360 Headlights Problems ?

This is a long-standing problem with the 360 headlights. I've asked for solutions when this developed one year after ownership of my 2001 (I bought new). Asked on the owner's site. No response. Asked the dealer, who forwarded my problem to FNA. Nothing. Finally, after some brainstorming with the service manager, we figured that the way to clean it is to remove the housing and lights. Then clean the interior, from the light holes, with a cloth attached to a stick or wire. Very tedious work. I haven't tried it yet since it doesn't affect the quality of the lights at night. It just look funky at night from the outside.

If anyone have a better solution, other than buying new units, let me know.

 

we had a body shop CAREFULY cut around the seal, the resealed it. The customer had the car painted another color. So far no problems

 

To aid in separating the seal you can heat the headlight assembly in an oven set to 175-200 degrees for a few(5) minutes.

*I take no responsibility of ruined headlamps!

Best,
Pino

 

I wonder if they changed the design.

I haven't had any dust or moisture or spider intrusion problems with my 03. I've even driven it in the rain a few times (no, they don't melt!).

 

No spider intrusion here. But you live in S. CA. I'm in the Pacific Northwest and drive my 360 all year 'round (let me tell you about rain. ). I have some dust near the weep hole in the leading edge of the lights and some condensation spots. Not noticeable in the daytime though.

I think the F430 units are completely sealed.

 

I think this is the best way if you're going to do it. It would have to be pretty funky to bother doing though.

Good luck. You skrew that up and you'll be hating life as those babies are a couple g's spensive.

 

i had to replace both headlight assemblies in my red stradale. they were $3000 each!!! i'm glad i have good insurance

btw, the headlights (and the front bumper and windshield) on my yellow stradale got sand blasted on a long drive on mountain and canton roads. i had hoped the sand damage to the headlights could be polished out or simply replaced. but apparently they are sealed units so you can't replace the plastic lense covers. i've also been told that you can't polish them either, but it wasn't clear why. any ideas besides replacing them at $3K each?

 

Perhaps polishing alters the way the light beams are projected?

I have Stonegard covers on my headlight lenses. They take the beating for all the driving I do and saved the lenses from damage many times on trips. Getting the inside of the lights cleaned is the tricky part.

 

My mechanic removed the main light bulb (not the whole assembly) and used a high pressure air hose and blasted away in there to clear the dust. Don't ask me where the dust went but it did help. It did not clear all of it but it improved it by 50%. Not sure why he didn't try to remove the whole light assembly in order to have a larger hole?? Anyway, it is a problem. Cutting the seal or cooking one sounds SCARY!!

 

The dust problem happens when the "draft tube" under the headlight assy is installed wrong. If the tube is run properly it hangs in the air stream creating a vacuum in the light. When improperly installed it points forward into the airstream and gets the dirt and dust rammed into the light assy. I have actually had lights with dust only problems clear up when the tube mounting is corrected.
Dave

 

Had the same problem with my headlights a year into ownership.
My dealer had them removed and cleaned for free. Didn't fix the problem entirely, but the lights look MUCH better after some internal cleaning.

Not sure how they did it though!

 

I think your mechanic tried to blow the dust through the weep hole in the leading edge of the light housing. Some of the dust probably got out as intended, but I would think that most of it were just pushed into the edge of the lense by the air.

Cutting the seal and cooking? Nope.

 

Please find out and post directions. I probably have to do this myself since my dealer is not going to do this for free.

 

What about simply plugging them up after cleaning the housing? Any problems might develop by doing that?

 

I don't think you want to completely seal the unit -- you don't want the expanding air inside to crack the glass. I imagine it gets very hot very quickly in there when the lights are turned on. You also need a return path for air as the lamps cool, otherwise the glass housing could implode. (In fact, that's probably the mechanism by which dust and moisture are drawn in...)

 

I am sure they would fog right away. Ambiant air has too much moisture, and it would act like a dual pane window that has lost its argon charge. The heat of the headlight and the colder outside air would surely cause condensation. When the draft tube is positioned properly it will actually draw a vacuum in the headlight assy at highway speeds.
Dave