Meridian Headlights Fogging from Inside

[JFBell]

I have a 2010 Itasca Meridian and the headlight lens, the plastic covering the whole front of the headlight, is getting dirty on the inside. Does anyone with a Meridian (2010,2011,2012) know if this lens comes off? It looks like it is held on with several tabs around the lens but may also be glued. I hate to think I would need to buy a new headlight just because the lens got too cloudy/dirty on the inside.
Thanks for any knowledge.
John

[Dogpatch]

What looks like dirty on the inside is likely UV deterioration on the outside on sealed plastic lenses. There are many products to re-new the lenses. The one I've used is by Meguiars with excellent success. It's a 3 step process and takes about 1/2 hour for each headlight.

Here's a link.
http://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-G3000...productDetails

Maybe a photo posted could help us determine.

[JFBell]

Thanks Dogpatch,
I have actually tried the Meguiars already. Perhaps the word 'fog' was a bad choice. The inside of the lens shows dirt streaks, as if water ran across a dusty surface. Also, I assume over time the plastic will fog on the inside as well as the outside so I would still like to know if the lens comes off.
Do you think Winnebago would know?
On top of that I need to figure out if I can get the bulbs out so that I can replace them with a brighter bulb...I have heard that is not easy either. Sometime today I will see if I can get a pic.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by JFBell

Thanks Dogpatch,
I have actually tried the Meguiars already. Perhaps the word 'fog' was a bad choice. The inside of the lens shows dirt streaks, as if water ran across a dusty surface. Also, I assume over time the plastic will fog on the inside as well as the outside so I would still like to know if the lens comes off.
Do you think Winnebago would know?
On top of that I need to figure out if I can get the bulbs out so that I can replace them with a brighter bulb...I have heard that is not easy either. Sometime today I will see if I can get a pic.

JFBell,
Well Sir, you're certainly not alone in this situation. Many, many RVers, car owners and more do experience UV deterioration of the plastic lenses of their vehicles. But, you're saying that, yours definitely looks like it's got "streaks" of some type on the inside? Well, that's kind of new one on me. But, worst things have happened I guess.

Now, you may have a couple of choices here. One, if possible, the bulb and socket come out from the rear, I have no idea if this is possible or not. Ours is an '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the C-7 330HP CAT and, it's headlights also get a bit fogged on the outside. But, I've not seen any possible issues with the interior portions.

Option two is, simply replace the entire assembly. Now, on our coach, the headlights are from a Nissan Pathfinder, (I think) and, if I were to look for Horizon headlights, I can find them on ebay at about, $220 a pair. But, if I look for Nissan Pathfinder headlights, they're brand new on ebay for, $60.00 A PAIR!! And bla, bla, bla, yeah, there are some on here that think they're not DOT approved. Well, to me, if they work and, fit, well, guess what, THEY'RE GOING TO BE PURCHASED AND INSTALLED!

But, I'd be amazed if yours are actually getting wet and or, streaking on the inside. And, one more thing, no, I've not seen any headlight in the last few decades that had the face of it removable. So, I'd find out what car your headlights were derived from and, head off to ebay to see if they can be purchased brand new for a reasonable price. Good luck.
Scott

[JFBell]

Fire Up
I think your solution is my better bet. With a new purchased headlight assembly I could see better how it is put together, which bolts I will need to pay attention to in order to remove/install and put a new light bulb in before doing the swap...which would be much easier in my lap than from under the MH.
Looks like they run around $80-$90 on the Internet.

Thanks a bunch for your insights.