360 Front lights

I have the same problem except mine is water marks / condensation on the inside of the lens. I have heard that it is very difficult if not impossible to remove the lens and clean it. I had seen a thread where Fchatters had removed the wheel and accessed and removed the headlights and tried to clean the inside of the lens with a cloth on the end of a stick with limited results.

 

Here's one thread.........http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=206647&highlight=head+light+360

Here's another ..........http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=113004&highlight=headlamp

And another ............http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=117374&highlight=headlamp

And another...........http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=178791&highlight=headlamp

Happy searching and reading!

 

Call Dave at Premier Motor works, In Carson, Ca. 310-762-9900. I sent mine out to him last week. Just spoke to him tonight. He will take them apart, clean and polish them and reseal them. The problem comes from condensation when the car is in a cool place for a while. When you fire up the lights, there isn't any where for the vapor to escape. The spotting are water marks. I've been told that when I get them back, they will look perfect. I'm also going to have small holes drilled in the side panel's ( at an angle). This will allow the vapor to release and escape. I'll let you know......

 

Many car headlight assemblies have a small spout molded into the shell and even a small pushon inch long rubber elbow facing down. This acts as a relief to allow vapor laden air to escape when headlights get hot. There must be a small hole in the 360 headlight assembly which has gotten plugged...plus even when driving from sea level to ski resorts certainly results in air movement or escape from the headlight assembly.

Can you remove the headlight bulb (car laws mandate easy access to replace bulbs) and use compressed (filtered and dried) air to replenish the air over a period of time. At the same time, gently heating the outer surface with a heat gun or heat lamp to warm the surface and thus transform condensation into vapor? This might take an hour or two but in a half warmed garage, using tubing for the air, will save having to remove any assemblies more than the bulb. The most difficult thing is getting dry air. Air compressors generally don't have driers but there are add on filters for painting.

 

Yeah, there's a vent alright with a little length of rubber pipe. It can get blocked (kinked) a bit but I don't think that's the problem as otherwise they'd maybe explode when hot. I think what happens is that the air expands when hot and gets released alright but when they cool that expelled air is drawn back in and carries with it moisture and other grit and debris which, over time, builds up and spoils the look.

Bulbs come out easily enough and if the problem were only condensation one could dry them out thoroughly which would be fine (until the next time they condense up) but sadly it's not just condensation it's the minute particles of dirt and grime and even just the dried condensation marks that are actually the cause of the poor look.

 

Sounds a bit like the car is used in special circumstances conducive to the problem. Such as long night drives ending in parking in a dusty seaside (or high humidity) parking space. Given you have a rubber spout, you could instead, run a 3-4-6 foot coiled hose with cloth filter tied to the end. During the headlight on period, dry air would exhaust into the length of the hose and at shutdown, be sucked back into the headlight.

 

Yeah, I suspect most manufactures use some kind of sealed system with a pressure chamber built in so that nothing ever gets in or out of the housings. Certainly if I ever had to spring for a new set I'd make damn sure this problem wouldn't happen over again.