somedude

Hi folks.

I somehow managed to bust the inside high beam mirror while changing a bulb. For details, driver's side, high beam, on a 2002 C230 Kompressor coupe.
Something snapped as I was pushing the bulb in, trying to align it and now the mirror seems loose, only attached to one side, where the high and low beams mirrors seem to touch.
I can't see much inside, but the outer edge of the high beam mirror seems loose.

The question is, before I remove the headlight and bumper to get to it, will I be able to disassemble it and re-clip the mirror or glue it back in?
Do these units come apart? from the outside, they seem to have some locking tabs and I can see a black rubber gasket. But that may mean nothing if it's glued together.

Thanks for any clues.

samaritrey

They are sealed and you have to heat it to separate it as well as reseal it if you want to be sure you don't have issues in the future.

somedude

Thank you. That's what I was afraid of. Do you think I can use a heat gun without melting the heck out of the plastic housing? Or should I try to cut the seal around the lens with a sharp tool? Has anyone done anything like this? Am I better off trying the junk yard? Thanks again.

amanonfire

If you have the only ugly frosty headlights, you might be better off getting a single headlight from a junkyard or online for cheap.

Otherwise you can definitely use a heatgun to separate the lense from the headlight assembly. It actually works better to use a heat gun and go slowly around the edge.

somedude

Thanks very much guys. If the ugly frosty lenses are the OEM lenses, then that's what I have. Crap. I am so pissed. A simple freakin' bulb replacement...
Thanks for responding so promptly.

MW_ATL

Do some searching....if I get a chance I will look. There is a post about taking them apart somewhere. You have to heat the glue to open them up, and I believe it was Toyota that actually sells the sealer to replace the lenses. I believe the post was about modifying sedan headlights, but the techniques are the same.

That being said, the effort and all, and that you might not be able to fix it means you probably should look for a salvage one. Check http://www.pgauto.com/ , Potomac Auto, they usually have them. Sorry trouble making the hyperlink work on the iPad.

somedude

Thank you very much.

phister

Honda bond is the best!

somedude

SOLVED

After a lot of tinkering and scraping of my hands, I figured out what had happened and I am posting it for the benefit o some other knuckleheads like myself.
The mirrors are clipped onto the adjustment screw on top of the headlight. So when I tried to use brute force and ignorance to push the bulb in, I managed to push out the mirror from the adjustmnent screw's plastic joint.
After comparing with the other side and feeling it with my fingers, I was able to re-clip the adjuster into place and voila! - good as new.
Then I twisted the bulb holder back in and I am good to go. Luckily, I did all that before removing the bumper cover and heating the headlioght to take it apart.

Thank you all for your help.

WOO-HOO!!! as Homer would say.

xijonix

Great work! and thanks a lot for updating us on that.

somedude

I, for one, like closure. ;-)