D4 headlight care

[LandyAndy]

Any thoughts on the care of the plastic lenses on the D4????
They will be EXPENSIVE to repair into the future if not looked after properly.
I treated mine with RainX,washed it today the bugs and thier stains were difficult to remove.In the past I have polished glass lenses with car polish when doing a polish.Not thinking that this will be good on a plastic lense.
I notice on my POS Rodeo workute there is a poly coating on the headlights that is starting to peel.Guessing we have the same.
Any heads up on how to clean/care for the lenses correctly?????
Andrew

[LGM]

All I do is just wash them and use a bit of aggression to get the bugs off! :o

Plenty of water and car wash involved though. So far so good, no visible scratches.

What I have noticed is there are quite a few stone marks or very small pock marks where the headlights have been clobbered with small stones from passing vehicles etc.

SWMBO has a 2003 D2 which we have had from new and that has poly clad headlights. They have survived the vehicles 230,000km quite well. Admittedly they had proper headlight protectors for quite a few years.

Can't say I have seen any product that can do a 'cut and polish' on polycarbonate or what ever the stuff is. I guess someone out there will know if such a product exists?

[outasight]

There is!

Here's a couple of choices at Supercrap ...

Turtle Wax Headlight Restorer Kit - Supercheap Auto Australia (http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/Turtle-Wax-Headlight-Restorer-Kit.aspx?pid=283622#Recommendations)

Rain-X Headlight Restoration Kit - Supercheap Auto Australia (http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/Rain-X-Headlight-Restoration-Kit.aspx?pid=330154#Recommendations)

I would NOT go near them with the Rain-X windscreen product though, as it has a hydrocarbon base(that fast evaporating smelly stuff in it)that may easily damage the surface - I think the instructions may even warn not to use it on these lenses ....

[RHS58]

I use Vuplex.
www.vuplex.com.au

Great for sunnies too!

[rar110]

Cheap toothpaste works ok.

Don't use acetone.

[jonesy63]

Andy - they have poly-carbonate lenses - so don't use anything abrasive.

[Tombie]

Andy - they have poly-carbonate lenses - so don't use anything abrasive.

Correct, Polycarbonate with a Scratch resistant / UV resistant coating.

Abrasives will accelerate their decline.

[LGM]

No doubt about the wealth of knowledge out there!

[LandyAndy]

Thanks Guys.
they arent bad yet,was looking for the best way to care for them,that Vuplex looks like the go.
Cheers
Andrew

[BMKal]

I would NOT go near them with the Rain-X windscreen product though, as it has a hydrocarbon base(that fast evaporating smelly stuff in it)that may easily damage the surface - I think the instructions may even warn not to use it on these lenses ....

X2. ;)

I have used the original Rainex on many vehicles (we also use it on the glass shower screen in the bathroom). Would not ever use it on anything plastic.


I use Vuplex.
www.vuplex.com.au

Great for sunnies too!

Thanks for that. Haven't seen this product before. Will see if I can find some and give it a go. :D

[Tombie]

Vuplex is great on boat clears as well...

[DaveA1963]

I use Plexus Plastic Polish on my motorcycle helmet visor & the polycarbonate windscreen on my bike, and it's great. No scratches & cleans the crap off very easily.

I think I got the last can off eBay from memory.

Just had a look and this is one of the listings:
161361669467

[Stuart02]

Does Vuplex work on headlights with that surface abrasion? I've been quoted $400/headlight to rub them back and recoat them so am interested in DIY alternatives. But in my experience there's a lot of snake oil out there...

[rocket rod]

tooth paste and/or cut and polish

[BradC]

tooth paste and/or cut and polish

Yeah, but that's the easy bit. The hard bit is finding an appropriate UV protective coating that lasts longer than a year or so if your car lives outdoors. I've had 2 years from a UV stable acrylic lacquer, but that's about it.

[Stuart02]

Yeah, but that's the easy bit. The hard bit is finding an appropriate UV protective coating that lasts longer than a year or so if your car lives outdoors. I've had 2 years from a UV stable acrylic lacquer, but that's about it.

Yes - I gather it's the coating that wears off? And then the plastic/polycarbonate is unprotected. Mine sadly does have to live outdoors...

Did the acrylic lacquer perform ok in headlight terms and would you say it's worth it, or is it now a new headache to remove and reapply?

[101RRS]

I've been quoted $400/headlight to rub them back and recoat them so am interested in DIY alternatives.

Cheaper to just replace.

