Cleaned the yellowed stockers on my '95

[Texan01]

got bored the other day and found a bottle of Brasso, looked at the frontend of my 95 and it's severly yellowed and oxidized lights. I got curious, grabbed some 600 grit sandpaper and wet-sanded the lights to get the vast majority of the oxidation off, then got the brasso, polished the fine scratches out, then got some Meguiars Glaze and put 2 coats on each assembly, then hit it with some good wax. the cleaned the 6 years of dust and dirt that collected inside the turn signals, dried it all off, and put it back on, looks like they are brand new again.

Now I just need to pull the headlight assembly's out and clean the dust out from inside them.

BTW is it me, or do the standard 9007 highbeams suck so bad that the lows + fogs put more light out on it the road

 

[coolchris]

thats cool! lets see some pics!!

 

[Jason_25]

That's awesome. I wanna do that too. Can you post pics? Mine look terrible at the moment. And yes the stock highbeams are really no better than the low beams.

 

[Texan01]

Pics will be awhile, unless I can get ahold of my neighbor's digital camera, or buy some polaroid film and scan them in. Unfortunately I don't have any before pics.

 

[03ExplorerSPT]

Hey Texan01, how hard is it to get the turn signals off? My have oxidation in them too. Not the headlights though. I was going to buy some new turn signal from ebay but I don't need to if I can clean them. Also, what do I have to do to get them off?

1995ExplorerXLT

 

[Stephen S]

The turn signals are easy to get off. Just open your hood and flip up the little black plastic door over each headlight/turn signal. Under each one, you will see 2 Phillips head screws holding the turn signal housing to the truck. Take these 4 screws out (2 per side) and then pull the turn signal housing straight forward. They snap into little plastic sockets behind them, so they may be a little tough to get loose. But just pull firmly forward...don't worry, you won't break them. Then twist each of the 3 bulb sockets out and you're done.

Getting the bulbs back in and twist locked might be a little tricky cause the wires are a little short, but they'll go. Then just push the housings back in, put the screws back in and you are done. Hope this helps.

 

[03ExplorerSPT]

Thanks man. I'm really scared about taking them off. Never done anything myself to a vehicle. So this will be the first. Can't wait til I get a Sport.

1995ExplorerXLT

 

[Stephen S]

Don't be scared about it man. It's not hard. If you ever have to change the turn signal bulbs, then this is the way you'd have to do it. There's nothing special about it. Real easy. When you want to do something, just get someone to tell you how to do it (this place is good for that ) and then go out and do it. It's the best way to learn.

 

[Texan01]

Yep, they basically snap in and out, dunno why Ford put short wires on em though. I might have to rectify that situation and put longer pigtails on them (If I get creative)

If you wax the plastic lenses, most of the time they will look brand new, I did that on my 6000 since it had full width smoked tail lights (came factory that way) looked waayy better after that, all a uniform tint and matched the paint for gloss.

 

[Hartman]

Will Simple Green work in cleaning the lenses too? My headlight lenses are getting quite dirty, so if Simple Green will work I'm tearing the whole front end apart.

 

[03ExplorerSPT]

Ok. So do the houseings themselves come apart? I took them off but could figure out how to get inside. Very easy to get off though. Is there something I overlooked when trying to get inside them? If I can't get inside I might just have my Dad buy me some clear lenses.

1995ExplorerXLT

 

[Stephen S]

Nope, they don't come apart. You've got to clean them through the holes where the lights go in.

 

[ok89]

After cleaning the insides make sure that the insides are completely dry. Moisture will severely shorten the life of the bulbs. While in the chat room one night a fellow member told me about putting a pinch of rice in to help absorb any moisture that may be in there.

 

[03ExplorerSPT]

So what can I use to clean in there and how do I do it through the holes?

1995ExplorerXLT

 

[Texan01]

I used whitewall cleaner in mine, you can use windex or a bathroom cleaner or soapy water even, just something that won't leave a residue, then rinse it out with clean water and let it dry. you can stick them on top of the water heater, or in a sunny window, or if you have a stove, turn the oven on and set them on top (not in the oven of course) Or take a chance and run with the lights on like I did, took a while to do so, considering that it was 40 degress out.

I didn't do any scrubbing inside, just sprayed in and hosed out.

 

[03ExplorerSPT]

Hey cool man! I'll be doin that first thing tomorrow. I enjoyed takin the lights off. Actually thought about drivin around with the housings off and just let the bulbs out in the open. It would be cool but I won't do it. Thanks for all your guy's help.

1995ExplorerXLT

 

[espnfreak]

I think my headlights may have all sorts of gunk in them, after looking at a 95 limited in super super condition. So should i clean the housing out with like a polish or what?

 

[gijoecam]

did mine too....

Just cleaned my severely yellowed lenses on my '93 Ranger last night... all I can say is WOW! I used some plastic cleaner from 3M (I forget the name... available at Murray's and Auto Zone) and in about 5 minutes, did both headlight lenses.... WOW! It's like having new lights! I can actually see at night! I took some pictures of the before and after... will have them up soon, I hope (I need a broadband connection!).

Worked awesome! I actually don't mind driving at night now!

-Joe-

 

[Paul Flake]

Bless you, Texan01.

Is it my imagination or are yellow/oxidized lenses a chronic problem on 95's?

Hopefully I can get to a camera tomorrow before the work begins. With the instructions provided, this will be this weekend's project.

 

[Texan01]

The yellow lenses are common on older cars with the plastic lenses. it's the UV coating that goes away after awhile and the sun then oxidizes the plastic. the only real sure-fire way to keep them looking like new is to buy new ones and wax them every time you wax the car.

Mine are still clearer than they were when I got the truck but not as good as I'd like them to be.