Write-Up: Yellowed Corner Lenses

Told you so...

I was just as surprised as you when I opened the package...but...lt really does the job!

Your lenses look great!

How are you guys cleaning the interior of the housing? I can't get my fingers in there.

Here is the write up.

Oxidized Cornering Lamps:

I got bold and pulled a cornering lamp today. Here's what I learned:

First, it's like Venga22 said, easy to do. The only hard part is forcing the bumper down while trying to insert a socket in to get that screw out. Knowing how easy it is to lose that screw into the bumper, I took an envelope, cut out a notch so it would fit around the brace the screw goes into, and slid that in under my socket to catch the screw. I then used needle nose pliers to pull the screw out.




Here's what I used to get the screw out the 2nd time I pulled the lens. A small magnet and a piece of paper do the trick.

-----------------------

Even with this setup, I lost two screws into the bumper before I could get one in. I'd suggest tying a piece of thread around the base of the screw so you can fish it out if you lose it. You could break the thread off once the screw is tightened down or leave it in there for the next time you have to do this.

I'd recommend replacing the socket head screw with a phillips or, if you can find one, an allen head. There's not much room for a socket here, and probably the less you have to depress a painted surface the better.

Once the screw is out, only two clips hold the lamp in. One is at the back of the housing, facing towards the rear of the car, and one is forward and above the screw, facing inward. I found it was easiest to remove the lamp by pressing the back end down, then pulling up and out on the front bottom corner of the lamp. You have to disconnect the front clip first, then it's easy to slide the lamp forward and out. It won't come out far until you unscrew the light socket, but then it's yours.

Installation is just as easy.

The second thing I learned - unless you've got a great buffing tool that will fit into the opening for the light socket, or a chemical bath you can dip the whole thing in, forget about cleaning the oxidation off the inside of one of these babies. This is a "replace" part.

Here's the part numbers:
w/o cornering

95-96R 5976456
95-96L 5976455
97-99R 16524980
97-99L 16524979

w/cornering
95-96R 5976414
95-96L 5976413
97-99R 16524978
97-99L 16524977

^^^These are for the lens and housing only, no sockets or bulbs. The "w/o" versions simply have no holes in them for sockets...

cornering lamp socket 12085330
signal lamp socket 12159662
corner lamp bulb 9442003
signal lamp bulb 9441839

Jack - are you talking about the inside, as in the area where the bulb goes? I'm not even TOUCHING inside there. That area really isn't exposed to the elements, at least not nearly as much as the outside is.

Now, if you are referring to the little tab that sticks out, and is yellow but you can't quite get rid of all the yellow... well, you need to take your lenses completely off the car.

To do this, get a 7mm deep-well socket. Press your bumper down right underneath the lense. You will the see one (1) 7mm hex screw. Remove it, but be VERY careful not to drop it in the bumper. This is easy to do, trust me. I got lucky and was able to retrieve mine the two times I did it, because it fell all the way down. Using a phillips head screw with the same thread would be fine though, so not all is lost if you lose your screw.

Anyway. So after you remove the screw, the lense is free. You just need to tug it out. It's sort of "clipped" in there. Pull outward and towards the front of the car - don't be afraid, you're not going to break anything. It should pop right out.

Now, with the lense free, just turn the bulb to get it out of the socket, and your lense can be taken to an air-conditioned environment where you can scrub away.

Yes, I'm referring to the area where the bulb goes.

I've heard of guys being able to get into it with some kind of detailing tool, but I don't know what the tool is.

I figure the oxidation is mostly caused by UV, which has no problem getting into the housing area.

well, I didn't touch inside there....

You could get the powerball mini, and some polishing compound and try that. However, I'd be worried about flinging compound where I wouldn't be able to wipe it up.

The inside didn't seem so bad.... I don't know that it'd be worth it to get in there.

I'll give it a try without polishing inside the housing and see what happens.

Gonna have to order online though - neither Wal-Mart or Autozone had it.

same down here

Off topic...How was the audio clip attached to this thread???

jax95riv wrote:

Off topic...How was the audio clip attached to this thread???

Ha...Been waiting for someone to mention it!
It's my little secret and I'm not telling...

97Riv-Jon wrote:

jax95riv wrote:

Off topic...How was the audio clip attached to this thread???

Ha...Been waiting for someone to mention it!
It's my little secret and I'm not telling...

That's crap! I wanna know!!!

Product ordered . . .

Good to see more places taking PayPal these days.

