNDAI has had this issue. I am not saying it can't happen to other vehicles, but I wonder why it has only happened to the Hyundai vehicles so far. If it was random, I would think Either I am doing something wrong, or this is common after the lens has been oxidized for so long. Maybe that is the case, but I doubt it's something I am doing or it would happen more often, and I have had much worse looking lights come out much better.

I agree your samples look great, and I like the animated work on the image.
 
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