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ok my girl wants me to take out the orange peices in the inside of her headlights...

anyone know how to do this the best way without breaking the lense or damaging the headlight?

Please help!

 
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Go to the DIY section at the top or bottom of this page. It's called clearing the headlight. It works for the 6th gen Civic also. If you have any questions regarding clearing headlights, send me a PM.

Oh, and the easiest way to open the headlight (after removing the small clips that hold the lens on) is putting it in the oven at 250 degrees for about 7 minutes. It's not hot enough to melt the headlight unless you leave it in there for over 12 minutes, then you're f*kked. I always do it at 7 minutes... 8 minutes max. Just stand by the oven so that you don't forget.

 
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thanks alot Sonic....

does the oven theory really work? my girl might flip if she sees me putting her headlights in the oven...just makin sure...thanks again!

 
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just cleared a set today.. put each one in the oven for 5 minutes on 250 degrees.. could have had them in longer, but 5 minutes worked. then you just peel the black housing off the headlight lens. The lights I cleared were from a sedan-- coupe headlights are much easier to pry open.. different kind of glue I hear.







seal em back up with silicone

 
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That looks nasty...I guess they look all right when you put them back together though...

I will be doing this soon...

 
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The coupes headlights are easier to take apart but afterwards, the only thing you should look out for is the black tarry silicone that originally seals the headlight. This stuff is extremely messy. This part makes the sedan's headlights look easy because the sedan headlights have a different sealing substance that's gray (shown in the pictures). Anyways... you don't want this back stuff to get on the chrome painted insert (at least not the front of it. Inevitably, it might get on the top portion that's only seen when the hood is up.) If it gets on the chrome, it's very hard to get off without taking some of the chrome paint off with it and it will turn yellow from wiping it too much. At the same time, you want to try not to touch the chrome part to prevent yourself from having to wipe anything. If you must, wipe lightly with a thin t-shirt.

Use nothing else but clear silicone to re-seal it up... make sure it's clear silicone. Anything else can potentially fog up the headlight lens permanently (like GOOP... AVOID using GOOP) or not seal it correctly.

 
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You shouldnt have to put the headlights in the oven since they're from a coupe. Headlights from a sedan may require it since the glue is like a 10 times as strong, but for coupe lights, you can just pry it open slowly with a screwdriver. I've done them both, trust me.

Take out the bulbs before you start to pry them open so it makes your job a bit easier. And remember to never touch the bulb of the headlight only the metal piece of its bottom.

Also, when taking out the orange piece, make sure not to take it out from the front, but to unhooking the little clips holding it onto the chrome piece from the back.

Also, before resealing, try and take out as much of the black sealant as you can from the two pieces so the sealant you put it has enough space to adhere to.

And yes, use clear silicone sealant, but also make sure that it's for like Kitchen & Bath or something so that it's watertight and waterproof...read the label.

 
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the black sticky stuff sucks.. i ruined my favorite shorts because they got all over my shorts n wouldnt come off in the wash

 
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Really simple stuff....done quite a few already now, even some Nissans too!

2Hottie

 
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dont even need to put it on oven. i had no problem without it. i have coupe. i just used flatscrew driver

 
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LoL, I support the oven if you want to make it easier anyway. [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG] Yeah, it's not impossible to get it open without heating the headlight but you have options. [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]

 
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Sonic....how long does this take...for a mechanically inclined person?

 
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me too

 
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It takes an hour for the silicone to dry if you chose to wait and let it dry before putting the headlights back on the car + taking everything off apart and putting it back together, I'd say at the MOST 2 to 2 1/2 hours. A newbie or someone that's not mechanically inclined would take 3 to 3 1/2 hours.

 
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I ruined two towels that were covering my pants and yeah, I tried washing them, too. Still fycked up. The clear silicone is just as worse if you let it dry and get all over the place but when it's thin (not all globby) then it's not that bad. I got it all over the headlight lens and had to rush somewhere to get some WD-40 when I could've just used some gasoline I already had.

 
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i got it done in like 1.5hours and im not that great with tools n such. and waited around 3hours to let it dry in the sun (was around 90~95 degrees out)

 
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i did it in 2 1/2 hours but that da*n black tarry stuff plus the silicone seal f*kked up my pants
dont worry about waiting it to dry off before u put it on....just put in on and park outside
let the sun dry it up....will take around 3 days for the fog to clear up
ow yeah the bulbs will help clear off the fog at night too
the headlight was my first DIY...feel great after i've done it [IMG]i/expressions/beer_yum.gif[/IMG]

 
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be careful i screwed up the chrome a little bit, but not bad. looks so good when you finish. good luck just take your time

 
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The DIY tells you to be careful not to touch the chrome. Well, do this... when taking the chrome piece out, don't be afraid to touch the top part because with the lens on the headlight, finger prints/errors won't be noticable especially with the hood down. Then you just pull it out easily so the black silicone does NOT further get on the chrome piece. You definitely want to slide it out in one swoop. Same with putting it back in but that's a bit easier.

 
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mex, those are great shots of taking apart the lens housing.

i wish the DIY had such good pictures, but i can't really tell what's going on in those tiny pics and i'm not sure i would know what i'm doing if i went off those. um.. no disrespect to the guy who made the diy of course, the instructions seem pretty straight forward enough.

also, i would suggest that people use latex gloves (cheap, non-powdered ones) when doing the lens stuff, since you should not have to worry about touching anything then. that's what i suspect at least, since i haven't even done it yet...

 
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I think latex gloves aren't a bad idea, but if you get the black stuff on the gloves and accidently onto the chrome... you might end up painting your headlight chrome pieces.

 
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search.......there is a diy about it and many many many many many posts...

 
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lol, kinda late there..

 
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wahahaha sealant and black g00 sux... ruined my fav pants :P i cleard mine tnx to 7gc and 7gc members ( u know hu u guys r)