Headlight cracks

[Calendyr]

The tiny cracks are called crazing..it's failed UV coating..

320grit is sure way to remove it(all the coating ) work your way back to 3k(don't compound nor polish) panel prep then apply a UV coating back on..don't bother with a wax/sealant nor ceramic coating at this point

That was my iniatial thought as well. But after sanding for 30 minutes with 500 grit, I can't imagine any clearcoat remaining. It really felt like the actual plastic was cracked.

I will certainly add 320 grit to my arsenal, I never had to use it before doing these, but if lens are really bad, it would speed up the process, so it's a good thing to have it on hand anyway.

[Calendyr]

I've seen a few Audis with crazing in the actual lens plastic, not in any clearcoat. Manufacturing defect. You can find a lot of discussions on Audi forums about issues with some factory lenses, and the manufacturer not covering the damage under warranty. In my experience, it isn't fixable.

Ok, thank you. If I ever come across this again, I will explain to the owner it can be improved but not fixed. I wasn't sure if it was fixable or not. It did make a major improvement, so that will be the owner's decision to proceed or not. In this particular case, I charged him 100$ to do the job. He asked Volvo the price to replace them and it was 700$, so it's still a major saving even if they did not get back to a 100%.

[Mike@ShineStruck]

That was my iniatial thought as well. But after sanding for 30 minutes with 500 grit, I can't imagine any clearcoat remaining. It really felt like the actual plastic was cracked.

I will certainly add 320 grit to my arsenal, I never had to use it before doing these, but if lens are really bad, it would speed up the process, so it's a good thing to have it on hand anyway.

Some coatings are hard where only 320 will do it..Dave so sometimes has to make 3 passes with 320 and he's the headlight master

[Mad Wax]

Good to know. Have you done a lot of them?

Only a handful...I too lost money at first as I wasn't aware how much of a pain in the ass they are, but now I definitely set the customers expectations low when I get hit with a Volvo.

[dmayer]

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[Calendyr]

Only a handful...I too lost money at first as I wasn't aware how much of a pain in the ass they are, but now I definitely set the customers expectations low when I get hit with a Volvo.

Well the goal is always to get perfect restoration, but I have seen a few headlights that can't be restored completelly in a reasonable amount of time. I charge for 1.5 hours of work max. In this case I worked 3 hours and still could not get perfection. So next time around, I will have 320 on hand Gotta pay to learn I guess. Out of all the headlights I have done, those were by far the worst.

[DBAILEY]

I did a Mustang that had similar problems. It had aftermarket headlight bulbs and I think they created more heat than the normal bulbs and caused it to crack. I am absolutely convinced that the problem was on the inside of the lens and not the outer surface. I have a co-worker that has a BMW X5 that was asking me about headlights and it sounds like he has the same issue, but I haven't checked them yet.

[Mantilgh]

I've got my in laws 05 4Runner now and its lights are really cracked up from degradation.

Several of the cracks look like they go all the way through.

I'm not sure if these had a UV Coating from factory, I believe some do not.

[Calendyr]

I've got my in laws 05 4Runner now and its lights are really cracked up from degradation.

Several of the cracks look like they go all the way through.

I'm not sure if these had a UV Coating from factory, I believe some do not.

Very unlikelly they had not UV protection. If they did, they would immediatelly start to turn opaque.

[dmayer]

I have these cracks all over my headlights. If I sand them down, what would I apply for UV protection?