Bad Headlight Housing

[Paladin611]

Greetings Fellow Stingerians,

I wanted to chime in to see who among you has noticed an epidemic blemishing of your Stinger’s headlight housing.

My passenger side headlight has turned disgustingly blemished, with numerous little, white “cuts.”

Has anyone ever been affected by this disturbing quality issue, and if so, how did you fix it? I realize that this kind of appearance problem is inevitable, but it shouldn’t be a problem on a four year old car.

Thanks,
Anthony

 

[Devin]

That almost looks lightly media blasted.

 

[NS_Stinger]

Lots of places sell DIY headlight restoration kits. Or you can just get your buffer out, tape off around the housing and buff it with some scratch remover and then finish by buffing with some polish.

 

[Paladin611]

Lots of places sell DIY headlight restoration kits. Or you can just get your buffer out, tape off around the housing and buff it with some scratch remover and then finish by buffing with some polish.

Thanks, NS. So you believe that the deterioration is coming from the outside? I seemed to me that these imperfections were on the interior of the housing. I did try to buff this out, a couple weeks ago, with my radial buffer. I wasn’t too aggressive, though. I’ll give it another shot.

Thanks.

 

[NS_Stinger]

Thanks, NS. So you believe that the deterioration is coming from the outside? I seemed to me that these imperfections were on the interior of the housing. I did try to buff this out, a couple weeks ago, with my radial buffer. I wasn’t too aggressive, though. I’ll give it another shot.

Thanks.

Is that a car cover I see in the photo? If so I would hazard a guess its from your cover chaffing the lens. I cant say for sure its the outside of your lens from the photo though.

 

[Paladin611]

Is that a car cover I see in the photo? If so I would hazard a guess its from your cover chaffing the lens. I cant say for sure its the outside of your lens from the photo though.

It is a car cover. Thanks for the follow-up idea. I’ll definitely monitor this possibility, especially if I’m able to buff this out. Thanks!

 

[MerlintheMad]

My windshield looks a lot like that! Very irritating. I only notice it when the sunlight is coming directly through. Perhaps it is largely contamination buildup. So far, I've tried 50% ONR and water with a dishwashing scour pad, and straight vinegar with steel wool. I want to say that the latter attack knocked back the amount of "specks", but that's probably wishful thinking. I think that next I will try a dedicated glass cleaner that is supposed to remove contaminants. (My headlights won't get what you're afflicted with, because they are protected by PPF.)

 

[D.J.]

What's the mileage ?

This type of damage "pitting" is not time dependant.

 

[Paladin611]

My windshield looks a lot like that! Very irritating. I only notice it when the sunlight is coming directly through. Perhaps it is largely contamination buildup. So far, I've tried 50% ONR and water with a dishwashing scour pad, and straight vinegar with steel wool. I want to say that the latter attack knocked back the amount of "specks", but that's probably wishful thinking. I think that next I will try a dedicated glass cleaner that is supposed to remove contaminants. (My headlights won't get what you're afflicted with, because they are protected by PPF.)

Thanks, Merlin. Nice to hear from you, man. I wish my installer would have suggested the headlights l when I had PPF applied to my front fascia. I’ll try your suggestion after I hit the area with my radial. Peace.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Thanks, Merlin. Nice to hear from you, man. I wish my installer would have suggested the headlights l when I had PPF applied to my front fascia. I’ll try your suggestion after I hit the area with my radial. Peace.

I wasn't suggesting steel wool on plastic! It didn't phase glass with vinegar, so I doubt that your problem would be helped by trying that on plastic. If my windshield problem is actually micro pitting of the glass, nothing is going to help "getting it off". And if your problem is the same, then you are going to have a real job orbiting it out, if that is even possible.

 

[Paladin611]

I wasn't suggesting steel wool on plastic! It didn't phase glass with vinegar, so I doubt that your problem would be helped by trying that on plastic. If my windshield problem is actually micro pitting of the glass, nothing is going to help "getting it off". And if your problem is the same, then you are going to have a real job orbiting it out, if that is even possible.

I should think not!

 

[Deviate]

Mine are similar looking but, i also drive a lot of miles. Nevermind the fact that i live where everything seems to get sandblasted (SW Fl). Never even crossed my mind as to being a bad assembly. May have to look in to that more now

 

[Paladin611]

Mine are similar looking but, i also drive a lot of miles. Nevermind the fact that i live where everything seems to get sandblasted (SW Fl). Never even crossed my mind as to being a bad assembly. May have to look in to that more now

That’s no good, either. I replaced my driver side headlight housing previously. Had I not replaced it, it too would have decayed like this one. I think that Kia has merely made a bad decision in choosing the right material for headlight housings. They clearly went cheap to cut cost.

 

[D.J.]

That’s no good, either. I replaced my driver side headlight housing previously. Had I not replaced it, it too would have decayed like this one. I think that Kia has merely made a bad decision in choosing the right material for headlight housings. They clearly went cheap to cut cost.

Isn't it standard polycarbonate, like all headlights from all manufacturers?

 

[Paladin611]

Update: Attached is the product that I used on the headlight. Its a fine cut cleaner from Megiuars. I applied about three to four applications of this stuff, and hit it with the orbital for about 5 or so minutes each time. The results are promising. While the housing is not as clean as its counterpart on the left, its still a vast improvement, and I’m satisfied. Now, I know that I’ll be able to have success with this issue when I tackle it full force in the Spring.

 

[NS_Stinger]

Update: Attached is the product that I used on the headlight. Its a fine cut cleaner from Megiuars. I applied about three to four applications of this stuff, and hit it with the orbital for about 5 or so minutes each time. The results are promising. While the housing is not as clean as its counterpart on the left, its still a vast improvement, and I’m satisfied. Now, I know that I’ll be able to have success with this issue when I tackle it full force in the Spring.

The headlight material seems to scratch pretty easily so after you get them where you want you could always cover them in paint protection film.

 

[MerlintheMad]

My windshield continues to bug me. My latest suspicion is that the laminate between the two panes of glass is the cause of the growing occlusions: I'm sure this is worse than when I first noticed it (within the first few months of ownership, we talked about this before). If the increasing "specks" were caused by outside contamination, or worse the "sand blasting" effect of impacting crud in the air over time, you would expect to see corresponding deterioration in the surrounding trim and paint: I don't see any evidence of that, so, the issue is probably inside the windshield.

 

[Paladin611]

My windshield continues to bug me. My latest suspicion is that the laminate between the two panes of glass is the cause of the growing occlusions: I'm sure this is worse than when I first noticed it (within the first few months of ownership, we talked about this before). If the increasing "specks" were caused by outside contamination, or worse the "sand blasting" effect of impacting crud in the air over time, you would expect to see corresponding deterioration in the surrounding trim and paint: I don't see any evidence of that, so, the issue is probably inside the windshield.

That is a truly bizarre conditional state for your windshield to be in. Especially, if the fault is “inside” the windshield. I’ve never heard of anything like that.

 

[MerlintheMad]

That is a truly bizarre conditional state for your windshield to be in. Especially, if the fault is “inside” the windshield. I’ve never heard of anything like that.

It would be between the two panes of laminated (sound reducing) glass.

 

[Paladin611]

It would be between the two panes of laminated (sound reducing) glass.

I know, that’s what makes it strange.