[Frost__2001]

I don't know if I'm the first but, has anyone had this problem occurring with their hella lights yet ?

I noticed under the last 3 extreme cold days that my high beam lense cracked after I was dusting off the snow off the car before work one morning, and then cracked again in a cross pattern when I got home.

Odd thing they are not leaking, the are not shattered, they still work ( sorta ) and the glass is still smooth to the touch.

[Penwraith]

"Ouch!" ;)
Lens are they glass or plastic? Hella
is a good name you should find out if there
might be a recall to fix this problem.

You are positive that nothing hitting it and after some time cracking like a windshield.
The one thing I didn't like about those lights was thier exposure to road crap.

[darkpuppet]

wow..first time I've seen hellas crack.

They've been nothing but trouble for ya..

I've driven 15+ hours straight in -46 to -50C weather, and never had a problem, other than ice buildup that had to be washed off at every gas stop.

[ANTHONYD]

I would look to see if the dealer can help you.

You never know.

[hardk0re]

Must have been a rock smaking against them......but that is the first time I heard of hella's cracking. Maybe due to the fact that they cost an arm and a leg if you send that photo to hella they may just send you another lens for free....

[Flofocus]

Not just one, but two.

If you have the receipt for them, I would contact Hella about it. Must be something wrong for both of them to go, or a rock...

[Raine]

Of course never mention a rock to hella. Play up on the extreme cold. Glass has been known to shatter in cold weather... no reason they wouldn't believe you. Good luck, they shoudl take care of you. I doubt they'd stake their reputation on what for them is a $5 - $10 part

[ANTHONYD]

Yeah. Definately let hella know.

[S2]

I would check with Sascha at http://www.european-parts.net and see if they can do anything for ya.

[guilty]

I dont know about Ontario's "extreme cold" days, but hella products should outlast any weather condition thrown at them.. You should contact Hella, see if they have a customer service line or something and see what they say.

If you cant get anything from them directly, maybe talk to Voytek from bosseuroparts.com since he's a Hella retailer so he's had experience dealing with them (I think Voytek is still in Europe, but you should be able to email him).

[Frost__2001]

I will admit that I didn't crack them with a stone or the plug waving in the wind at highways speeds.


I hit something the size of a small coffee table on the way to work on day with the bumper and that was before the lights went out the second time, and the ice / snow I hit, hit the air dam not the lights itself. When I did notice the first crack was when the windchill and temp. hit - 28C ( - 36C with the wind chill ) and I went to get air for the tires I heard a pop noise when I started the car up. that was on December 27th, 3 days later the lights went out and have not come back on since so I've been using the HIgh beams for lights since.

The second crack occured on the 17th when the weather hit the same degree mark, and the crack is in the same angle of the first one on the low beam light, then last week on the last day of the extreme weather I was dusting off the car, turned the lights on went around the car a few times ( high beams on ) I heard the pop noise again...

went to the front of the car to find out where it came from looked down to see the cross on the high beam now. The high beam still works, so dose the bulb and I did mention this to Hella when I e-mailed them for the guide to remove / install the light kit and I got this responce :

Dear Philip,

All of our lenses are tempered (glass). However, no matter how tempered
glass is, if it gets cold enough, it WILL break. That is really inevitable
unfortunately.

We do not offer just a lens. If a lens should break, like yours did, you
will have to purchase an entire 90mm headlamp. If you have a halogen high
beam, you need part number 68136. If you have Xenon high beams, you need
part number 68140. You can purchase either of these parts from a company
called PUMA. Their telephone number is 1-800-354-3552.

Thank you!

********PLEASE INCLUDE ALL PREVIOUS CONVERSATIONS WHEN REPLYING*********

Scott Kornhaus
Consumer Support Rep.

Hella, Inc.
201 Kelly Drive
P.O. Box 2665
Peachtree City, GA 30269
1-877-224-3552 (Toll Free)
1-770-631-7556 (Direct Extension)
1-770-631-7575 (Fax)
1-800-631-7575 (Toll Free Fax)
scott.kornhaus@hinc.hella.com

http://www.hellausa.com
http://www.hellausa.com/optilux


I'm still wanting to remve the light and when I went over the instructions I found out that the person(s) who installed them fused the lights to the ford wires, and well I can't switch them back with out the plugs for the back of the standard focus lights. Odd thing though it this only occured on the driver's side of the car, the other side is completely normal looking.

again any suggestions ? I want to remove these lights at this point, since I've had continual problems with them. can anyone help me with that, - to go back to stock ?

[guilty]

If they cut the stock harness out and wired it directly to your headlight, you'll need to find yourself another harness (like snip one off of a wrecked car probably) and wire it back up to the stock wires..

I'm not sure what kind of harness the Hella projectors use, I thought they were more plug and play since I hadnt heard of anyone having to use additional harnesses (like the VW harness you need for the mach/02 euro headlights).

[natasha]

I personally haven't had that happen to me, but when I first got my headlights I wanted to put in different bulbs. The installer told me not to put them in as the higher bulb temp. would cause the lense to crack. He told me that his had cracked before. I think I still have all the wiring from my stock headlights somewhere. I'll let you know.
Natasha

[Chromey]

My Head lights cracked too.

Cold day, Just got home from work.

The wife tells me to go to the store for something before i get outa the car, She runs in the house to Get cash, I took a look at my Headlights.

They were very dirty so i got a little washer fluid and sprayed it on the lense...
The Headlights where still on when i did this, It Crack in 2 spots.

Hot bulb and Cold washer fluid make short work of the lense.

Mine are not Hellas thank god But im sure this would happen to them all.

My Lenses are 3/8" thick glass.