Summer is around the corner, and it’s only a matter of time before the cooler and cozy weather you have been enjoying fades into a hot and scorching temperature filled with dust, heat, and traffic.
This change is natural and inevitable, but it can take a toll on your vehicle, especially your car headlights. If you are using a LED headlight, the prolonged heat, dry air, and hot roads that come during summer can significantly reduce the lifespan of your headlights. LED headlights have been known to generate lower heat than most Halogen headlights. The lower heat generated within the headlight component and the higher temperature during summer will lead to an increased junction temperature, which in turn leads to a faster degradation rate of the LED elements.
Thus, resulting in an irreversible decreased light output from the LED headlights over time and even after summer.
Although this is very common among headlights with low internal heat generation, your regular tungsten headlight or halogen headlight can also be affected during summer.
However, to prevent your car headlights from degrading or having a yellowed discoloration this summer, check out our guide below: on how to prepare your car headlights for the summer, you can also protect your headlights using a headlight UV protection or headlight restoration kits to beat the odds of having a yellowed headlight discoloration caused by air pollution, air grits, and Sun Rays – which is common during summer.
DIY tips on how to prepare your Car headlights this summer
First things, first! Before you hit the road this summer, make sure your headlights, indicators, and brake lights are in perfect condition and working order.
Summer has a way of amplifying an existing car issue that you may not have noticed.
So, if you test your headlights and they appear dim, distorted, or broken, then you should consider restoring or replacing them.
To do it yourself, follow the simple tips below.
Replace your dimmed bulbs before damage:
Headlight bulbs like every other bulb will degrade and burnout or become dimmed over time. However, before then, there are usually warning signs you should watch out for before it becomes late and burnout while you are driving on the road.
Signs like flickering and dimmed headlight output can occur as a result of worn-out bulb filaments or a faulty battery connection.
If this is the situation of your headlights, we recommend that you replace your existing headlight bulbs with new ones to enable your car to emit a brighter light during the night or by day on the dusty, rural, mountain or narrow curved roads that require you turn on your headlights to enable other drivers to spot your car to avoid a collision.
But, if you had just changed your headlight bulbs and the flickering persists, you can check your battery terminals for a loose connection.
If that doesn’t solve it, we recommend that you take your vehicle to a good auto repair store for inspection.
Replace the entire headlight bulbs:
It’s a common practice among motorists to change only the exact faulty headlight bulb of their vehicle.
This isn’t best practice because the combination of both the new and the old bulbs will result in an uneven emission of light from your car headlights.
Thereby creating distractions and posing serious road safety risks for both the driver and other road users.
For example, from the driver’s view, the uneven light emitting from each headlight could make the road ahead not to be very clear, and that can make it difficult for the driver to dodge road obstacles like potholes.
Furthermore, it can cause other oncoming drivers to mistake the vehicle for a motorcycle. When replacing your headlight bulbs, we recommend that you replace them in pairs to enable your car headlights to project the full strength of its light like it once did when you got the car newly.
Use a headlight restoration kit:
Sometimes, it is not the bulb of your car headlight that causes the low light emission that makes it difficult for you to see farther while driving at night.
It could be that your polycarbonate plastic headlight lens is discolored due to its overexposure to sunlight. Don’t be alarmed! This is completely normal, especially after winter. To restore your headlight to its original state and prepare for the summer, consider using a DIY headlight restoration kit to remove the yellowed discoloration or foggy appearance on your plastic headlights.
This will save you a lot of money as compared to hiring a professional technician and will guarantee a result of your taste because you will only need to stop when you are satisfied with the results of your headlight restoration.
A good restoration kit like CLT Headlight Restoration comes with a clear user manual/instruction to guide you throughout the restoration process for maximum results. Furthermore, it also comes with an extra headlight UV protection coating that protects your car headlights from UV ray damage, grits, and air pollution.
Upgrade your car headlights:
Your car headlights are like the eyes of your vehicle, and brighter eyes mean father down road visibility and better night drive.
As we have seen above, summer causes car headlights to degrade faster than winter due to its increased hot weather condition.
To prepare your car headlights for the coming summer, if after you must have replaced your headlight bulbs and restored your polycarbonate plastic headlight and still experience poor nighttime visibility, then you should consider upgrading your headlights.
Headlights have come a long way since the introduction of the original Tungsten filament light to the halogen light bulb in the early 60s and HID headlamp in the early 90s.
With newer and innovative headlights like LEDs being introduced in the market, you can decide to opt-in for an upgrade to give your car a modern look, and better headlights beam.
Aside from the better look, better beam, and farther down road visibility that comes with upgraded headlights, you will also enjoy the durable headlight UV protection that comes with each headlight, and you wouldn’t have to worry about headlight restoration or changing your headlight UV protection coating for a long time even during summer.
Final thoughts
Car headlights are drivers’ first line of defense, and you must maintain it as you would your engine, brake oil, power steering oil, and water level, etc.
If you are planning a getaway or holiday this summer and your headlights look foggy, check out our previous article on how to clean your headlight at home to enable you to have a crystal clear headlight before leaving your home.
If you need more advice on how to maintain your car plastic headlights and rear lights, our blog is packed with useful information that would help you take care of your vehicle and enjoy it while you do it.
