Hi guys, I own these exact same headlights for the 96-00 civic(these aren't mine, since mine are dirty on the inside):

Now, I don't know how I should go about cleaning them on the inside since it has alot of dirt inside for some reason. The body shop installed them. I removed two bolts on the top, but it won't come out. So im wondering if I need to remove the fenders, or the front bumper or both to pry them out. It has some clips and silicon(I believe) or melted plastic which seals the connecting the lens assembly to the body. Im afraid that I wont be able to clean them on the inside. I was wondering If I need to cut the silicon, and if it will damage the headlight. The inside I will clean with a cloth and some window cleaner I guess. Any pics of how to do it would be great, find a good article online too: http://p-car.com/diy/headlight/ but it doesn't apply to civic's.

 

I'm going to assume that you have a 96-98 civic because they are notorious for fogged/yellow lenses. Here is what I did to mine. And you don't need to remove the headlight from the car to do this.

Wet sand with 2000 grit sand paper. Be sure to keep the surface of the lens wet at all times.(this will make them worse dont worry)
Polish with plastic polish (whatever brand you want to use)
Wax (again whatever brand you choose)

 

hey whats up. im not sure if this is the same in ur case, but i have a 97 and same thing and i also thought i was the inside of the lens but most of the time its the outside its jus sand blasted from driving. jus get some wax and buff it with a buffer and good as new.

i havent tried SOHC4life 96 method, but also sounds good.
goodluck

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SOHC4life 96 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm going to assume that you have a 96-98 civic because they are notorious for fogged/yellow lenses.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, they did make a cosmetic update in 99-00 that affected the headlights, so the OP should specify exactly which MY he has since just stating 96-00 encompasses both styles.

I believe you need to remove the front bumper to get to a bolt or two on the bottom of the assembly, but that's just how it is on mine, and it isn't a 96-00 Civic, so YMMV.

 

I did this to mine:



bad picture but you get the point

 

Thanks, but mine has actual grime INSIDE of the headlights. trust me on this, its inside.

 

i believe the method is unstalling the headlight housing..sticking it in an oven till the glue or whatever holds it together melts and then you open it up to clean. i KNOW i've read threads on HT about cleaning the inside. search for it..its there.

 

Yeah I mean. Why don't you try looking in the diy/faq thread? I'm pretty sure there are more than one related to cleaning headlights. I'm not even going to look and will bet money on it.

dur dur dur

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jorsher &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yeah I mean. Why don't you try looking in the diy/faq thread? I'm pretty sure there are more than one related to cleaning headlights. I'm not even going to look and will bet money on it.

dur dur dur</TD></TR></TABLE>

I see that you watch Mind of Mencia. Congradulations. FYI it's "dee dee dee"

And instead of telling him to look provide him a link or some useful information, otherwise you are in direct violation of the forum rules.

OP, post pictures of YOUR headlights. If you do that we will be able to help you out much better.

 

It's okay guys, I appreciate the help! Seriously, thanks, I will just leave it the way it is. I dont have a personal digi-cam, thats why. thanks for the tips, am searching now

 

remove your headlights, spray some weslys bleach white for tires on the inside of your lights. let it sit for a couple mins but dont let it dry and spray it out with water. should clean the insides up nicely.

 

Try baking them at 250 in an oven. Make sure you get it preheated first. I had to do this for my car. One headlight was leaking a little bit and it fogged up real bad and it turned yellowish.

Bake at 250 for about 7 minutes
Pull out and pull them off real quick
Use 2000 grit and wet sand as mentioned before
When I did this, I also painted my headlight housing black
Get GE clear silicon from Home Depot/Lowe's, or what have you, and put back together

Now about the bake time, you may want to research that a little more, it was loose, but I didn't want to take the chance and mess something up baking it for too long.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nextgtr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It's okay guys, I appreciate the help! Seriously, thanks, I will just leave it the way it is. I dont have a personal digi-cam, thats why. thanks for the tips, am searching now</TD></TR></TABLE>

I know what you're thinking and you're right.

It is WAY too much work to fix something that just happens over time not to mention won't notice much of a difference.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by awdgsx96 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Try baking them at 250 in an oven. Make sure you get it preheated first. I had to do this for my car. One headlight was leaking a little bit and it fogged up real bad and it turned yellowish.

Bake at 250 for about 7 minutes
Pull out and pull them off real quick
Use 2000 grit and wet sand as mentioned before
When I did this, I also painted my headlight housing black
Get GE clear silicon from Home Depot/Lowe's, or what have you, and put back together

Now about the bake time, you may want to research that a little more, it was loose, but I didn't want to take the chance and mess something up baking it for too long. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Do what he said and you will have them apart easily! Just make sure you use the silicone (like he said) to put them back together so they don't let moisture in!
Just make sure you don't let them get too close to the heat while baking

 

can you use toothpaste with the headlamp still on the car? and just wash it off?

 

another thing..what do you put the headlights on? a baking pan? lol should the pan be covered in anything like foil or something?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SOHC4life 96 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm going to assume that you have a 96-98 civic because they are notorious for fogged/yellow lenses. Here is what I did to mine. And you don't need to remove the headlight from the car to do this.

Wet sand with 2000 grit sand paper. Be sure to keep the surface of the lens wet at all times.(this will make them worse dont worry)
Polish with plastic polish (whatever brand you want to use)
Wax (again whatever brand you choose)

</TD></TR></TABLE>

thast what i did they came out clean

 

I used some healight polish sold on the net and it worked great. No need for sanding....just used a buffer and it cleaned right up....I have a 99-00

 

actually i've never seen that show and don't plan to cuz i can't stand seeing another mexican after seeing them all day. So i can spell it however the hell i want.

as far as "direct violation of the forum rules"... who gives a ****? obviously nobody reads the **** or this forum might actually be decent.

You didn't post any help either btw, so here's your rope.