MPChi

Hi all. I recently bought a used MP3 that came with a set of carbon fiber-look Altezza tailights. Both has some cloudy/fog marks on the inside of the clear plastic cover around the center area of the light. And I am pretty sure it was not caused by any impact from the outside, nor was any water got trapped in it. The car only has 3k miles, and the lights are in very new condition other than those marks from the inside. My question is, do these APC Altezzas melt quite easily due to the heat from the lights? I really like the look of the carbonfiber Altezzas on the yellow MP3. So I wouldn't mind if I have to get a new pair for my car as long as they don't get melted like the ones I have. I was hoping this is just a defected pair that the previous MP3 owner had got, but I really need you guys' imput to find out for sure.

Also, what is the general procedure in replacing the tailights in case I need to swap my OEM tailights back on when the my Altezzas melt really bad later on? Or if I get a new pair? What are the main components and screws I need to loosen up to take off the lights, without messing with areas that I don't need to? I don't need to take off the rear bumper, right?

Please help. And really appreciate any input. Thanks!

Witchdoktor

I have the carbon fiber APC ones on my 99LX. They do fog slightly but the red strip on the sides is what gets me. I never heard of them melting nor have I ever experienced melting with my chrome ones I had for about six months. I'm replacing mine with gunmetal rs.version.com taillights. There are some posts on this website about taking apart the housing to seal them better because the manufacturing of them suck aardvark nuts! I tried taking them apart with a hairdryer and knife but cracked the plastic. Didn't matter because the red strip is part of the out housing. The 99LX has three nuts that hold the lights from the inside of the trunk. Just pull out the plastic screw-locks and pull the lining to get to the nuts. The bulbs remain the same for stock and aftermarket.

MPChi

Thanks protege king. Very helpful stuff. So its bad sealant and moisture that causes those fog marks rather than overheated plastic. And I thought only heavy rain or very old lights would cause that problem. That's why I thought overheated plastic is more likely as plastic does look foggy when you heat it slightly too much. Hmm, I am wondering if there are any good ways to open up the Altezzas and reseal them? I did a couple search, but I couldn't find any practical solution other than baking the thing in an oven, which warped one of the guy's light by the way.

Appreciate any help.

Witchdoktor

your thinking is awesome! go about all your mods cautiously if you have a question about anything because there are ******* out there. some products look great in the magazines, but that's all they are. great on paper. some can cost you money on the top of the price of the product. APC indiglo gauges to be exact. The needles break everytime. Gauges $90 + $400 for a new cluster gauge unless you don't mind driving how much gas in the car, how fast your going, are you overheating? You get the pictur. All I'm asking is for a company to sell me a product the was it's advertised, or is that askin for too much?

BL_Protege

so with those altezzas, can you just seal it w/o opening it up? is that possible?

Witchdoktor

I don't know for sure, but seems logical to me.
BL - do your gauges go over the needles or did you remove them?

MPChi

Yeah. That really sucks. That's why I have been hanging out a lot on this board lately ever since I was pondering of getting an MP3. I didn't post much, but got tons of great info on the car, potential problems, mods, and parts. Yeah, and I do try to research quite a bit before spending my hard earned cash.

Luckily on these lights, I didn't have to spend extra money on as it came with the car. But I do want to get the most out of them without tossing them away. They do look good on the car, and made the MP3 even sportier compare to the OEM tailights. The OEMs are decent, but kind of plain for my taste. They also look quite similar to the tailights of older Accords and others. So I really like to keep the carbon Altezzas on, as long as I can save them from fogging all over....which seems to be a mighty task

Witchdoktor

I will see how these gunmetal taillights look next week, I'll probably post some pics. Do yours have the red strip on the sides. if you dd ever get rid of them, you can sell them on this website easily. most dealers are temporarily out of the carbon fiber ones right now.

MPChi

BL, from what I read from other threads, people say that its best to get some silicone sealant to seal the Altezza all the way around when you first bought it, before installing them on your car. That makes sense as it adds protection of any leakage. But if yours are already infected(fogged), I doubted if that would help as you are just trapping the moisture within the light. It may keep it from getting worse though.

MPChi

Oh, mine has the red strip on the side too. Didn't bother me that much though. May be because my car is yellow. I don't know. But I can imagine having just plain carbon fiber patterns on the side would look nice too.

BL_Protege

the 1st time i did it, i removed the needles. unforunately the fuel shaft broke off after a few tries, b/c at the time, i never though of the idea of letting it idle then putting it in. after realizing that i would have to spend $600 from mazda, or $400 through a friend, i was like damn was it worth it . i had it working and all, but w/o a fuel needle so i jus had 2 watch my miles and the fuel light to when i needed gas lol. so after like a month or two, i got lucky and found a cluster from a totaled P5 which was in good condition, i went down there n thank god they only charged me $80! once they gave it 2 me at this price, i was like there's no way i can take out the needles again. After I put em in though i missed the indiglos, i had the P5 amber lighting and all on the gauges. after reading the thread about indiglo gauges more, i realized they still work if you cut em, so i jus cut em up and put em on the new cluster and they worked! so beautiful. only downside are the cuts. but if u plan on doing this i suggest going with the cut idea, b/c even if you take out the needles, it's not going to be AS PRECISE as it was be4, even if it's close u kno. i dunno but i like things very precise lol. sorry to every1 b/c this is completely off thread but hope this helps for any future decisions you guys might make.

BL_Protege

mpchi, if it's not too much trouble can you post up a few pics of your carbon fibers, like side shots and up close n all that. i'd like to see where the fog is and all and how it looks with the fog in. i'm sure maybe other people would like to see also, but if it's not possible it's ok.

tester

The fogging is not caused by moisture, but by bad design. Once mine got spots (3 months in), I thought I would get rid of the moisture, so I used a hairdryer and blew some air in. When I finally realized that is was not moisture, I drilled a small hole and stuck a q-tip in there. To my surprise, I could not scrape off the white stuff that collected there. It seems like it is the plastic that is the problem.
I took some pics, will post soon.

Sure not happy with APC.

BL_Protege

doesn't APC have some kind of warranty or something on it? can't you complain? there's gotta be a way b/c i need these cf altezzas for my all black look lol

MPChi

BL, I probably can't post pics as I don't have a digi cam. But the fog marks are located at the edge of the clear plastic where it sticks out the most on the light, and curves in towards the trunk lid of the car. Height wise, its right in the middle of the light. They appear on the same spot on both left and right lights. They are about 2-3 inch tall and 3/4 inch wide. Not quite noticeable from driving distance, but you'll definitely see them when standing a 10-12 feet away. Since the quality of these lights are really questionable, it might be better for you to wait a little while before getting a pair of these...unfortunately.

Hmm..., so it is overheated plastic afterall? Interesting.