Plastic yellowing from age, can it be cleaned up?

[rooster]

My daugther got her first car yesterday, 95 Mustang, 6 cyc, the lens for the head lights are yellowing, also have some moisture inside them. Is there something that can be used to clean and polish this yellowing out of the lens ( its plastic)?

[Fat Cat]

My daugther got her first car yesterday, 95 Mustang, 6 cyc, the lens for the head lights are yellowing, also have some moisture inside them. Is there something that can be used to clean and polish this yellowing out of the lens ( its plastic)?

nothing that will stop it from coming back just as fast. Best choice is to replace them. The mositure inside is an indicator that the seal that goes between the reflector and lens is wasted.

[Inprimer]

there is a product called WENOL it comes in a tube . it comes in blue for fine scratches and also red, more aggressive. I have used it on several cars as you mentioned. It will clear up the outside of the lens to I'd say 90% of new.As far as moisture on the inside, my experiece has been  to remove headlight from car, DRY with hair drier and look for cracks at seams. silicone with clear and be sure to ck where bulb goes into socket. the gasket must seal there, as a last resort ck out a junkyard wont be cheap though.The wenol cost about $20 for 2  red and blue and works great on micro polishing any metal or plastic .  Serge

[WZ JUNK]

My daugther got her first car yesterday, 95 Mustang, 6 cyc, the lens for the head lights are yellowing, also have some moisture inside them. Is there something that can be used to clean and polish this yellowing out of the lens ( its plastic)?

I have used a buffer and polishing compound on them.  It will make them look "better" but not like new ones.  Aftermarket replacements are not to expensive for some models.

[Leon]

I've tried polishing the yellow out and it hasn't worked.  The yellowing goes through the plastic not just on the surface.

[CruZer]

My daugther got her first car yesterday, 95 Mustang, 6 cyc, the lens for the head lights are yellowing, also have some moisture inside them. Is there something that can be used to clean and polish this yellowing out of the lens ( its plastic)?

Most ,if not all,of the plastic headlamp lenses are molded from polycarbonate plastic (Lexan) is GE's brand. The yellowing and crazing is a normal sign of aging and there's nothing that can be done about it for a permanent fix. The lenses are coated with a UV resistant coating to slow the process but (as us greybeards know) aging is a natural process.

[TJ's Dad]

I have used with success nail polish to re paint them.

Not that i normally carry it around with me , I borrowed some from Mr Cool ... he always has a bottle in his handbag !!        

.

[rooster]

Thanks guys! I think I will try the polish thing on the one that dosent have moisture in it. To me it looks like the inside has yellowing in it. I will watch out for some good used ones, for down the road.

[DrJ]

My daugther got her first car yesterday, 95 Mustang, 6 cyc, the lens for the head lights are yellowing, also have some moisture inside them. Is there something that can be used to clean and polish this yellowing out of the lens ( its plastic)?

When Wife bought her current car, used, one of the headlights was fogging with condensation and the dealer replaced it on a "Service Bulletin" that guaranteed it, no problem, no cost to us, and several years later replaced the other one. I don't think there was any age or mileage limit on the bulletin.
Try your local Ford dealer to see if they have a similar Service Bulletin on those lights, you might just be entitled to replacements.

They are making all these plastic lights instead of glass, and they shoudn't do it if they aren't going to last as long as the rest of the car is reasonably going to last!

[mu1s9t6a9ng]

hey guys new to the site....but ne ways....my ex g/f bought a 99 sebring lxi couple years ago and ne ways the headlights were fogged...yellowed or however you wanna call it....ne ways....what i did was tape off all areas where paint is close to the headlights....then with a fine surfaced sand paper...wet sanded them for about three hours each.....okay here's a how to and some pix of the differences taken from a site....just type in clearing headlights or wet sanding headlights in any search engine to get info but here we go...i'm just gonna copy in paste. taken from http://www.dsmtuners.com

Materials Needed
-1000 grit wet sanding paper
-1500 grit wet sanding paper
-water
-rubbing compound
-buffer
-white foam buffing pad
-black foam buffing pad
-automotive wax (optional)
-paper towels

Step 1: remove the headlights from the car. Trying to do it on the car would be messy and a major PITA

Step 2: choose a headlight and wet the lense. sand with 1000 grit sandpaper (wet as well). You can do this by hand or by wraping it around a sanding block. Dont worry, things always look worse before they look better. You will see yellow residue coming off in the water, this is good, keep doing this untill the water coming off is clear/white. Dry and re-wet a few times to check progress.

Step 3: Reapeat with 1500 grit paper, being sure to keep the headlight lense and sandpaper nice and wet. Sand the whole thing removing the heavy scratches from the 1000 grit paper. Once you think you have it good, dry the light using paper towels.

Step 4: Find a way to hold the headlight unit. I used a vice grip, just dont tighten too much. Run a small bead of rubbing compound across the lense of light, and buff at about 2500 RPMs with the white foam buffing pad. You will see the light get crystal clear. I did this step twice to just to ensure scratch removal.

Step 5: Buff the light lenses with a car wax and a black foam pad just to protect them a little longer. And your done. You should have like new headlights. Re-install them in the car, adjust if needed, and thats it.

Repeat for other headlight.

okay the pix...i know that one pic is of one side (yellowed) and the cleared is for the other side so it seems skeptical but trust me this truly does work as for i have done this my self....4-6 hours of sanding or pay 3-400 dollars for new headlamps....

[rooster]

Its worth a try, sure cant hurt anything. How long ago did you do yours and hows it holding up? Thanks for the info.

Welcome to RRT!

[mu1s9t6a9ng]

i did it about a year ago....only problem is that it was on my ex's car...so i haven't seen it in about 3 months but it was holding up fine when we broke up lol

[Thunderstruck]

I got a 96 Stang and I tried several things to de-yellow the headlights.  The only thing that has worked was to replace them.  That online auction place is where I got them for a reasonable price.