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Old 11-13-2018, 11:18 PM #1
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Headlights getting cloudy?

G'day Tech-team,

About a year ago, I noticed that the headlights on my wife's "Camery" had become not only cloudy, but pitted, yellow, and completely un-transparent... I mean you couldn't even see the bulbs through the lenses! So I went into research mode to find out just what is the correct way to eradicate this common anomaly!

Now a lot has been said about the resolution to this problem like using... "Toothpaste, WD-40", and a host of other 'Miracle' headlight restoring products on the market today! So I did find a product that did restore the '04 Camery's headlights... and these headlights were THEE WORST example of tarnished lenses that I've ever seen!

It took about an hour per side because the pits were several microns in depth (you could feel them just by rubbing your hand across the lenses). Well the reason that I'm telling you about the Camery, is because around that same time, I started to notice the lenses on my 2012 4Runner Limited was starting to show the typical cloudy film as well.

But it wasn't anywhere near bad enough to start grinding off the surface of the smooth plexglass at this point. But I had another idea. The last step of the Nulens product that I bought for my wife's car was a finishing polish; which does have a very fine abrasive cream in the polish, so I decided to give that a try.

I did exactly as I did with the Camery in the final stage. I first wiped the lense clean. Then I wet the lense using a spray bottle. I applied some polish, about the size of a quarter in the center of the sponge applicator and started to run the drill (slowly) moving the foam sponge from side-to-side, making sure not to touch the paint or anything else that I didn't intend to treat.

I didn't take any Before & after photos as I usually do in my write-ups because I had no plans to write this one up. To be honest, I really didn't think that this would work because I deliberately avoided using the emery cloth sheets as in the directions because my cloudy lenses weren't nearly tarnished enough to chance scuffing them up... but it did remove all evidence of that smoky film: "See below"




[URL=http://s1077.photobucket.com/user/rigtec/media/nulens3.jpg.html]

So if your prized 4Runner is starting to show signs of aging plexiglass lenses, this is the kit that'll work! As a matter of fact, perhaps you can just purchase the sponge applicator and the "MOTHER's Power plastic polish" on ebay or Amazon... I bought mine from Auto-zone for $19.95.

But I wanted to buy a product that I could open up and see it's contents because I've never attempted to clean-up any cloudy head-lights before but now that I see what it's all about, I can recommend this product with confidence! 'Best to you',

rig, cheers!
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Last edited by rigtec; 11-13-2018 at 11:24 PM.
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Old 11-14-2018, 08:05 AM #2
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I just restored a pair of hazy headlights this weekend as well. I do recommend anytime you polish headlights to use a headlight sealant to restore the original UV protectant. I used the 3M headlight clear coat 39173.
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Old 11-14-2018, 09:48 AM #3
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there are 5th gens with cloudy headlights already?
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Old 11-14-2018, 09:50 AM #4
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O’Reillys has the Rain-X headlight restorer polish on sale this week for $4.99. It’s the final polish in their restoration kit. Good for mild haze.
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Old 11-14-2018, 11:53 AM #5
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guys...
try this... spray some wd40 on a paper towel.. do this before you wash your car... you wanna wash this stuff off after.. wipe away at the haze and be amazed then wash off the residual wd40 as you dont want this stuff soaking into your plastic.. then get some meguiars lens protectant shit
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Old 11-14-2018, 05:29 PM #6
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Make sure you spray a UV clear coat on the lens or they will yellow again and quickly. Polycarbonate hates UV and all plastic lens have a clear coating as a result. Polishing will remove the original coating and expose the polycarbonate directly to UV resulting in a very fast oxidation rate.
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Old 11-14-2018, 06:28 PM #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by matoolie View Post
Make sure you spray a UV clear coat on the lens or they will yellow again and quickly. Polycarbonate hates UV and all plastic lens have a clear coating as a result. Polishing will remove the original coating and expose the polycarbonate directly to UV resulting in a very fast oxidation rate.
https://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-G178...meguiars+light
check this bad boy out
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Old 11-14-2018, 08:32 PM #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jhguth View Post
there are 5th gens with cloudy headlights already?
Yepp! Have been since 2012... go figure(?)!!
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Old 11-15-2018, 02:06 AM #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1jzgte View Post
guys...
try this... spray some wd40 on a paper towel.. do this before you wash your car... you wanna wash this stuff off after.. wipe away at the haze and be amazed then wash off the residual wd40 as you dont want this stuff soaking into your plastic.. then get some meguiars lens protectant shit
whatever you do, don’t listen to this advice! Lol

