Removing the high beam headlight Options

[Robbie1902]

When i got my celica the driver side inside headlight had some water in it and the bulb is out. I replaced the bulb but i wanted to take the headlight out and clean it. Cant figure out how to take it apart, seems like you have to do alot more work just to get this out. Does anybody have some instructions on how this is done. Would be appreciated


Thanks

Rob

[RickJamesBish]

Bumper has to come off, I'm pretty sure.

[Robbie1902]

Damn thats what i thought, thats retarted IMO. Can anyone confirm this?

[garin]

yeah the bumper needs to come off. there are screws that hold the weather stripping down. once that is off there is another set that holds the bumper to the frame. there are around four of those pin/screws that hold it to the crash bar. three screws are on each side of the inner bumper that hold it to the fender. idk after that i was wondering te same thing. gl

[pflau]

But why would you want to take it out and clean it??? Water tends to get inside the high bean headlight all the time. All you need to do is remove the bulb (how often do you really use high beam??) and the water would evaporate in a few days.

[GriffGirl]

But why would you want to take it out and clean it??? Water tends to get inside the high bean headlight all the time. All you need to do is remove the bulb (how often do you really use high beam??) and the water would evaporate in a few days.

WTF

[dgbldr]

But why would you want to take it out and clean it??? Water tends to get inside the high bean headlight all the time. All you need to do is remove the bulb (how often do you really use high beam??) and the water would evaporate in a few days.

That's not a good thing, because the inside of that headlight will be dirty and if the water sat there for a while, you will have amber-brown stains from some internal parts rusting. You can tell a water-logged Celica headlight from a mile away by the amber-brown tint.

The headlight needs to be washed internally real well with detergent. If there are rust stains, fill it with hot water and a generous helping of the "rust stain removing" powder you can buy at the store. Let it sit and shake it well every few minutes, for about half hour. Rinse and repeat. Then drain it completely and let dry in the house for 2 days before putting back on car. Or use a hair drier.

I've done this when the bumper was off for other reasons, so no biggie. But if you don't want to take the bumper off, it's tough to do all this on the car. Possible, but tough.

Edit: And no, the water will NOT evaporate out of the headlight in just a few days. Not unless you leave the bulb on 24/7 to boil it off

This post has been edited by dgbldr: Nov 19, 2008 - 1:05 AM

[pflau]

Edit: And no, the water will NOT evaporate out of the headlight in just a few days. Not unless you leave the bulb on 24/7 to boil it off

I am speaking from experience. Lots of experience. And my headlights have no brown stain or anything. The thing about water is that it is very good at evaporating - that is why bottles have caps.

[dgbldr]

Couple of things:
1. The OP says he wants to clean it. That means he's got more than dust in there I'm betting on stains.
2. A few drops of water will evaporate OK. If the thing is half full of water, it'll be a loooong time before it dries by itself, even if you leave the bulb out. Take the cap off a bottle and see how long it takes for the water to go down an inch by evaporation. Especially since he's in CT where it's a bit cold right now...

Edit: And bottles have caps so you don't spill them or get flies in them By the time you evaporate a bottle of drinking water it'll be past it's expiration date

This post has been edited by dgbldr: Nov 19, 2008 - 4:57 PM

[CPleasure]

Wow, I just bought my Celica last wednesday and it has the same exact problem.. Driver Side high beam is about 3/8s full of water and all brown and rusted. Can't even leave the high beam in there because the last one was shattered and didn't want to risk the new bulb going to waste. Where can a replacement high beam be found, I think mine is screwed.

[DEATH]

Drill two holes in the HB using a small drill bit, one above the water line, one at the bottom. The water will run out then you can seal the holes with a dab or two of superglue. [EDIT - Drill the holes in the back plastic - not in the front glass obviously]
Cleaning them out properly will require taking the bumper off and washing them as you would a dish I would imagine.

This post has been edited by DEATH: Nov 25, 2008 - 3:48 PM

[richee3]

I know this is probably completely different, since I have never had sitting water in my headlights. But every once in a while, after driving my car in pouring down rain (and I mean it has to be raining HARD) the inside of my high beams will get a few drops of water on the inside of the high beams. Only the highs though. The low beams stay dry. Anyway, just in driving around at night with my brights on, it dries out just fine. But since there's no sitting water in there, it's probably way different.