Headlight removal on 360

You'll have to remove the front bumper! No kidding, my friend.

 

Forget it. It's best to remove the lights and then fashion a stick with a cleaner on the end so that you can try it that way.

 

Try turn the front wheel inward all the way to access the panel behind the headlights.

 

I had to replace a xenon bulb and ballast (silver item in picture) recently - it was easy. Looks like the grey housing for the low beam is connected to a support arm. Wonder if this would give you access to the lens if removed? Taking the wheel off really helps with access. If not, go with brokenarrow and go for the bumper.

As a side note, the insides of both my light covers have what looks like water spots. Wonder how to take the covers off to clean then reseal? Bumper also, right??
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I plan to live with it. I'm not planning to take the bumper off, etc... Good luck with your fix.

 

10 minute job.

 

10 minutes my ass! I replaced the cheesy elec. horns with air horns and it took roughly an hour to remove front bumper. Wheels have to be removed, wheel well panels removed, and the nuts are a ***** to get off.

My headlight casing has dust and water spots on the lens. My guess is that a previous owner or car wash used high pressure spray in the wheel well that threw dust/water, etc. in the headlight unit. My thoughts were to remove wheels and the upper wheel well panel to remove bulbs. You could then take a high suction shop vac to clean and a long swab to clean lens.

 

There's no way to effectively get inside the lens area to clean out accumulated dust, debris, or water spots. Ferrari sealed the damn headlight (or so they thought) and the only access hole is when you remove the bulb. It's a small hole that is very difficult to maneuver through. I even tried forcing air into the headlight to clear out dust and that only blew it around. Someone told me about a body shop that actually cut the lens off, cleaned the housing, and resealed the lens.

 

That was my post. I strongly suggest you avoid this method as scratches may result. I plan to remove and clean them if the magnet method doesn't work. I'll post very detailed pics once I embark upon this task--probably in a week. I'm closing off the year tomorrow so I'll have plenty of time, supposedly.

 

Yeah, it'll take more than ten minutes. It takes me that long to find my wrench. The manual has very good pictures of how to do it, but you must be very careful when removing the bumper as the space between the bumper and body is carefully measured when the car is assembled. They make spacers that would probably help in this job, but I wouldn't know where to find the damn things. Stay tuned...

 

The first time I removed the front bumper, it did take an hour. The fourth time, 10 minutes.
Putting it back on is done best by eyeball. The fender is not straight by any means where it meets (overlaps) the bumper, so you're never going to have an evenly spaced situation. Remember also to align it along the Z axis as well. Measure from the fender (at each headlight) to the first ridge on the bumper at that spot.

I was thinking of an idea on how to clean those pesky headlights. What about a small, maybe 3-8mm diameter tube, maybe 300-400mm long, with tiny holes all along its length pointing in all directions. Hook it up to a high pressure, hot water source, then stick it in there, rotate it and clean the insides like a dishwasher. After washing it, then fill the source with that stuff they spray on wire wheels after they're washed. It essentially rinses the surface with zero water spots. Go in there with that stuff, then let dry (after vacuuming out the excess moisture). Is this too stupid of an idea? I haven't really taken a good look at those. Hey, this could be the next million dollar idea!

 

Sounds like c CIP system to me . CIP is used in the pharmacutical industry . But what you discribed is exactlt what it is Clean in place . Im my shop we have little rotating balls that could be mounted on a tube . When you apply water to the ball it rotats and cleans in all the little spaces . If you used DI water or even just ro water the you could follow up with a tube like you said but with clean dry compressed air that would remove all of the water . I think it would work well , Shame my lights are clean or i would give it a shot . The other thing that could be done and i know this would work beacuse i have done it befor on other cars is to remove the headlight and put it in a large ultrasonic cleaner .

 

Any movement in there will cause scratches that can be seen. I plan to remove mine and appreciate the comments about the removal and replacement. I'll post pics. I will not settle for anything but a clean light so stay tuned...

 

The lenses are fixed to the body. I planned to bake mine in the oven at 250 for spell to melt the seal that holds the lens in place. Removing it from the oven with mitts and carefully prying the lens off the body. Once you have the lens in hand clean the hell out of it with soap and water. I plan to use a very fine polish to get ride of some very fine scratches. Then purchase some window sealant strand from a windshield or auto supply store used to hold in windshields and seal them from the outside. That bead is about 1/4 or 1/8, I don't recall, but with the old one in your hands you'll be in a better position to determine which would be right. In addition, you'll be able to get at them easier going forward. This is terrible design by Ferrari (or its vendor). They have since improved upon the design dramatically.

Sorry I missed your first post or I could have told you they come out from the back, not the front as they won't fit. If you pulled them through the trunk, wow! I didn't know you could do that. But it makes since now that I think of it.

I know you don't want to wait, but my garage floor should be dry enough by Tuesday for me to pull the car in from outside where it is protecting the driveway from ice and rain for the past several days--really sad, for me to catch-up to you. I may try to get it in tomorrow and I can run through the oven part for you and share the experience.

Post some pics in the meantime--I know everyone would love to see...

Cheers~

 

No problem. I am talking about the clear plastic piece being removed from the body of the light. I hope to start on this today. I have some errands to run first, but then I'll pull the car in and hopefully get to it. Your communication is clear, I misunderstood--no worries.

I'll get back once I'm in to the job...

 

Ray - is your car a US spec or Euro? Seeing your pics helps me decide how to upgrade my non-xenon Euro spec car to xenon. Just curious as those ballasts look aftermarket.

 

See my post "what's baking in my over". The oven thing didn't work out at all. I am buying a new light and may do the same for the other. Check the post and let me know your thoughts...