Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Good day,

Can anyone tell me if you can get a Headlight lens for the 2002 Patrol, or do you have to buy the complete light?

Thanks
Paul

PaulvdMerwe wrote:Good day,

Can anyone tell me if you can get a Headlight lens for the 2002 Patrol, or do you have to buy the complete light?

Thanks
Paul

Paul,

I think buying a complete light might be easier. I currently have a hole in my front left hand lens. The lens is shot, but the base is OK. I managed to get a left hand light with a good lens and a broken base from Dawid Volschenck.

The thing is: the glue used on the lens makes it incredibly difficult to remove the lens from the base.

That said, I've got the good lens out from the broken base, and will be experimenting with removing the broken lens from the good base this weekend. I'm going to try using a mixture of boiling water / heat gun (and hold thumbs that I don't melt the plastic). I'll post how that goes next week.

Ian

Edit: PS I don't think it's possible to get a lens only from the dealers / part suppliers for this same reason. I think one will only get a complete light.

I have a hole in my right side lens. I don't even want to think what that lens will cost.

Put the head light in the oven. Oven should be at 100 degrees. The lens glue becomes soft en you can cut it with a knife.

A heat gun will also work to soften the glue. I have wven heard of someone that managed to do it with a hair dryer

Hi guys.

Thanks for the advice of hot to remove the lens.
Can you tell me where I can get a lens?
The dealerships only sell the complete light.

Hi Guys,

My lens was leaking - I had the whole light replaced. Was under R700.

Lean wrote:Hi Guys,

My lens was leaking - I had the whole light replaced. Was under R700.

Lean,

That is not a bad price. Where did you get the light ? Is it a genuine light or a "grey product" one ?

Ian

Give David Volskenk a call or a PM, I bought one a while back from him. Im sure he will at least have a damaged one of which you can use the lens

Michael wrote:Give David Volskenk a call or a PM, I bought one a while back from him. Im sure he will at least have a damaged one of which you can use the lens

Michael,

I got my "new" light fitting from David. I think it was the last left hand side one he had, and as mentioned, the base was damaged. He may have a right hand light. I'll forward David's contact details on to Paul if he does not have them.

A few notes, and then just a question (if you do not mind) :)

The issue is removing the lens from the body. I've gathered that it is quite some PT. However, after work yesterday, I did some experimentation.

1: The glue becomes very soft in hot water (not boiling - just hot water from the tap worked). I soaked the "new" lens in hot water for about 20 minutes. After that I could just pull off the last few bits of plastic (with a bit of effort). Obviously, this is probably going to be a little more PT with the complete light (I don't want to break my good base), but I think removing it in this way will work. I'll leave this task for the weekend.
2: Whilst it is relatively easy removing the lens from the base using hot water (after you remove the little metal clips), you still sit with a whole chunk of old glue on both the lens and the base. Acetone, or glue stripper, will work perfectly to remove this... But the issue is that it will probably also dissolve the plastic base (and I need to keep that intact). I've gathered that the glue does dissolve (slowly) in paint thinners as well. So what I did was to make a tinfoil bowl for the lens, put it in glue-side down, and put just enough thinners in to soften the glue. Leave it there for 15 minutes, and then use a thinners-soaked rag to remove the last vestiges of glue from the lens. It's a thankless / dirty / sticky job, but it seems to work.

I'll be experimenting with the full fitting (ie: my full light fitting and broken lens) this weekend.

Just one question Michael - do you have any idea what glue one can use to stick the lens back on with ?

The original is super sticky glue. I've got to find something substantial (and presumably fairly water-proof) as I don't want my lens rattling out sometime when I'm driving. Don't really trust the little metal clips on maintaining the weight of the lens. I think it needs a proper glue as well...

Ian

PS: Roelf forwarded me a contact number of someone who does this sort of work in Klerksdorp. I may just decide to take the fittings in to him...