Windshield Repair Forum

How do you remove the yellow from inside the lens?
Do you remove the headlight assembly? Or just the plastic lens? How do you reseal?

A lot of times that iside yellow is really outsde and ts the reflector making it look like its inside if you sand more it comes off I know that yellow in Vermont came from the salt on the road I bet you have the same thing there I see a different type of damage here in Fresno that comes from the 40 plus 100 degree days they have with a lot of pollution

Hi guys. Have any of you ever encountered a headlight that looked like this? It appears to have turned amber all the way through the polycarbonate. I hit it hard with 400 grit on the metabo and I was well into the plastic and it was still amber. I decided to go ahead and finish it out (did'nt want to go through the plastic). I also used a bleaching agent, with no luck. It came out clear and shiny, but still amber. This was an 02 Pontiac Sunfire, not that old of a car. The lens did have a crack in it, right in the center. I wonder if that had anything to do with the amber color? The other headlight had been replaced. Anyway, comments or suggestions please. Sorry about the lousy picture, I haven't figured this stuff out yet. This is a before shot, but the color never really improved.

Headlights discolor from various types of road debris and it becomes trapped in the pores over time, leading to discoloration of the lens. In addition, the polycarbonate is a hydrocarbon and it oxidizes over time with the exposure to heat and UV rays from sunlight. The oxidation results in the lens discoloring to a dull brownish/yellow tint. You said that there was a crack in the center of the lens, so in my opinion the lens is discolored on the inside. I have encountered this problem once and the only I was able to fix the problem was to remove the lens from the headlight assembly and restore both sides of the lens.

Just curious what kind of lens you cleaned the inside of??? Most seem to be sealed units.

A 90 model GMC lens that I got from the junkyard. I encountered that same problem so I decided to remove the lens from the assembly and restore both sides.

Kgobin wrote:A 90 model GMC lens that I got from the junkyard. I encountered that same problem so I decided to remove the lens from the assembly and restore both sides.

And you were able to get sealed again for use?

I did not re-seal the lens after restoring it but I have read how to do it and the process seems fairly simple, but I will try it on Tuesday May 26th when I return to work.

I think in the case of that 90 GMC or most any lens if you have to split a factory seal to repair , a replacement would be cost effective.A pair aftermarket is less than 125.00 a pair.Big waste of time and really not worth the time and effort.I have yet to see one that can not be fixed from the outside.Maybe I am just lucky ...

I agree with harrellbenjamin that it is a

big waste of time and really not worth the time and effort

and that a replacement should be recommended. Keep in mind this was part of our in-house testing. We try to duplicate all of the situations that our customers and members of the forum encounter.