RE: '89 200 headlight fogging

[Ed Kellock <EKELLOCK@ECS-INC.com>]

I pulled and washed the passenger side unit on my Avant.  It is noticeably
clearer than the driver's side, but the reflective coating is not great
anymore.  I used a strip of terry cloth towel, knotted, with a piece of
string tied to one end to wash the inside.  Add some soapy water, feed the
towel in there, and Shake Well.  I wasn't able to do much with the city
light area since there's a barrier between the two areas and the light bulb
hole is much smaller.  It improved the lighting a little and made the other
one look like hell.  So now I have it and the two on the Coupe to do.
Yippee!

Interesting info about the vent holes... I'll have to look for those.

Ed	

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	WARATAP@aol.com [SMTP:WARATAP@aol.com]
> Sent:	Tuesday, July 21, 1998 12:35 PM
> To:	jeff.maurer@infocus.com; quattro@coimbra.ans.net
> Subject:	Re: '89 200 headlight fogging
> 
> In a message dated 7/21/98 11:59:10 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
> jeff.maurer@infocus.com writes:
> 
> > A friend with an '89 200 asked me to post for him.  His headlight 
> >  housings have fogged to the point that they look like DRL's.  Any
> >  wisdom on what he can do to fix this?
> >  
> First, find out why.  Is/are there stone chip(s) in the lens (usually this
> is the problem).  If not, check breather holes mounted towards rear of
> reflector.  There should be two (not sure where on the 200 lens.
> Regardless, the headlight(s) should be removed.  Locate the breather vents
> (small rectangular L shaped rubber hoses are attached to them).  Remove
> the rubber caps and inspect breather holes.  Often these holes have not
> been finished and are of insufficient size to handle the high  humidity/
> temperature deviations of late.  Using a small knife blade or X-acto
> knife, enlarge the openings.  Then remove (if you haven't already) the
> light bulbs and use a hair dryer to remove the condensation within.
> There's a great spray on chandelier cleaning spray (can't recall the name,
> that I first spray inside, then fill headlight unit with water and rinse),
> prior to using the hair dryer.  Then reassemble.  If there's a stone chip,
> then I'd suggest trying to find a new (used one).  Or you can try what I
> did (very time consuming).  Since I hate the look of a siliconed headlight
> chip repair, I CAREFULLY (many hours) separated the lens from the
> reflector.  Careful - the plastic breaks easily!  They use a VERY strong
> adhesive for bonding the glass to the reflector.  Then I took the inside
> glass chip caused by the stone and glued it from the inside of the lens
> using 5-minute clear epoxy.  Then reassemble to reflector housing using a
> clear silicone sealer like for aquariums. Now you can mount it all back
> together into the car.  And one more thing -- Invest in some 3 mil 3M
> clear protective film (available at GRIOTS and other sources) so you won't
> have to do it again!
>