Melted Bumper

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osmoalec

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Hi,

So I have an 03 Lincoln LS and I tinted the lower half of my tail lights. It looked really good, and when I went to go put my led bulbs in I realised I had melted my rear bumper and tail light. I knew it was problem hence why I bought led bulbs I'm just pissed it happened right before I went to change my bulbs. The tail light I'm not too concerned about because I have a spare, but my real question is if I can get my bumper to go back to normal? I've popped out dents before on plastic bumpers, but wasn't sure if the sinking of the plastic has completely ruined the integrity of the plastic.

Thanks
 
20151026_112235.jpg

20151026_112235.jpg
 
You sure the bulbs caused the problem? Not the exhaust or something? That's a major flaw that should never happen on stock lights with stock bulbs... Especially not little brake bulbs.
 
It would take a LOT of heat to cause that type of distortion, was it on both sides or just one? You might want to poke around and make sure it isn't being caused by something else.
 
this may be just me, but I dont think there is any way the rear lights caused that bumper damage, no matter how dark they were tinted...

I would expect the tail light to turn into a puddle of melted plastic before the bumper got damaged.
 
1LoudLS said:
this may be just me, but I dont think there is any way the rear lights caused that bumper damage, no matter how dark they were tinted...

I would expect the tail light to turn into a puddle of melted plastic before the bumper got damaged.
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^^^what he said. In other words, how the fawk did bumper melt from tinting tails ? I've never ever seen that before ( ? )
 
The reason I assumed was tail lights was cause I have seen other people tail lights melt. I also switch my dial to 3rd setting over so my tail lights were on, while driving for about 1hr 40 mins. Also the under side of the lamp is distorted as well so just automatically assumed was light bulbs. It wwas just the one side which kind of confused me. I don't see it being my exhaust because it's cut of just in front of rear tires and was driving 100km + majority of the time. Maybe I'll look in and around the area a little harder again but I couldn't see anything.
 
but with driving, there should be plenty of air moving around to remove heat, I could maybe understand the lenses getting a little distorted but it definitely shouldn't have been able to reach the bumper, at least that far out.



I've driven hours in 110+ Arizona and Texas sun/heat with my tinted tail (which I've had for about 7 years) with the OEM bulbs (only rear tails I've switched to LED are the turn signals) and have yet to have any distortion to the lenses
 
osmoalec said:
The reason I assumed was tail lights was cause I have seen other people tail lights melt. I also switch my dial to 3rd setting over so my tail lights were on, while driving for about 1hr 40 mins. Also the under side of the lamp is distorted as well so just automatically assumed was light bulbs. It wwas just the one side which kind of confused me. I don't see it being my exhaust because it's cut of just in front of rear tires and was driving 100km + majority of the time. Maybe I'll look in and around the area a little harder again but I couldn't see anything.
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This is the answer, why would you ever have your exhaust cut off in the center of the car?
 
holly F how did i miss that... Uh yeah... thats not going to work on this car... how long ago did you do that!?!?!
 
I the exhaust just before the summer, so it's been a few months which is why I didn't really consider the exhaust being an issue immediately
 
hmmm.. well i still say put bulbs back in and turn them on... see what happens.
 
I might try taking a temperature as yiu had suggested. It just seems so odd that it'd happen
 
It is the exhaust dude, it has nothing to do with the bulbs- yes the incandescent bulbs will melt the lens slightly, but this is very mild. Your damage is a large heat source for a long period of time.

And you said you drove for almost 2 hours straight when you noticed it. Your exhaust is very hot, and it is building up in the corner(s) of the rear bumper, the points of melting in your photo are exactly where the heat would be forced out @ speed. The little plastic corner inserts and the taillight/trunk/bumper seam. The reason the taillight looks like the culprit, is because the taillight is blocking most of the heat escape. These bumpers have no venting for air underneath the car to escape from, so it will force out of the confined spaces exactly where yours did.
 
osmoalec said:
Looks like might be piping it out the back again...
Click to expand...

I don't get why you would even not in the first place... just imagine all of the exhaust gases that could be pulled in to the cars cabin from them collecting in areas under the car. like where there are vents in the trunk in one of those areas.
 
1LoudLS said:
I don't get why you would even not in the first place... just imagine all of the exhaust gases that could be pulled in to the cars cabin from them collecting in areas under the car. like where there are vents in the trunk in one of those areas.
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There are two vents, one at the lower back of each side of the trunk. (Very close to where the bumper cover was melted...)
 
To add to why it's a particularly bad idea on the LS (and really most other modern cars) is that the rear bumper is practically designed like a hovercraft skirt. It's big, it's vertical, it's deep, and catches lots of air while driving. Or like a parachute. Or like an open pickup bed.

The high-speed LS drivers/modifiers QuikLS and cammerfe both added body pans under the car. I'm sure cammerfe (current LS owner, land speed record holder) would agree that the back bumper creates at lest as much drag under the car as the rest of the car. QuikLS (former owner), who supercharged his LS, said that driving at 130+ actually popped some reverse parking sensors out due to all the air that was forced into the bumper cover. The underbody pan fixed that.
 
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