Headlight – Adam's Auto Advice

Adam’s 7 Tips for Winterizing Your Car

With the unusually warm weather in January, I felt a bit odd posting a list of tips for winterizing your car. Now that there is actually snow on the ground in Baltimore, and it is cold, it makes more sense posting this list. No sense in posting a list in the Spring!

“Adam's 7 Tips for Winterizing Your Car.”

Hey, Your Car is Dirty: This is something that is a good idea to do before it gets cold and there is snow on the ground. (Ok, maybe I should have posted this earlier.) It's good to clean your car of all the road grime and dirt, because during the winter cars tend to attract more dirt. Clean the interior of the car as well. If you don't have rubber floormats, I would consider buying them as it will help keep your car's interior cleaner. Most people don't clean their cars during the winter, so that is why I suggest this.
Ohh, My Battery Is Dead: It is a very good idea to get your battery checked or take a look yourself. Low temperatures make it hard for the chemical reactions inside your battery to operate normally, meaning it has reduced power to get your car started. Most auto parts stores do Free battery checks using specialized testers, and they can usually test your whole electrical system too. If you have had trouble starting your car in the past due to the battery going dead or it has given you problems, you probably should just get a new battery. If it is more than 3-4 years old, replace it.
Get Rid Of That Battery Corrosion: Even if your battery is not that old, servicing it might be a good idea. By that I mean making sure there is no corrosion on the terminals or cables. If you are comfortable cleaning the terminals and battery, it is a good idea to do that yourself. (Remember undo the negative cable first, then the positive cable.) A quick way to get all the corrosion off is to pour warm water on top of the battery, which quickly washes away all that white sulfate deposit. You can then take wire brush and clean the terminals and cables, ensuring you battery has a good connection.
Can You See The Light?: Having a Headlight or Taillight bulb out is an easy thing to miss. Hey, I understand! Since the days are shorter and the nights longer in winter, it is good to make sure they are functioning properly. Turn on your cars lights and walk around to make sure all are in working order. Don't forgot to check those blinkers too! If any are out or very dim, replace it. Then you don't need to worry about it later.
Keep Your Coolant: You want to make sure you have a 50:50 mix of anti-freeze and water inside your radiator. If there isn’t enough anti-freeze in the mix, it could potentially freeze in the cold weather. How do you know if you have a 50/50 coolant or anti-freeze mixture? There are test strips and special tools to test the mixture and pH level of coolant. I rarely see many shops using them, but you can buy them at auto parts stores. You might want to consider doing a coolant flush if you have never done it, or if it has been 4+ years since you have flushed your coolant. Don't forgot to also check your hoses. If they are bulging hard, brittle, deformed, squishy, or have hairline cracks, replace the hose.
Is Your Tread Dead?: When is the last time you checked you tire pressure? Mmm… better check it, since tires lose about 1psi for every 10 degree change in temperature. You gas mileage will improve and your car will handle better. Also make sure you have adequate tread and your tires are not worn-out. If you live in climate that gets heavy snow, switching to snow tires for the winter might not be bad idea.
Can You See the Road?: Wipers are very easy to overlook, but very important for inclement weather. Check your wipers are not streaking or has rubber falling off. If they are old and aren't doing the job, replace them. I recommend Bosch frame-less wipers, which last longer and work better. I have Bosch wipers installed on my Honda Accord. Remember to also make sure you have washer fluid.

I hope you enjoyed Adam's Auto Advice tips! If you have a suggestion or comment about winterizing your vehicle leave a comment below. Keep warm this winter and please drive safely. You never know what's on the road, so be prepared.

Sylvania Headlight Restoration Kit Review

Today I used the Sylvania Headlight Restoration Kit on my friend Brandon's Chevy Venture van. (It was actually his Mom's van.) The van has about 230,000 miles on it, making it a good vehicle to test the kit on. Of course the headlights already had a lens restoration done on them 1 year ago. Still that restoration has worn off and left the headlights in bad shape again. You can see in the pictures below they are still cloudy and hazy. Cloudy headlights reduce your ability to see clearly when you have your lights on a night and makes it more difficult for other drivers to see you as well. Having cloudy headlights is really a safety issue and not just an appearance annoyance. I would keep this in mind if you have a vehicle that has hazy, cloudy, or yellowed headlights.

