[jkagan]

The other day I noticed that there were white markings that looked like scratch marks on the black blastic that surrounds my upper headlight (UNDER the clear plastic that covers the headlight unit). The markings were on the outside edge of the plastic. At first, I thought this might have been due to faulty installation because there does not seem to be a source for these scratches in the "sealed" headlight unit.

Yesterday on a drive, however, I checked with a fellow Elise owner and he had the same marks. I now think these may be caused by the heat from the bulbs.

Has anyone else had noticed this problem, or have any experience getting it fixed?

Thanks.

~jon

 

[Randy Chase]

Yes, Mine developd some odd "pockmarks"

 

[shay2nak]

Is starshield applied to the headlights and front indicators?

 

[MattG]

No. I bought a kit from Lamin-X that covers those parts. The turn signals installed easily; I still haven't gotten around to installing the headlight covers. They look tricky.

 

[Ground Loop]

Do they look like.. crystals? Like salt spray that crystalized and condensed in that part of the plastic?

That's what mine look like.. angular "snowflake" pattern inside the clear lens, in front of the black plastic.

I don't remember them being there before, so it could be condensation of some sort, or outgassing from the plastic?

 

[biobaggie]

Yep, I've got them too

 

[adamant]

Mine were delivered with some fogging inside the plastic. I fixed this when replacing and re-aligning my headlights. When I took the covers off there was a large amount of a white substance underneath and it was not salt. I think it might be from initial polishing of the paintwork as it was quite difficult to remove.
BTW do not try to polish inside the headlight cover, it scratches VERY easily. In the end I removed all the fogging by mixing a little dish washer detergent with water and swishing it inside the cover, rinsing it out with hot water and shaking them dry (so that no droplets would leave marks on the inside). I let them dry for a day (we have very low humidity ) The plastic now looks significantly clearer than it did initially.
I think the white drops you are seeing are from the polishing compound that is left behind the haedlight covers.

 

[jkagan]

Do they look like.. crystals? Like salt spray that crystalized and condensed in that part of the plastic?

That's what mine look like.. angular "snowflake" pattern inside the clear lens, in front of the black plastic.

I don't remember them being there before, so it could be condensation of some sort, or outgassing from the plastic?

That's a pretty good description of what they look like inside my right headlight - they look more like scratches on the left. I'm gonna give my tech a call about this.

 

[ekological]

Can someone post a picture of the issue with the lens?