Does anyone else have the problem of the headlight lens getting "foggy" or cloudy on the inside? It looks like condensation or something similar. I have the situation on both headlights toward the top of the lens.

Could it be that the plastic is deteriorating?

Anyone have any ideas on how to clean the lens? Thanks for any advice/feedback.

 

there is a "tsb" out on this. contact your dealer for servicing (take these #'s with you).

for an 04' model: # 04-043-04 HEADLAMP CONDENSATION 2004-12-18

for an 05' model: # 08-002-05 HEADLAMP CONDENSATION - REVISED 2005-01-13

(thanks to vsilvia)

 

Thank you for the response. So, it apparently is condensation based on the name of the service bulletin?

I am new to this forum. I just acquired a 2004 Crossfire and a couple of minor things to get the "as new".

The "foggy"headlight lens does bug me, so it will be great to get that corrected.

 

congrats on your purchase...welcome to the board!

 

Ditto and Welcome Aboard!!!

 

Thanks for the greetings. I'm sure I will get a lot of good mileage out of this forum.

 

Welcome from overseas...

Like most others I had the condensation too. The venting part was already mounted, but not working. Took the mechanic only a few moves.

Good luck.

 

With everyone's indulgence, I am duplicating my post about hazy (foggy) headlight covers here, too: Over the past few weeks, I had decided that I must have moisture inside of my headlight covers (a coupe of TSBs exist identifying this problem) - the haze didn't seem to wash off and just seemed to be getting worse. When I wet the headlight lenses, the haze would briefly disappear and - yes - that would seem to indicate that the problem was on the exterior of the light assembly. Nonetheless, boy genius persisted in his belief that it was moisture inside of the lens and was trying to figure out how to get the thing into the dealer (dreaded to do it as I'm always afraid problems will be worse after a trip into people who don't care as much about my cars as I do). Anyway, I absentmindedly started rubbing on a corner of the lens with a wet finger and - lo-and-behold! - the haze was gone!?! ...And stayed gone the entire day! Because of this, I got my bottle of 3M Plastic Cleaner (#39017) and proceeded to clean the headlight lenses. The result? ...absolutely clear, clean and pristine lenses!!!...and they've been that way for several days now, in spite of rain, heat and sunlight!

Bottom line? Before trotting off to the dealer for repair of this problem under a TSB, try polishing the headlight lenses with an appropriate plastic polish (3M's products have been great - I also use gallons of their Perfect-It Gloss Enhancer #39034 which is the best detail spray I've used to date).

 

Thanks for the info. But I don't think this is the real solution. Moisture must pass of the headlights. If you use a plastic polish to avoid fogging on the lense, the humid air will condensate somewhere else. Therefore it's important to keep humidity out of the headlight with an appropriate ventilation, described in the TSB. I had mine installed but not working properly. Since the fix, no fog again.

 

The vents on mine must be working as there is no evidence (yet) of moisture within the assembly... My only point is - if it ain't broke, don't fix it! I'm pretty (make that very) obsessive compulsive, so I won't tolerate obvious condensation in the lamps for very long... Thanks!

 

I have a service appointment with my dealer on Wednesday to get the headlights checked for the condensation problem. I noticed when I have the lights on at night, the projector lens seem to have a haze on them. I suppose moisture drying on the lens could leave a haze over time. Anyhow, i will get to the bottom of the problem that I have.

Also, I need to have the passenger seat up-down adjustor motor replaced as the seat doesn't move when the switch is depressed. The seat will only move forward and backward, but not up and down.

 

It's only the driver seat that moves up/down. The passenger seat is not equipped with this feature. It's the same button but without function.

But try, maybe the mech doesn't know and orders one from England.

 

OK...I'll give it a shot. Why a switch that doesn't function...that makes no sense?

 

I can report that I got my car back from the dealership after getting the hazy headlight modification completed. The lights looked as bad as ever. So just for the heck of it, I used my Maguier's cleaner, polish and wax to "clean" up both headlights. As it turns out, the "haze" was on the outside of the plastic headlight lens and came right off with the cleaner. I then decided I may as we treat the headlights as though they were painted like the rest of the body and polish and then seal the plastic with the wax.

Now, the big question is how long will the headlights lens stay looking new? Time will tell.

 

See posts #8 and #10 in this thread. Except for the dealer visit, I have had the same experience! In spite of high heat and humidity here in TN, my lenses are still clear!

 

Sounds like I need to get a bottle of the 3M plastic cleaner that you recommend...if the clean, polish wax routine doesn't pan out.

I used to have some polish (forgot the brand) that I used to clean and polish the rear window in the convertible top of my Miata (which wasn't made of glass). That worked well. The product would remove scratches and swirls from the plastic window.

 

The 3M cleaner has been useful - have used in on numerous auto lenses with good results (for instance, the rear light assemblies of our '00 Denali looked like they had been bead-blasted - rejuvenated almost instantly with the 3M product!)...

I did go back over the Crossfire lenses after I cleaned them with RainX Wax - seemed to do OK, but I don't know it it's the best for a plastic lens or not... Seems to still be doing OK at 1+ week out.

 

I looked for the 3M at one of the local auto parts houses, but didn't see any. Did you buy the 3M product at a parts house?

 

Bought the 3M stuff at a local auto supply - O'Reilly's (it is a chain, but I don't know how widespread)... They keep the 3M products behind the counter - "in the back" - I'm not sure of the rationale for that - apparently it is "professional" and not for mere mortals... Hope this helps!

 

If you can't find it, you're welcome to contact me off-forum and I'll try and get some for you...