Hey guys,

I was wondering if anyone has ever experienced this before. Just tonight, I noticed that I had condensation in my headlights so I removed one of my overlays to see if I could notice a crack or other point of intrusion for the water.

After removing the overlay, I noticed that there were tiny cracks (AKA spider cracks) in my lense that followed the exact shape of the vinyl overlay. I did some research, and discovered that many car owners (other than G's) have had this occur with their polycarbonate lenses when they install overlays.

Has anyone had this happen to them, and is there a possible solution? Would it be possible to somehow fill the cracks with a clear solution? It appears that theses are beneath the surface, so I doubt sanding/polishing would benefit it.

Here are some pictures:





I appreciate any and all help!

 

Damn sorry to hear that! How long did you have the overlays on your headlight?

 

Damn, that looks horrible, also looks like it wouldn't take much to crack open the whole cover at this point. I had overlays on for a while but mine were the opaque covers that didn't let light through, but also don't have my car out baking in the sun very often. Looks like the plastic got brittle where the overlay was applied or maybe the different refraction of light caused by the overlay had something to do w/ it?
Doubt there's any way to make it less noticeable

 

Thanks for the responses guys.
I had them on for probably around 6-8 months, but in hot Florida weather (they were constantly roasted). I am not sure how the cracks affect the structure of the housing but it sure does seem like it would make them fragile...

 

I think it's more of a manufacturing defect but who knows, maybe the overlay does that too. Look up "headlight crazing".

When I had my car under warranty, they replaced one of the headlights because of this. Wasn't as bad as yours but it was very noticeable and I was afraid the cracks might some day go all the way through and leak.

 

Did you have an overlay or did the crazing occur naturally?

 

No overlay. Just stock headlamp. In fact, I wanted to get that one replaced because I ended up baking the lights to open 'em up and paint the shrouds. Not as bad as yours but pretty bad. The dealer was shocked.

 

If you're still under warranty, this is covered.

Mine was and the dealership noted a few early 2nd gens with similar issues.

There are a few of us here who had similar issues on pure OEM set-ups (i.e. no overlays and such.)

 

Thank you guys for the input, I will contact my local dealership and see what I can do!

 

Yup I have the same ones.

Only spider cracked the front lights by the fog lights. When they were one for more than 10 minutes they got so hot that they couldnt be touched for very long.

When I took them off I saw the cracks, probably about only 10% as bad as yours but yeah I have em.

The overlays were burnt in certain spots and looked bad.

Portable steamer and some meguirs headlight polish saved the day, I don't even mind the spider cracks to be honest.

 

What overlays do you have? Mine have been on for several years now with no cracks or other issues. It does look like manufacturer defect as some have already replied. I have had overlays on my last 3 cars without any issues. Hope it all works out for you.