Overall the Sylvania kit took me around 1 hour and 30 minutes to use. I give it a “Good” rating as there are improvements that could be made. The kit should have included an extra sheet of 600 grit sandpaper. If you have large headlights that are are seriously cloudy you might need to do more sanding than suggested, for instance the right-hand headlight needed more work. (I timed doing each side evenly from the instructions.) For the Venture the amount of sandpaper was adequate, but as the instructions stated you do need to cut the paper in half to make sure you have enough for doing each headlight. The instructions could have been printed on slightly sturdier paper and been a bit larger. I found it difficult to read the tiny print while doing the restoration. What did I like about the kit? Compared to the 3M kit I tested on my own Mom's Van about 1 year ago, the Sylvania kit has a UV Clearcoat. As far as I know Sylvania is the only company that sells these kits with a UV Clearcoat. This is important as this is what will protect your headlights from getting cloudy and hazy again. The Slyvania kit might last longer because of the UV Clearcoat. Only time will tell! The 3M kit did come out better when I used it because that uses a drill. The Slyvania kit you do by hand, but it worked well and did not take nearly as long as I thought.

Brandon and I were pleased with how the Sylvania Headlight Restoration Kit worked and felt it was definitely worth the time to do it. Would I recommend it… yes I would. Why? Simply because of the UV Clearcoat. If your headlights were seriously cloudy, yellowed, or hazy… I might recommend another kit though as I do not see doing it by hand would work. Overall we both were pleased. It definitely will help Brandon and his family drive safely in the van.

If you are interested in buying a kit, they retail for $20 and are sold in most auto parts stores.

sylvania

3M Headlight Restoration Kit Review

In my last post I suggested using Toothpaste to Restore Cloudy Headlights. It will work…. if you spend the whole day doing it!

To save yourself time and sanity I'd suggest buying a 3M Headlight Restoration Kit. These kits range in price from $15-20, and generally work well. For restoring the headlights on my Mom's '97 Chrysler Town & Country I bought the 3M Headlight Restoration Kit. It took me about 4 hours to do it properly. The process is basically what a body shop would do to restore and refinish headlights. Except you use a drill and save a ton of money since you DIY!

Here are Pictures of the Before and After on my Mom's '97 Chrysler Van.

BEFORE

AFTER

I did this on March 6th, 2010. That was about 2 months ago, and the headlights still look pretty good. The headlights were so dim nobody wanted to drive the Town & Country at night, but now that's not a problem. (Well I don't want to drive it because it's van but that is obviously a separate issue.)

Restoring your headlights is extremely beneficial for your safety and other drivers out on the road. Not only did this improve the appearance of the van, but the ability to see the road at night and in bad weather greatly improved and other people will be able to see the van better.

It's possible the headlights will get cloudy again, meaning I might have to buy another headlight restoration kit and redo this. If you want to avoid this in the future I would recommend going down to your local auto parts store and buying a UV clearcoat spray in a can. Headlights that come from the factory have a UV clearcoat protection on them, which helps protect from UV damage and debris. Generally when the UV clearcoat wears off is when you start to get cloudy, hazy, and yellowed headlights.

The 3M Headlight Restoration Kit doesn't have any sort of clearcoat spray that comes with the kit. Some kits, like the Slyvania Headlight Restoration Kit, come with a UV clearcoat application. I should put a protective UV coating on the van's headlights, to ensure I don't need to refinish the headlights again. I would recommend you do the same if buy the 3M kit.

Here are some tips for the 3M kit:

I was oversanding with the 600 grit sandpaper. The paper would gum up, before I realized it. It probably would have been helpful to wet the 600 grit paper a little bit every so often.
You get only 1 piece of 3000 grit sandpaper. It would have been helpful to have 2 pieces in my opinion. I did one headlight then I moved onto the other one, but by then the paper was used up. It took me forever to do the other headlight. I would suggest switching back and forth on each side if you are headlights are really cloudy, hazy, or yellowed.
You must Tape-up around your Headlights! I probably would have done a lot of damage to the paint if I didn't! I just used blue Painters Tape you can buy at any local hardware store, which worked fine.
I would suggest using a Corded Drill, which is what I used. If you try to use a Battery Powered Drill, I'm sure the battery will run out before you finish and you will be waiting for the batteries to charge.
As the video says in the beginning you definitely should have a Spray Bottle and some microfiber towels.

I hope this helps people restore their own Headlights. If you have seriously cloudy, hazy, or yellowed headlights keep in mind the 3M kit probably will not work. You might need to get them refinished and restored at a body shop. However, it is worth it to at least try the 3M kit first since it's not that expensive. I'd imagine your headlights will still look a little bit better.

If you have any questions about using the kit please leave a comment below.