You are being redirected... (https://www.powerfuluk.com/vehicles/land-rover/discovery-4/lamps-lights-upgrades/land-rover-discovery-4-replacement-headlight-lens-early-type-left.html)

You are being redirected... (https://www.powerfuluk.com/vehicles/land-rover/discovery-4/lamps-lights-upgrades/land-rover-discovery-4-replacement-headlight-lens-early-type-right.html)

[BradC]

Yes - I gather it's the coating that wears off? And then the plastic/polycarbonate is unprotected. Mine sadly does have to live outdoors...

Did the acrylic lacquer perform ok in headlight terms and would you say it's worth it, or is it now a new headache to remove and reapply?

I don't know that it wears off, but it certainly stops protecting the underlying plastic from UV. I've done a couple of our cars, and others for family members over the years. Initially we rubbed back the headlights with wet and dry, starting with 800 and progressing to 2000 to remove the oxidised surface before applying 2 coats of lacquer. The headlights looked like new. After a couple of years they started to oxidise along the top edge, so I rubbed them back with 2000 wet and dry again and re-coated. I found the lacquer degrading rather than the plastic that time so it was a relatively quick and painless exercise rather than having to sand away the oxidised plastic surface the first time.

I haven't done the lights on the D3 yet, but as they are now looking pretty ratty and someone has fairly viciously keyed the lens on the passenger side light I'm looking at doing the same thing, but I was toying with prepping them and having a panelbeater apply a proper UV resistant 2 pack. As the D3 lights are so easy to remove and work on I'll probably end up just using acrylic. Like anything, nobody ever said "Gee I wish I hadn't spent all that time on prep".

I've looked at the PowefulUK replacement lenses, but at ~$400/pair landed and with an unknown around any protection they have and longevity I've been a bit reticent to try them. The UKs idea of Sun and ours is slightly "different".

[Stuart02]

Cheaper to just replace.

You are being redirected... (https://www.powerfuluk.com/vehicles/land-rover/discovery-4/lamps-lights-upgrades/land-rover-discovery-4-replacement-headlight-lens-early-type-left.html)

You are being redirected... (https://www.powerfuluk.com/vehicles/land-rover/discovery-4/lamps-lights-upgrades/land-rover-discovery-4-replacement-headlight-lens-early-type-right.html)

Yeah right, thanks - It's a good thought although I'd love to hear from someone who has bravely and successfully cooked their headlights to loosen the adhesive and get the old lenses off! (anybody?)

[DiscoDB]

Yeah right, thanks - It's a good thought although I'd love to hear from someone who has bravely and successfully cooked their headlights to loosen the adhesive and get the old lenses off! (anybody?)

I think these guys did…(any resemblance to PowerfulUK is purely coincidental).

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220125/191a1ddb2b7535c65bf22a0ce5a4dc35.jpg

P.s Nice to see a thread by LandyAndy pop up. I do miss him!

[101RRS]

Yeah right, thanks - It's a good thought although I'd love to hear from someone who has bravely and successfully cooked their headlights to loosen the adhesive and get the old lenses off! (anybody?)

I have not done it personally but read about plenty who have done it on this forum and on the UK forums. When you say "cooked" that is a bit melodramatic - just need to use a hair dryer around the joins to soften the glue and gently prise the poly carbonate lens off the light housing.

[BradC]

The PowerfulUK page on the lens replacements for the D3 has a video of them doing it.

[Stuart02]

P.s Nice to see a thread by LandyAndy pop up. I do miss him![/QUOTE]


I figured I'd have more cachet by re-booting one of his threads than starting my own! :P

[Stuart02]

I have not done it personally but read about plenty who have done it on this forum and on the UK forums. When you say "cooked" that is a bit melodramatic - just need to use a hair dryer around the joins to soften the glue and gently prise the poly carbonate lens off the light housing.

Haha I'm not immune to melodrama but in saying "cooked" I was only paraphrasing Powerful Uk themselves - "We have not done this replacement ourselves yet. The trickiest part is removing the old lens which is bonded into place. With previous headlight upgrades we have had some success by baking the headlight assembly first at a low temp to loosen the bonding material around the old lens."

They probably need to work on their sales pitch...
Hair dryer is a good suggestion, thankyou, though I'd have to concede to my partner that it actually /is/ a useful device... [bighmmm]

[The Mighty Range Rover]

Does Vuplex work on headlights with that surface abrasion? I've been quoted $400/headlight to rub them back and recoat them so am interested in DIY alternatives. But in my experience there's a lot of snake oil out there...

Do not use toothpaste, shoe polish, cut in a can etc. To properly restore a headlight it takes several grades of sanding and compounding to remove all of the fine scratches from previous steps.

After sanding, you have now removed most of the UV protective coating, if you don't replace it, the headlight will yellow again very quickly. It needs to be sealed either with a clear coat or a proper ceramic coating (if it comes in a spray, it's not a ceramic coating).

400 dollars is a lot of money for headlight restoration. I'd expect no more than 200.