Repair to glass Hella e-codes question

Sometime way back circa 2007 maybe a group buy was organized I believe here for brand new Hella e-codes, and I was fortunate to end up with a set on my black B4 daily driver that have worked flawlessly since.

Recently the right side headlight beam became off kilter and started making a rattle noise. Removal and inspection of inside showed that the vertical white plastic post approx 3 inches tall that's part of adjuster has snapped. Probably due to repeated city pot hole bumps?

Any suggestions on a fix?

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JB makes a line of it, I prefer the water weld. it can be done underwater but mainly it bonds to plastic a bit better, its white, Walmart has it for $5 a stick. I fixed a small boat with this, also fixed a cracked refrigerant line on my Freezer in the kitchen. it LITERALLY will fix anything, maybe it can even fix my crippling depression!
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The problem is I can see the broken post by removing the bulb trays, but the opening is not large enough to actually access the white plastic post and work on it.

This will probably require separating the glass lens from the headlight housing and then resealing. Regaining the watertight seal bewteen the glass lens and the housing is another challenge by itself.

Has anyone separated the e-code glass lens and then resealed them?
What did you use for no kidding watertight sealing please?

I’ve done it several times. Butyl or silicone.

-Todd

TDIL3dad said:

This will probably require separating the glass lens from the headlight housing and then resealing. Regaining the watertight seal bewteen the glass lens and the housing is another challenge by itself.

Has anyone separated the e-code glass lens and then resealed them?
What did you use for no kidding watertight sealing please?

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Yeah - it's pretty easy. Buy a roll of butyl sealant in a "rope" - $10 or so - if you want to be able to take it apart again; silicone if it's gonna be a permanent fix.
(You can still get it apart, just a PITA to get the silicone "broken" - as opposed to throwing the headlight in the oven and then just pulling it apart).

I would not use silicone, it will offgas and create a fog later. I had some lenses do this many years ago. Use the rope caulk like Nuje mentioned.

I've had the headlights apart a ton and have some that I keep around just for spare parts, if you need any. Often people will snap the mounting tabs off them because they don't know how to put them in properly, so they'll toss them. After many years, it's difficult to polish the lenses and necessitates swapping lenses to get performance back.

To separate the lens from the housing, remove the metal clips (they pop right off, but save them) and put the headlight assembly in an oven at 200-250 degrees for 60 -90 seconds. This will soften the glue sealing the lens to the body and allow it to be pried off without damage.

Everything inside can come off pretty easily then. Just do not attempt to polish the reflective lenses, or use even something like Windex on them, or the thin chrome coating will come off the plastic backing. I speak from experience here. It doesn't take much.

Then use some of the window and door rope, found at nearly any hardware store, to reattach the lens. Once pressed into place it'll be watertight again and the clips will secure it while the rope cures.

Abacus said:

Everything inside can come off pretty easily then. Just do not attempt to polish the reflective lenses, or use even something like Windex on them, or the thin chrome coating will come off the plastic backing. I speak from experience here. It doesn't take much.

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I don't think this point can be stressed enough - I just took a cotton cloth to wipe some dust off the chrome reflector bowl, gave it one little swipe to buff it a bit... so long chrome (well, actually, it didn't leave - it just ended up on the cotton cloth).
Compressed air, or the lightest touch you can imagine if you're touching the reflector bowls.

When I joined the forum, I bought set of e-codes. There was a bit of dirt in them, so I split them (and me bring me), had to make them perfect.

I tossed the disassembled lights in the dishwasher. Needless to say, that didn’t end well... I ended up sending the reflectors out to have the vaporized aluminum reapplied. I wasn’t very happy with the added expense, but they ended up being pretty much perfect, once reassembled. Oddly enough, I’ve never had an issue with the DOT lights. The aluminum on them is much more durable.

FWIW, I used butyl on these, but have used silicone on plastic (markers, dummies, etc) and glass lensed items (fogs) and never had an issue with out gassing.

-Todd

Yes, be careful with the reflectors, they will damage easily and they corrode easily too if they're exposed to the elements for too long.

Rope caulk is not my choice for a solution, even if you have the metal clips to retain the lenses. I think the silicone sealant is better, just leave the housing open during the curing process (24 hrs?) so that the out gassing doesn't impact the reflector or lens. I've done a lot of lamps over the years and the best luck I've had is with silicone.

Steve

I'm always using a transparent silicone and non-silicone sealants, zero problems!

Do you recommend same remedies for re-attaching glass to OEM fog lights?

Murphy's Law of b4s at work .... just when we are getting snowy and foggy weather, the glass on one of my fog-lights starts to separate.

LLL said:

I'm always using a transparent silicone and non-silicone sealants, zero problems!

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Problem with those is that while they seal well, if you want to take things apart again, instead of 5min. in the oven, you have to futz with all that cured sealant.

As for above question: no reason the previously discussed methods wouldn’t work with the fog lights I’m familiar with.

I would not trust the rope to hold on its own.

People with trailers have been using that tape for a while now. Just make sure you get adhesion.