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Cleaning Fog lights -- DIY?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by ZitterZap, Mar 17, 2011.

  1. ZitterZap

    ZitterZap Member

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    My fog lights have carbon deposited on the inside of them. I am thinking about taking them out and cleaning them.

    Is this an easy DIY? Any problem points to watch for?

    Also what solution should I use to get rid of the carbon?

    I am not very mechanically inclined, can do basic oil changes and unscrew things and screw them back together.

    Anyone has a step by step DIY for this?
     

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    #1 ZitterZap, Mar 17, 2011
  2. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    It's rather weird that you have carbon buildup on the inside of the fog light housing. I don't really have any recommendations for cleaning but I would suggest looking into upgrading the bulbs to HID. The HID kits from DDMTuning.com work very well and are really inexpensive! I swapped to an HID kit and the difference in illumination was outstanding! Worth the $35 I spent on the kit. Everything was plug and play except finding a place to mount the ballast and that Toyota uses reverse polarity. It took me a while to figure that part out. lol

    Good luck!
     
    #2 F8L, Mar 17, 2011
  3. ZitterZap

    ZitterZap Member

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    I am not sure how it happened but I think I was fiddling with the car for couple of hours and the fog lights were turned on. That may have causes excessive heat as the car was stationary and burned the inside.
    The fog lights still turn on but you can see in the recent pics uploaded how the glass looks.

    Being in Houston for the last 3 years I have never been in a fog dense enough that I needed my fog lights but it would be nice to have the glass clean if it is an easy DIY. I will look at HID lights when it is time to replace the fog lights for sure.
     
    #3 ZitterZap, Mar 17, 2011
  4. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Gotcha!

    You may need to use long "Q-tips" with alcohol on them or stuff a soaked piece of cloth into the housing and stir it around with a screwdriver or something then extract the cloth with needlenose pliers.

    As for the fog light upgrade. I don't have to contend with fog very often but with the HIDs I can actually see a difference in normal night driving. If I turn them on, street signs are better illuminated. This applies to freeway signs as well despite them being mounted higher. In essence, they made my total road illumination brighter. I have factory HIDs so I would think that a car equipped with normal halogens for headlights would benefit even further.
     
    #4 F8L, Mar 17, 2011
  5. ZitterZap

    ZitterZap Member

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    Thanks for the tips on cleaning.

    I am still looking on a DIY on how to get the housing out so that I can clean it.

    As you pointed out if I go thought the trouble to remove the housing I must as well upgrade to HID kit. I read that they are produce less heat, more illumination and consume less battery which sounds awesome.
     
    #5 ZitterZap, Mar 17, 2011
  6. Hal W

    Hal W New Member

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    You had better check and see if you have the correct bulbs. I suspect not as that should not happen? H
     
    #6 Hal W, Mar 17, 2011
  7. ravenmaniac

    ravenmaniac Senior Executive VP of Nothing

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    Zitter:
    That burn may be on the plastic covers (Rockblocker.com) that I put on the lenses to keep them from cracking, not the inside of the lens. You can peel the plastic overlay off and use some Goo Gone to remove the adhesive left behind. I think that will solve your dilemma. I put the covers on there to keep the lenses from cracking. They definitely have the right bulbs because I had the dealer replace the entire assembly back in 2007 on both sides (both lenses were cracked).
     
    #7 ravenmaniac, Mar 21, 2011
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