Hello, I have a 2006 STR with a droopy front headlight. It shines down and wont move. Does anyone know how to correct the headlight. Thank you...

 

I think my thread from 3 month ago might be of help...:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...er-kit-263728/

 

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...-guides-41364/

Great resource for many common issues, including the dreaded headlights.

 

Seriously? "How to destroy those expensive headlights by forcing a ,massive woodscrew into the headlight from the front" is in the general HOW TO guide here?
I saw this rather silly approach somewhere, before I did my write-up of how to do it properly, and I actually mention this ridiculous approach in the first sentence of my write-up....
I could not believe anybody would do that.

It's kind of like "How to fix that huge rusty hole in the underbody of your car" - and the answer would be: Use cardboard and paint tar over it from both sides...

 

What kind of cardboard? Or what if you used that hollow plastic sheeting used for yard signs and architectural models?

 

Have to agree with Peter of Australia here 100%.
Please do not drill a hole in your headlight lenses.
There are many other posts with an effective fix avoiding screwing anything into the light.

 

@ jya: Thanks.
@ Karl: I hope you get the idea that that is, how you do not fix cars. I just happen to know a story from back then in Germany, where someone had a huge hole where the passenger's feet would be, and he fixed it with cardboard and tar and the TUEV (=MOT) did not notice and he passed. The trick is to drive a dirt road while the tar is still fresh... Then it looks genuine.

 

Dude, the guy asked for guidance and I provided a link to solutions other people have shared. There are countless how to threads; this is just one of many ways to mitigate the problem. Sometimes people need an easy solution until they can address down the road.

Did you also overlook the extensive list of other guides and how to threads? I provided a link to resources, not a link to a thread saying “you shall do this”. The OP can decide for themselves what they’d like to try. If you believe your guide should trump the others, ask a mod to add it to the list.

I don’t care if you’re a “senior member” with hundreds of posts. If you think we’re all a bunch of idiots “here”….then look elsewhere for answers.

Go ahead and rip me apart if you feel the need and report me. Tell me how I’m an orphan, desperately working to keep my hair, have struggled with mental health since I was 8 years old and an all around American scumbag trying to keep a life on a track with rotting wood and twisted rails. Don’t forget to mention how I don’t know anything about cars and am nothing more than a stupid, ignorant jerk who destroys anything I touch. I’ll take the punch to the face on behalf of the folks here who have been nice enough to share information.

Get off the cross pal, we need the wood.

 

Here Here LLLA, excellent post! Kudos to you sir! Extremely well stated.

 

Just a note: It is way way below my dignity to reply to that kind of pointless and destructive aggression, harassment and bullying posted above by LLLA.
Those uncontrolled and incoherent outbursts by LLLA are completely unacceptable.
And shame on joycesjag (who normally posts good stuff), too, for endorsing this kind of unethical, unacceptable and inappropriate behaviour.

 

Let's keep it civil, friends.

The merits and shortcomings of any given repair technique can be discussed calmly and intellectually. Anyone who can't participate without resorting to personal insults will face moderator action, which can include a temporary or permanent ban.

Cheers,

Don

 

After having created al lot of DIY Guides for X308, S-Type and X-type, which hopefully helped a lot of people, I decided to stop posting on this forum altogether, as LLLA decided somehow that it would be a great idea to harass and aggressively bully me on a personal level for trying to find a good technical solution for someone, who asked a question on this forum. It's not that I am getting paid here - so need for me to put up with that kind of bullying. It's just sad to see that 1 bully can wreck it for everyone.
I planned to do a DIY Guide for the catalytic converter swap on the X308 next - well...
I am not sure at this point, if or when I will write here something again. Sorry to all the others...

 

All the best, Peter.

Cheers,

Don

 

Point counterpoint

i didnt use the massive woodscrew technique. But I did use a variation of it.

on my 06 STR when the driver side headlight started to droop I got a small Phillip headed sheetmetal screw and filed down the pointy tip to a nice blunt rounded nose and i used that instead.

Worked like a charm. Took all of 20 minutes to do. And the screw sits underneath the black rubberized cover on the headlight so you can’t even see it when you look at the car. The head of the screw only projects about a quarter inch off the face of the headlight so it’s very inconspicuous

About a month ago my passenger side headlight did the droop so I did the same thing on that one. took me 10 minutes.