However, check this out: https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/...uide/index.htm

I used the sylvania kit on my lexus and the results were amazing. Takes some elbow grease but nothing too crazy
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Old 11-15-2018, 02:14 AM #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rigtec View Post
Yepp! Have been since 2012... go figure(?)!!
Oh yes, I had the dealer replace mine after about 3-4 years.

There is a TSB floating around this board someplace that covered my vin. So no cost to me. But now a couple more years in they are starting to cloud again.
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Old 11-15-2018, 12:12 PM #11
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Originally Posted by Drillzzz View Post
whatever you do, don’t listen to this advice! Lol

However, check this out: https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/...uide/index.htm

I used the sylvania kit on my lexus and the results were amazing. Takes some elbow grease but nothing too crazy
please explain why wd40 is a bad idea?

I've tried the plastic polishes and sanding and none of that nonsense works that well

just make sure you wash it off very well and put some sort of UV protectant after you clean it well

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Old 11-15-2018, 03:31 PM #12
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I doubt anyone takes my recommendations, but this https://www.amazon.com/Duragloss-681.../dp/B0007IJR18

+

a MF towel and elbow grease will get you good results.
Better results (30 seconds) if you have a friend with a rotary polisher and old cutting pad.

+ clear tint/film from a tint shop = $10

No more haze indefinitely.
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Old 11-15-2018, 05:40 PM #13
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Sanding works, but if hazing is bad the little "emory cloth" they provide in some kits will be useless. It's a lot of work to do the sanding properly and you should know what you are doing otherwise it will cost you a lot of money.

Definitely put a headlight coating on it afterwards or all your hard work will go to waste in a few months. Saw the picture of the Meguiar's Headlight Coating product. Haven't used it but other Meguiar's products are excellent so I bet that one is a good product too.
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Old 07-27-2019, 12:14 PM #14
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3M Kit 39084

My 2010 4Runner headlights have yellowed and I suspect have never been restored so this would be the first time in nine years, and mostly parked outside.
I was going to try the Sylvania kit due to good reviews but Prime day deals turned my purchase to the 3m 39084 and 39173 kit.
The 39084 kit is hand sanding and polishing with no final coating, the 39173 kit has a final wipe on UV protection coating. Because of Prime day the two kits combined cost me about $15.
Being my first headlight restoration and a hand polishing kit on a nine year old lens, it took me about 4-5 hours to finish. I like the idea of a wipe on sealer which gave me easy control of the application.
I think I could have opted for a powered polishing kit but 3M will warn that it is easy to make a mistake if it gets away from you, experience prevails.
Obviously the real test is in the sealer and how long will it last. My time starts today and I plan on an update about a year from now.
Good luck with your project mine has turned out well.
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Headlights getting cloudy?-3m-kit-39084-jpg  Headlights getting cloudy?-3m-kit-39173-jpg  Headlights getting cloudy?-lens-before-kit-jpg  Headlights getting cloudy?-after-dry-sanding-jpg  Headlights getting cloudy?-after-1st-wet-sanding-jpg  Headlights getting cloudy?-after-2nd-rubbing-compound-jpg  Headlights getting cloudy?-after-3m-uv-protectorant-jpg  Headlights getting cloudy?-parts-suggested-job-jpg 
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Old 07-27-2019, 02:18 PM #15
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For anyone doing this it doesn't really matter what product you use to clean the lenses. Anything you use will need clearcoat.

Once you clean the headlights, find a body shop to spray a coat or two of clear on them and actually make them last and look good!
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