Hey peoplezz,

I did a search on this but came up empty.

I need to open up my headlights, as somehow water got in, and there is a rusty residue in the left hand unit.

I read somewhere some time ago you could bake them to release the glass from the plastic backing, but as u can imagine, wouldn't wanna do this unless someone REALLY knows this is safe!

I have removed the clasps, but they don't seem openable without forcing them, and chipping the glass edges in the process......any help would be AWESOME :)

Cheerzz Trev

dont you put them in the oven to soften up the glue? Then it just comes apart?

from wat i hear thats wat u do.. but not a high temp as it could crack the glass and/or the plastic or somewat

yes, SILENCR and myself did this, as he had moisture inside one of his (looked like it had been re-sealed before)

we set the oven to about 200C, let it warm right up, turned it off and then put the headlight in. took a couple of goes to get it fully apart as some of the glue softened quicker than the rest, and it is a pain warming the oven up, only to turn it off and try again a few times!

the black plastic did get quite soft, so you have to be reasonably careful, but the front lens remained quite hard and didn't show signs of cracking etc.

just remember BEFORE you put it in the oven, remove the metal clips around the join!

when putting it back together, just reheat so the glue softens, (we added some Gel-Grip to make sure it was sealed properly) and it should go back together no worries

Cheers for that info. Need to do the same thing to mine.

cool.

thanks guys. It's a baking day tomorrow then me thinks :)

i have taken apart headlights on my previous camry but i placed it in hot water, that way you know it wont go past 100 degress....well thats just what i did anyways....

i have taken apart headlights on my previous camry but i placed it in hot water, that way you know it wont go past 100 degress....well thats just what i did anyways....

wouldnt that risk coroding contacts... thats not the smartest way to do it

what contacts??? after its all cleaned up hit it with the air compressor and get all the last water droplets out of it and then sikaflex it back up again...

Probably safer if you have a hot air gun available, or maybe a high-powered hair dryer (dryer probably wouldn't get hot enough though).

I used my hot air gun to get my blinkers apart, much more control, and much quicker.