I wasn’t about to go putting my headlights in an oven to soften the glue and take them apart and hope nothing melted and hope nothing got lost and hope nothing got destroyed because when you start using heat to take glued plastic pieces apart things go bad real fast and once they do then youre SOL. I know my track record trying to fix broken plastic pieces and the risk was too great for me to attempt that extensive repair on those red STI headlights and I wasn’t about to ruin my STRHID headlights by melting them in the oven. the screw fix was quick easy, effective and pretty much invisible to the naked eye and if I ever wanted to remove it, the hole that I drilled is so small it is easily filled with plastic glue and you’ll never see it.

so dont knock the screw fix. It’s not like putting cardboard in arrested out floor pan. I wouldn’t even say it is as outrageous as using a street sign to fix your Reddit outlook and because the screw fix at least in my case is pretty much invisible.

 

Just briefly: I also would not put the headlights into an oven! I used a heat gun.
I also do not take offence (obviously) to anyone, who does the screw method.
I do however take offence to anyone attacking me personally, because I do not use the screw method.
Don pointed already out that the prevailing screw method is a you mention above.
The "woodscrew"-method, which I mentioned, is something I have seen on youtube (before I did it with a heat gun).
After that I was "cured".
And obviously, after putting any kind of screw in there, the leveling knob on the dashboard would be without function.

 

Aarcuda, fully agree with you in placing the whole assembly in the oven causing potential damage to its other internals.
I therefore avoided doing this.
All I did was place each light in the (Autum/Fall) sun for 20 or so minutes. Lenses wedged with a bit of elbow grease.
I posted my successful repair:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...-213464/page2/
Okay if you're in the middle of a European or USA winter its not going to work; just wait for summer.

Each to their own but I was never going to screw anything into the plastic, I'm a crazy fussy GenX and my OCD levels would have hit the roof LoL!

Peter, many of us look forward to your extremely helpful posts and advice old boy. Hang on in there.

 

Many times I have put headlamp assemblies in an oven set to 150°F / 66°C to dry internal water or condensation prior to sealing the lamp housing to cure a water ingress issue. I first rinse the interior of the lamp with denatured alcohol to help prevent water spots on the inside of the lenses, drain the alcohol, then set the lamp in the oven for an hour.

The melting temperature of the polycarbonate lenses is 567°F / 297°C, the melting temperature of the rear ABS housing is 446°F / 230°C. The melting points of Nylon electrical connectors and PVC automotive wiring insulation are in a similar range (typically 400°F / 204°C minimum). Putting a headlamp assembly in an oven set to 250°F / 121°C to soften the urethane sealant is unlikely to harm the lamp components in any way.

On the other hand, some heat guns are capable of emitting air as hot as 750°F / 399°C to 1,000°F / 538°C, so extra care must be taken not to concentrate on any single point of the headlamp too long and risk melting any plastic parts.

Cheers,

Don

 

Yes, obviously one has to be careful with a heat-gun in any regards. The heat from it is immense. Also: The metal tip gets very hot - do not burn your fingers, and don't rest the hot gun on wires or paper, which could potentially burn the house down... And just like you would not hold a hairdryer to your head to burn one spot, you just move it around quickly. Just to give an idea of what a heat gun can do: I have been melting old lead-weights from rims in an old pan just using the heat gun, and I filled a DIY casting mould with that lead. Which proofs Don's figures: Melting point of lead is: 327.5°C.
In regards of drying condensation I rely in the Australian sun...

> Peter, many of us look forward to your extremely helpful posts and advice old boy. Hang on in there.
@jya: Thanks jya, but for now I will take some time out, even if it is tempting to write something - like interestingly I just did again exactly the same as someone else in "What did you do to your X308 today": The LED bulb swap. And sadly, there is no other ACTIVE Jaguar Forum in this world...

 

all of my plastic adjusters in my headlights were brittle and broken so I bought a replacement kit for around $30 on Ebay. after that i took my headlights out, heated them at about 220f in the oven which allowed me to separate the lens from the plastic rear base and installed the new adjusters. I have done this several times and it really not that hard. Just look up reparing headlight adjusters on YouTube and you too can become YouTube certified in 10 easy steps