How do you clean cloudy headlights on a Taurus - Sable?

Answer 1

Answer
You should not to use sandpaper on a headlight to remove yellow, white or brown oxidation. If you do you will ruin the Ultra Violet (UV) protective coating. A new headlight that has yellowed with naturally occurring oxidation can be restored to crystal clarity without the use of abrasives. Once you put sandpaper on your headlight lens there is no turning back. Now you've got a job on your hands. Now your concern is not just oxidation but how to rub out scratches on the surface of the lens. This will involve power tools and a lot of time and steps. If you are starting out with a previously cleaned lens, your options are limited. You should also understand that, oxidation will return and you will have to repeat the process year after year. Today's technology has introduced an Acrylic lens restorer that is pure liquid and works on contact. There is no longer any need to grind away at your headlight lens with sandpaper and rubbing compounds to remove oxidation. Headlight cleaning via sanding can take hours Headlight restoration via Acrylic lens restorer takes seconds. You Choose.

Answer
The headlight gets cloudy with age. This happens to almost all plastic headlights.

You can get a polishing kit from most auto parts stores. It contains about 4 pieces of sand paper, progressively getting finer. The instructions tell you to soak the paper and sand the entire cover, alternating directions (vertically with one, horizontally with the next, ect.).

You would then use the supplied polish and buff the cover. That should fix the issue. I have a '97 Taurus GL. It worked well for me. Good luck.

TIP: the headlamp lens is easy to remove from the vehicle - I would suggest taking it out while working on it - saves you from having to bent over for an hour.

I also use a buffer wheel on my bench grinder for the final polishing.

See "Related Questions" below for instructions on removing the lens. (also covered in the Owners Manual!)


Answer
Try looking on ebay. I've also seen a cleaner to remove the yellowing, sold on there, but I've never tried it. Beware of the cleaners that want you to sandpaper the lights. If your local junkyard doesn't have any, see if they'll look them up in their cross-reference manual for the years that use the same lights. I'm guessing anywhere from 1989 to 1992 Sables used the same headlight assembly. Maybe the Taurus did too. Gives you a broader search range to find a good set.

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I disagree with the caution on the sandpaper method. I have used this method on everything from emergency light lenses and plexi side glasses to fogged headlights and it works very well. The system uses 1000grit paper followed by 2500grit paper. The secret is to treat the surface with the proper sealer for that material (usually plexiglass or lexan).

Answer
You should not to use sandpaper on a headlight to remove yellow, white or brown oxidation. If you do you will ruin the Ultra Violet (UV) protective coating. A new headlight that has yellowed with naturally occurring oxidation can be restored to crystal clarity without the use of abrasives. Once you put sandpaper on your headlight lens there is no turning back. Now you've got a job on your hands. Now your concern is not just oxidation but how to rub out scratches on the surface of the lens. This will involve power tools and a lot of time and steps. If you are starting out with a previously cleaned lens, your options are limited. You should also understand that, oxidation will return and you will have to repeat the process year after year. Today's technology has introduced an Acrylic lens restorer that is pure liquid and works on contact. There is no longer any need to grind away at your headlight lens with sandpaper and rubbing compounds to remove oxidation. Headlight cleaning via sanding can take hours Headlight restoration via Acrylic lens restorer takes seconds. You Choose.
I Detail/restore headlights for used car dealerships, and I sell a product called The CrystaLenz Headlight Restoration Kit. P.S. I have done a bunch of Mercury Sables and Ford Taurus cars and the Crystalenz clears them up well.