rxchick09

Does anyone know how to remove the front lens to change out the headlamp? I noticed that my right headlamps were not as bright as the left ones. I cleaned the lens and it made an improvement, but I looked and noticed that part of the problem was that the lamps themselves were dirty. Can anyone give me a step by step guide on how to do this?

LXMN

Are you asking how to take apart the headlight? How to remove the plastic lens from the headlight housing? Not really clear on what your actual questions are pertaining to.

rxchick09

Sorry if the post was unclear I was wondering how to remove the plastic lens from the headlight housing. I have a 1995 es300.

tuan92129

http://hometown.aol.com/seanmcelligott/
Link with pics.

LXMN

I turned my oven up to 365 degrees, turned it off, then placed my headlights on a cookie sheet (that was not in the oven before it heated up) inside the oven for 7 1/2 minutes, pulled it out and used a flathead screwdriver to open up the seam prying at the plastic clips first and then once enough gap was showing, pried it open with my hands. If you do not work fast enough the glue will start to cool and you will have to redo the oven bake. It is relatively simple and not that difficult. The hard part is commiting to doing it. To reseal, just do the same procedure as before, dryfitting the lens and the housing together, and then pressing together the lens to the housing once bake time is complete making sure both pieces have been pressed together as best as possible. If done properly, silicone will not be necessary.
As long as you have the headlamp apart, go ahead and remove the orange reflector for a cleaner look.

Good luck if you decide to do this.

mcelligott

I would be careful urning the oven up to 365 like lxmn did -- you have a chance of your housing cracking or melting parts too quick.

Pheonix

The thing to do is get a throw away cookie sheet & pre-heat the oven to about 350*F. Leave it in there for about 10 minutes.
DO NOT let the headlight touch anything in the oven except the cookie sheet it will sit on. Otherwise the plastic will melt at that point. Even if it's close...

When you get it out, you have about 2 minutes of real good working time.


Don't be afraid to put it back in the oven for 5-7 minutes at a time until you eventually get it off.
TAKE YOUR TIME.


My headlights have been re-heated atleast a dozen times. I have one mount on one light that has partually melted becase I was in a hurry & let it slide up against the oven wall...




Don't be in a rush & you're fine.



For the projector guys, AFA cleaning the projectors goes. Put them in the top rack of a dishwasher. After they steam dry & such, take them out & handle them ONLY with paper towels. You will not get them any cleaner than they are at that point.

LXMN

The reason for turning up the heat to 365 is that once you open the oven door to put in the headlight, the heat inside escapes and drops 20-40 degrees. I have checked the initial temperature inside the oven once the headlamp is inside and got a reading of 331, 335, 340 on 3 different occasions (My oven has a constant thermometer). Setting the heat that high is for allowance of escaping heat temp. I have disassembled 9 headlights so far and have had no cracking or melting parts. Not to say my method is foolproof. But it does work for me.
Like Phoenix mentioned, do not allow the headlamp to touch any part of the oven when placing inside the oven, or when removing it.

E-Z ES300

Hey guys im BRAND new to this forum site but im also on the lexus owners club forum, I actually took out the amber in my headlights and also in my tail lights recently. Safer then 365 is keep it on during the whole process at 200 or 205, nothing more and i had each light in there for about 15 to 17 minutes... worked amazing!