My headlight plastic is turning white!! Any way to fix this??

[NorwegianRT]

Hi friends!

My 2012 RTS headlights are turning white, and it seems to be on the inside.
Is this from bulb heat only?
And is there any way to fix it?
From what I could see the headlights reflector and "glass" are glued together??

It looks like it is above the lens and backwards, so there is no loss in amount of light so far.

 

[BajaRon]

You're sure it's on the inside and sure it isn't moisture?

 

[Peter Aawen]

If it's like all the others that've had this happen - and there were LOTS back in the day, especially here in Oz where it gets hot.... Then:

• It IS on the inside.
• It IS from the heat radiated by the light globes.
• The light assembly IS glued together, but even if you can separate them & get them back together again, there's NO real way to fix the hazing that's IN the polycarbonate.
• The only real fix is replacement.
• The next thing to happen is often that the 'Chrome bits' under the polycarbonate start to change colour too, ending up as an uneven sorta 'burnt gold' :banghead:

There was a period waaay back in the day (maybe early 2014/2015?? :dontknow: ) when BRP allowed a 'Goodwill' replacement on them (some were charged for the labour? ) but I don't know if you stand any chance of getting that done now, altho you'll never know unless you ask - so I'd suggest you ask your dealer... dunno about your chances now tho?! :dontknow:

And just by the by, if you leave it too long &/or you ride slow enough in the sun on a hot day for long enough with your High Beams on, like I did for most of a the day at no more than 40kph on the Very Hot 2014 Christmas Toy Run here in Oz, you can actually start to melt the polycarbonate!! :yikes: (Do you REALLY need to ask me how I know this happens?! )

There are a few forum threads on this around if you search for them, probably mainly back before the end of 2015... Might be worth a bit of a look & spending some time reading... :dontknow:

 

[NorwegianRT]

You're sure it's on the inside and sure it isn't moisture?

100% certain it is on the inside Ron.

 

[NorwegianRT]

If it's like all the others that've had this happen - and there were LOTS back in the day, especially here in Oz where it gets hot.... Then:

• It IS on the inside.
• It IS from the heat radiated by the light globes.
• The light assembly IS glued together, but even if you can separate them & get them back together again, there's NO real way to fix the hazing that's IN the polycarbonate.
• The only real fix is replacement.
• The next thing to happen is often that the 'Chrome bits' under the polycarbonate start to change colour too, ending up as an uneven sorta 'burnt gold' :banghead:

There was a period waaay back in the day (maybe early 2014/2015?? :dontknow: ) when BRP allowed a 'Goodwill' replacement on them (some were charged for the labour? ) but I don't know if you stand any chance of getting that done now, altho you'll never know unless you ask - so I'd suggest you ask your dealer... dunno about your chances now tho?! :dontknow:

And just by the by, if you leave it too long &/or you ride slow enough in the sun on a hot day for long enough with your High Beams on, like I did for most of a the day at no more than 40kph on the Very Hot 2014 Christmas Toy Run here in Oz, you can actually start to melt the polycarbonate!! :yikes: (Do you REALLY need to ask me how I know this happens?! )

There are a few forum threads on this around if you search for them, probably mainly back before the end of 2015... Might be worth a bit of a look & spending some time reading... :dontknow:

Thank you for the feedback, Peter.
Then my suspicions were not way off. I will ask my dealer when I take the Spyder for a valve adjust on the 14th of September and hear what they say about it.
When or if I get new ones, I will probably be better off putting in LED bulbs. They do not make that much heat I have been told.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

My observation has been that headlight lens universally on almost all vehicles tend to haze. IMO, NHTSA years ago should have mandated all headlight lens be made of glass. Glass presents no hazing problem. Or at the very least they should mandate the use of only specific plastic chemistry that is not inclined to haze.

 

[NorwegianRT]

My observation has been that headlight lens universally on almost all vehicles tend to haze. IMO, NHTSA years ago should have mandated all headlight lens be made of glass. Glass presents no hazing problem. Or at the very least they should mandate the use of only specific plastic chemistry that is not inclined to haze.

I totaly agree, glass or non hazing plastic at least.