bhlm problems?

how many people actually have problems with their headlights after they do them? also do most people buy new sealant or just use the old sealant? im thinking about doing it but i wanna make sure i dont mess up and have moisture leaking in. thanks

 

whether or not i have any credibility in this area is up to you since i haven't done the mod yet. i have worked extensively on the headlights from my roommates saturn though.
i believe that most people use new sealant. if you do develope some moisture accumulation, an extra bead of silicone around the seam should take care of your problem

 

Always use new sealant. Very difficult to salvage the old one. Bead of silicone around the HL is a good idea, especially if the HL is already off the truck than have to de-install later.

 

what sealant would you use?

 

Now you've done it, you've opened this up to all kinds of opinions , and you'll get some on both sides, from "easy", to "PITA", to "easy, so anyone who has a messed up one is a putz". Given that, it's time for Mr. Putz to speak:

I tried the BHLM last year. Had to schedule it for a time when the wife wasn't around such that she didn't see what I was doing to her kitchen. The process itself wasn't too bad, given the threads that exist. Lights came apart reasonable easily, prepped the bezel, painted, and put it back together with existing sealant only (no silicone). Shortly after re-installing, it fogged up on me. Lived with it for awhile until I had the kitchen to myself for a day, then took them apart again, and put 'em back together real careful. Applied some silcone, it leaked into the housing and streaked down the lense, decided I was tired of jacking with it, and put them back in and ordered a set of BHLM-look eBay lights. Liked the look of the eBay lights, they stayed sealed (no fogging), but the light output wasn't as good as stock. Found a good price on a set of smoked stockers, and bought them. I like the black HLs better, but the smoked version is acceptable to me.

Now, if I had to do it over again, and I have considered it, I would acquire some automotive butyl tape (google it, search on here for a Nissan part number, etc.) and use more of that when re-assembling the lights, then also run a bead of silcone around the outside edge. Also, I would mask off the turn signal area of the reflector, as once that is painted the TS light is very dim, same thing with the side marker light.

Last thing to consider before you decide how far to go is where do you live? I am just off the Texas Gulf Coast, so humidity is always around. The level of fogging has to be affected by this, so I should have been very anal about leakage (no pun intended, ok maybe there was...). If I still lived in Montana, maybe not so much.

 

i had the same problem with the silicone running into my light when i used silicone on my first head light, my second i didnt put anything thing extra in it and its held fine for almost 3 months now. all i did was wrap it with a ratchet strap and hold it together real tight until it was cooled down from reheating it to reassemble. i redid my first headlight with this method and havent had a problem since with either of my headlights.

 

I have found on the Tacoma headlights that you will need to use silicon in addition to the factory sealant. It seems toyota went kinda light on the amount of sealant they used. Every other vehicle I have ever done the BHLM on didn't require additional sealant.

I ran a bead of clear silicon around mine and rubbed it into the grooves with my finger. Haven't had any condensation problems since.

 

Did mine a couple of months ago , put them back together with the heated factory sealant , clamped it for a while and reinstalled , so far....no problems

 

Quick question for everyone that did the BHLM? Did most of you guys just use flat black paint?

 

i just bought some on Neweggmall.com for $110, put some RTV clear around the seams and sold my OEM lights on here for 100. no cooking, no painting, no PITA. light beam is not as good as stock but good enough

 

i used krylon fusion in gloss black because i dont think they have a plastic flat black. or atleast they didnt have it at homedepot the day i picked up my paint

 

My first set on the truck I used some semi-gloss hi-temp paint I had laying around the garage.

After hitting the deer and having to replace the headlights because the stupid flimsy plastic brackets broke, I used krylon fusion semi-gloss black since I ran out of hi-temp black.

 

Oh okay thanks guy. I got some aftermarket BHLMs and I just might do the BHLM myself here pretty soon.

 

thanks guys.. i have 2 more questions... what kind of sealant did you use? also did the bhlm reduce any light output?

 

No light output loss. You are just painting the trim housing, HL not affected. Any flexible silicone sealant found at auto parts store will do..

 

my light beam sucks, I have finger prints inside of my lights, the black paint is chipping and pooling. I just bought new headlights.