My rating -

Yes, a perfect 5 out of 5 rating I simply do not believe it would be possible to get a better result. I can still detect a slight amount of oxidation, at the right angles and in the right light. But only with the headlights there for comparison - and, you know what, I'm not sure how much better new corners would be. I think there are 3 things, which have nothing to do with the clearness of the plastic, which keep our corners from looking as good as the headlights:

- The overhang on the corner isn't backed by anything shiny. It hangs over a black gap or a non-reflective portion of the headlight.

- The interior of the cornering lenses housing may not be as reflective as the headlights' interior

- There's the dullish area where the housing glues to the lens.

FWIW I spent hours on these things instead of minutes. Preparation is everything. If you don't thoroughly sand off all the oxidation, be prepared for lesser results.

Also, I was able to do this using only half the included materials. I probably have enough left over to do the tail lights.

No more excuses guys! Get this stuff and get your corners clear!

Where'd you get yours, Jack? I try not to enter a Wal-Mart store if I can help it.

Website:
http://www.bestheadlightcleaner.com/

Wow after seeing your pics Jack I'm going to pick that up. I was just going to order the replacements but I'll save the $100 and just buy that stuff.

Nice pics, Jack!

HOURS though? I probably spent 45 minutes on mine, you must be a very didicated cornering light individual.

Let's put it this way, I wasn't going to spend $30 on the CV and then turn around and have to spend $100 on replacement lenses because the CV didn't work. I was going to give that CV every chance to work and not come out disappointed! What I did was surely overkill, but I got the results.

Yesterday I had the car in to the mechanic getting the AC checked again (bad compressor, just my luck), and my mechanic spotted the difference on his own. We were kicking back talking cars and all of the sudden he leaps up to get a closer look at my cornering lens - he was impressed, and now he's going to do his wife's headlights with CV.

So he noticed, eh? That's the best compliment you could ever get.

Anyone have the part numbers for the corner lenses??

jax95riv wrote:

Anyone have the part numbers for the corner lenses??

For your '95 it is:
w/Cornering Lamp
5976414-R
5976413-L
w/o Cornering Lamp
5976456-R
5976455-L

Thanks Randall!

I think I'm just going to replace mine. I was cleaning one up with 2000 grit sand paper and when I rinsed it, I dunked the corner light in the bucket of water and now I have condensation in the light. What a dumbass!

this might sound a bit stupid, but i guess worth a try try using a shop vac to suck the water out of the light

I actually got it dried out. It took about four hours with a hot drop light focused on the lens (off the car) to dry it out. Its been on the car a couple weeks now and I haven't seen the moisture come back. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Ok guys, I know a lot of us are having problems with the corner lenses being yellow. I've found an inexpensive way to fix this problem. My brother went to Autozone today and bought that cheap lens cleaner that I didn't think would work. (He's having the same problem with his Mark VIII headlights.) It was $15.



It's by Permatex. The kit includes two latex gloves, polish, flannel cloth, and wet sand paper. There are 4 different grits: 1000, 1500, 2000, and 2500. Open the box and take the contents out. You can use the empty part of the box to fill up with water to use to keep the sandpaper wet. I recommend getting a bottle of water to rinse off as you go.

Start with the 1000 grit paper and wet sand the lens. You will notice that the water will turn yellow and very tiny pieces of the lens will start to come off. Sand until you feel comfortable moving on to the next grit. You will see less and less yellow come off. I rinsed off everytime it started to build up and everytime I changed grits. Move on to the 1500, grit and repeat until you're finished with the 2500 grit. Rinse and dry.

When the lens is dry you want to use the polish. It says to use sparingly, but use at your own discretion. The polish is used to to get rid of the cloudiness. Use the flannel cloth to apply the polish in firm circular motions. Use the clean area of the cloth to get the excess of the polish off. Then you should have clearer lenses. This makes a HUGE difference.

Before:

https://2img.net/r/ihimizer/img253/8051/picture004ui3.jpg

After:

https://2img.net/r/ihimizer/img253/6308/picture009ag9.jpg

https://2img.net/r/ihimizer/img253/5891/picture008vd6.jpg

Before on Mark VIII:

https://2img.net/r/ihimizer/img143/9967/picture003ik8.jpg

After on Mark VIII:

https://2img.net/r/ihimizer/img143/1455/picture005lx1.jpg

It's still a little yellow, but that's because I only did the outside. I want to take it out and do the inside.