pronkie1 Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 (edited) Have cloudy headlights on the top portion of both of them...Contacted SOA and opened a case.. Dealer looked at it last week and will “try something “ to fix it on Monday afternoon...Got the extended warranty so covered either way.. Saw a 2015 Legacy today at the local post office and their headlights were worst than mine..They didn’t have extended warranty.. Edited August 23, 2020 by pronkie1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgeo13 Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 My passenger side is justttt started to get a little cloudy right on the top part...and I have a 2017. No extended warranty. It is what it is :/ cloudy headlights really ruin the look of a car in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pronkie1 Posted August 23, 2020 Author Share Posted August 23, 2020 My passenger side is justttt started to get a little cloudy right on the top part...and I have a 2017. No extended warranty. It is what it is :/ cloudy headlights really ruin the look of a car in my opinion. Agree but if you turn on your headlights yours are probably cloudy on the inside right where the headlights shine thru...Dealer did ask if I had replaced the headlights bulbs with aftermarket ones....I said no they're still the originals....It now becomes a safety issue as the headlights aren't bright enough with the cloudy problem.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aki334 Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 (edited) DRL are high beams which creates a lot of heat. There is a video how to disable DRL by disconnecting single connector under the driver's side headlight/battery. I did it on mine for the same exact reason to avoid burning up headlights from inside and experiencing what you are now. And I do not keep my headlight switch on AUTO, I keep it on "o" so I turn them on when I think is really needed not the sensor which turns them on at last 45 min earlier. Edited August 24, 2020 by aki334 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ammcinnis Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 DRL are high beams which creates a lot of heat. Yes and no. The DRLs are indeed implemented by operating the high beams at reduced power, but the heat load is minimal ... less than 1/2 of the heat generated by normal headlight operation. "If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there." ~ The Cheshire Cat (Alice in Wonderland) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncted Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 Just a thought: clouding on the top is possibly due to UV exposure, especially since it is on the top of the assembly. To avoid this, there are films and coatings you can add, but arguably, this should not be necessary. My wife's 2011 Forester has high beam DRLs, and there is no clouding of the headlight assembly, but she parks in a garage at home and at work, so UV exposure is very low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aki334 Posted August 25, 2020 Share Posted August 25, 2020 Just a thought: clouding on the top is possibly due to UV exposure, especially since it is on the top of the assembly. To avoid this, there are films and coatings you can add, but arguably, this should not be necessary. My wife's 2011 Forester has high beam DRLs, and there is no clouding of the headlight assembly, but she parks in a garage at home and at work, so UV exposure is very low. I agree a lot is from the sun, but also in closed headlight heat will rise up so you get the sandwich effect on a hot sunny day with DRLs on heating from inside and heat rising up and sun from outside hitting the top of the headlight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ammcinnis Posted August 25, 2020 Share Posted August 25, 2020 I agree a lot is from the sun, but also in closed headlight heat will rise up ... Ultraviolet radiation from the Sun is by far the dominant factor in headlight clouding vs. internal heat generation. This problem has been around since faired (i.e. streamlined) headlight assemblies became popular in the 1990s, and it's not unique to Subaru. UV-protective coatings can slow, but not eliminate, the process. Headlight fogging due to condensed moisture inside the housing is another, totally different problem that can affect faired headlight assemblies, but it's actually helped by the heat of headlight operation. "If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there." ~ The Cheshire Cat (Alice in Wonderland) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pronkie1 Posted August 26, 2020 Author Share Posted August 26, 2020 Got the Legacy back today.. They buffed the top corners of both headlights.. When I dropped off the car on Monday I had the headlights on and showed the headlights are cloudy on the inside..Service advisor saw it.. They didn’t do anything about that part.. Service advisor was off .. I talked to the service manager and he said all they were supposed to do is the tops..I showed him and he kept insisting they were suppose to do the tops only.. He would talk to his advisor Wednesday.. I called SOA and filed another complaint... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pronkie1 Posted August 27, 2020 Author Share Posted August 27, 2020 Dealer called and said regional rep was there Wednesday.. Declined to cover the headlights... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andros Posted August 27, 2020 Share Posted August 27, 2020 I had this same issue. It was probably my fault though... I left my car under 10ft+ of snow for a week and some moisture that got in and made it look cloudy. I just installed DD c-lights last weekend and cleaned in the inside lens before putting the lights back together. All good now but I would be a little irritated if I paid for the extended warranty and they didn't cover the headlight. Should do the c-light upgrade now though! I think it was well worth it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParetosFew Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 I actually came here looking for info on this issue for my 2015 Legacy. I'd like to do the DD C-lights but don't want to put them into these in their current condition, so might be looking for new headlights for that. I'm sure very frequent automatic car washes didn't help this any. Some pics... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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