my jeep gr cherokee’s headlight covers are yellowing and hazy. won’t pass va inspection, limiting light emittance…ext warr.not covered…jeep says too bad…anyone else have advice? replacement 300 bucs a piece at dealer…i think it’s a poor choice of plastic for headlamp cover that doesn’t last 7years…why did it cloud up?
Try Meguires Platix polish on them. Should clean them right up. About $10.
Bing
Short answer, UV light and road chemicals deteriorate the surface of the plastic in the lense.
It’s not just Jeeps. Take a close look at a lot of older cars (5 years and older) and you will see the same thing to greater or lesser degree. It happens faster here in CO due to high altitiude, and I know of no way to absolutely prevent it. Keeping the lense clean (especially in the winter when all sorts of chemicals get put on the roads) and applying wax will help.
Polishing the lense can remove the haze, but if its discolored enough, you will probably still have to replace it. You should apply some sort of sealant on the lense after this, otherwise it will simply cloud up again.
BTW, most extended warranties will not cover this on any car.
Polish the lens as mentioned and replace the bulbs with new Sylvania MAX or whatever they call them and it will pass inspection.
You could try aftermarket, but people often say that they haze even faster.
I have replaced many of these lights with aftermarket lights. They may only last 5 years instead of 7 but $150.00 every 5 years is not bad.
http://www.1aauto.com/1A/HeadLights/Jeep/GrandCherokee
~Michael
I have used Rain-X in the past to get the yellow out, but it doesn’t do anything about the haze. Removing the yellow helps. Now there is Plasti-X polish by Meguires, I’d suggest that first, though I haven’t tried it yet myself. I’ve heard good things though.