Headlight gasket/seal

[PHO2GR4]

Mine are missing, too. I've considered buying replacement gaskets and trying to glue them into place, but I'm starting to wonder if they are really necessary.

Anybody?

ARE they necessary? If so, why? If I just ignore them, will my VX explode? I'd hate for my VX to explode just because I was too lazy to get headlight gaskets.

[Pghachey]

Mine were missing when I bought my VX last January,2006. I drove almost nine months without them, but last fall I went to O'Reilly's (it may have been AutoZone, can't remember). I looked in the area where they stock window vent deflectors and bug deflectors and found a package of black soft rubber-like 1/4" or 3/8" round gasket material. It has double stick tape on one side of it and looks like it could be used in a number of different applications. I cut it into strips of about 20" and worked it around the headlight next to body to prevent any air or water to penetrate. You have to be careful because it is very soft and pliable and tears easily if you use a sharp object to squeeze it in the tight spaces. The first section wound up with a few holes, but I had enough material I re-installed it and it looks great. I'm happy I did it as I could see where water had entered the engine compartment around the headlights. No damage but hard to keep it clean. I hope this helps. Sorry I don't have any pictures, but it isn't that difficult and it's relatively cheap at about $10.00 for the package of material.

Paul

[WormGod]

My new fix was high adhesive 3M 2sided tape. It has worked excellent since I did it last year and is still as solid as can be. It's the same weatherstrip adhesive tape used for automobile moulding and can be found at most hardware and automotive parts suppliers. I had to trim it down to make it thinner strips, but it was well worth the little added elbow work.

[Zorak]

As someone who has purchased (2) of the original equipment headlight gaskets, I can tell you that they are very pricey for what is basically two strips of rubber, that seem to like to become detached from the headlights rather easily anyway.

Unless you are concerned with 100% originality, I would go with one of the solutions described above, or in other threads on this topic. I know that if mine ever fly off again, I am not going to bother with the factory replacements...

[Thejerseyfish]

To ease some concerns, I've had my VX for about 6 years now. Almost as soon as I bought it the gaskets started coming loose. The main problem I had was in the, (if looking at the front of the car, the inner part of the headlight where the hood covers it), part of the gasket. On both lights they came loose, eventually I cut off just this portion of the gasket since a peice of it broke loose and started flapping around. I drove like this up till last month when my VX was hit and needed to get the whole front end completely redone. I never had any sort of problem whatsoever, so no your car is not going to blow up. I live in a pretty far ranging climate too, with weather ranging from extreme heat to extreme cold and snow.
The body shop did replace the headlamps totally and did put in new gaskets but what they used I have no idea, don't know if they are original spec equipment or not. So far so good though, knock on wood.
Hopefully this alleviates some fears.

[Joe Isuzu]

OK, it seems like I am one of a very few number of people who actually got the OEM h/lamp protective strips. I felt like an idiot when I got them as I couldn't figure out how they were supposed to fit. There were only little remanants of rubber left on my headlamps when I got the car so I had nothing to reference. I assumed that I would just get 2-3' length of rubber with an adhesive back. Instead I got one side with little crocodile teeth on it, one side that was a little different, and a third that was slightly different still. I felt like an idiot for not knowing how they correctly fit, but figured I'd put them on and pray for the best. I know I should have written the forum but I figured it couldn't be that hard to figure out. Well, they're on now but I guess until I see another VX driving around I will have no idea if they're on correct or not. It's better to go AM on this one, I will do so in the future myself.

[Chopper]

Hey, Joe... the flat cut ends, meet near the center, on the bottom edge of the headlight. Drop the cladding first. Once you line it up, the gator teeth make sense... they allow the bends, without binding.