Tips for Proper Headlight Maintenance
The wintertime is the most important time of year for your headlights. The days are shorter and the odds of snow are much greater. If it’s dark or snowing outside—or both—you’ll need headlights that consistently work well, which is why headlight maintenance is so important.
Many people know about automotive care tips to prolong the life of their vehicle, but those usually have to do with the engine or the tires. What about the headlights? You don’t want to experience your LED headlights flickering during a long night drive or a snowstorm. With this in mind, here are some valuable headlight maintenance tips.
Inspect your headlights
A key first step of headlight maintenance is performing an inspection. You can quickly walk around your car with the headlights on and note if there’s any dimness or cloudiness in the headlights.
At this point, you can also check for LED headlight flicker. For the best results, you can have someone help you—either have them sit in the car and cycle your headlights on and off, or have them watch your headlights as you turn them on and off. Don’t forget to test your bright lights as well.
Clean your headlights yourself
If you’re someone with a penchant for DIY projects, you could try to clean your headlights yourself. Over time, headlights can grow foggy or cloudy. This happens because manufacturers cover the exterior of most headlights with a special UV protective film that can wear down or degrade over time. You can use either toothpaste or baking soda and vinegar to clean your headlights yourself, as there are multiple DIY guides online.
Clean your headlights with a restoration kit
Many companies sell headlight restoration kits that come with items you can use to sand off the cloudy exterior coating and polish the plastic underneath. For example, for $21, Sylvania sells a headlight restoration kit that was rated the best by Consumer Reports.
The process is six steps, and all the items in the kit can be used by hand. With this product and some elbow grease, you can achieve satisfactory and long-lasting results.
Replace your headlights in pairs
During an inspection or cleaning of your headlights, you may notice that one of them has gone out. While your instinct might be to simply replace the bulb that doesn’t work, you should actually replace both bulbs.
This is because the headlight that still works could be about to fail as well, and most replacement headlights come in packages of two. Replacing both headlights at once increases the chance that they’ll last the same amount of time.
Choose high-performance headlights
When replacing your headlights, you should strongly consider installing high-performance headlights.
These headlights work better at illuminating things on the road, giving you more time to react to them, which could make you and your passengers safer. Any additional cost is a small price to pay for this valuable peace of mind.
Call to schedule a headlight inspection today
Now that you know some headlight maintenance tips, you should be able to keep them in top shape. If you’re experiencing LED headlight flickering or any other deeper issues with your headlights, call the team at Glen Park Autoworks. We offer a vast array of auto repair services, ranging from oil changes to AC recharging. Get in touch today to schedule a service appointment.
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