HondaCruizer

I have a 1997 Civic Dx:




It's my baby! But the headlights are weak. When driving down dark roads my headlights reach no farther than 8 feet.

Now is it possible to swap my headlight bulbs for brighter headlight bulbs?

98civdx

Yes, you can put brighter bulbs in your headlights.

You need to go pick up a headlight restoration kit.

Then, you can get brighter bulbs, and play with how they are aimed, if you still are not happy with how they light the road up.

alphalanos

You can try to polish them but usually it just comes back. I would look at new headlight assemblies and new bulbs. Or you could do a HID retrofit for the best possible lighting.

Libertariat

Wetsand the headlights with 1000, 1500, then 2000 grit wet sand paper.

Once done polish the headlights with some basic car wax.

Also I highly recommend http://www.powerbulbs.com/product_detail.asp?prod=43

Just put them in Saturday. Headlights perform much better.

HondaCruizer

I believe I need to buy a restoration kit, any recommendation on kits out there?

Libertariat

Wrona

i agree with him grab some sandpaper rub each grit on each headlight for 15 minutes (Thats how long i do it) after that grab some glass cleaner clean them off nicely get some plastic or headlight polish and rub it in nice and than use some car wax if you have a buffer would be best to use a buffer for the best result I've been restoring headlights for a while now and thats the best method and cheap too

Headlight restoration kits are usually good for a short period of time but not as good as wet sanding

Good luck

NACvicSi

Give this a try

https://honda-tech.com/forums/showth...ight=headlight

Libertariat

That is a decent cheap fix. The same results can be had from basic car polish and some elbow grease.

The only long term fix is to sand the headlights with wet sanding paper and buff them with car wax or clear coat them.

NOFX

OP, new headlight bulbs will not fix your problem. Your issue appears to be the lenses of your headlights are very foggy! Fortunately this coating is on the exterior of the housing about 95% of the time.

Here's the wet sanding method.

SIRIUS is active on this site and the last time I saw his car posted his lights are still nice and clear. He's pretty into keeping his car clean.

I've used a similar method before and never had problems afterward.

My headlights looked awful so I did something about it.....

From this:


To this:


In the event that your headlight lenses are just too far gone, you might want to look into picking up a clean set of used lights. They probably won't cost you anymore than $100 (and likely less than that).

To remove the headlight housing and replace them you will need to first remove the front bumper. There is a Phillips screw on the top corners of the bumper in the wheel well. Then there are plastic clips (remove gently with a flathead) along the top of the grille and between the headlights. If your car is a 1996 it might have bolts there instead and they might need to be removed using an impact driver ($10 from parts stores). There are two 10mm (I think?) toward the middle of the underside of the bumper, about a foot away from the front. And sometimes there is a Phillips screw on the passenger side underside corner of the bumper and sometimes one on the opposite side corner as well.

Once all the hardware is removed, gently pull the sides of the bumper loose from the wheel wells. Then walk to the front of the bumper, grab hold, and pull the bumper away. It should be easy if it's not stuck on anything.

Once the bumper is set aside you will be able to see there are four 10mm bolts holding each headlight onto the car. Before you remove those you will want to unplug the turn signal from the corner of the light (they twist out) and then unplug the headlight bulb from behind the headlight assembly.

Remove the four 10mm bolts holding each light in and the lights will come off easily.

When you go to put everything back on you might need to adjust the headlight to get them to sit straight.