ide check to see if theyre broken internally as this is more common than the leveling module loosing programming. If theyre ok try a hard reboot of the car with the battery. If still inop make sure the height sensors on the lower a arms are not broken or disonnected, then yes to the dealer to reprogram

 

One of my customers (I do odd jobs) told me that her head lights were droping and some mechanic did something to raise them for a little while. When I looked in there I seen a vacuum line or some other hose routed behind the bulb connector in an attempt to hold the lights up. I need to fix her trunk light (stays on) so I'll drop in a couple of screws while I'm at it.

Thanks for the tip, I'll tip you when I get paid.

 

Hold on, There's a rubber "hose" but it's not a vacuum line and doesn't (shouldn't!) support anything. I think it's to equalise air pressure or some such. It's just open ended.

 

he's reffering to putting a piece of rubber hose behind the high beam electrical connector on totally broken headlights that cant be fixed with a screw. Ive done this too as a totally broken headlight really flops and thats about all you can do short of replacement or buying all the pieces and rebuilding

 

Oh - sorry.

 

Yeah it actually works ok, about a 3/8" hose 4-6" long to slip behind the connector and give you at least something to shine down the road instead of the on the bumper

 

I think the mechanic stumbled across the hose fix and never knew of or tried the screw. I'm going to try the screw with it. Maybe it's not that bad.

 

In anticipation, I thanked Vance580 for his video on how to do this fix almost two years ago. Sure enough, as of this week, my right headlamp is now illuminating no higher than the private parts of a possum 5 yards down the road. I smell another screw fix coming up. Good grief, the "professional engineers" who originally designed this part should be hiding their faces in shame. The Western World is indeed going to hell in a hand-basket. Thank hevvins for a bit of western ingenuity in compensation.

 

Hiding their face in shame? It's called REPEAT BUSINESS. If it last more than 5 years and you like the car, you'll buy another set of lights to keep things good. Warranty gone and now you'll repurchase a set for your lovely car.

Actually there should be a RECALL on them because this is a SAFETY ISSUE (drivers not being able to see the road at night or driving around with high beams in an attempt to). Then everyone would get a free set of lights and Hella or whomever designed them would fix their flaw because of their loss.

I smell a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT coming. LOL Then all of the people that paid over the past few years would get their money back. Surely this is a lawyer on this site that can kick this off.

Ok, let me clearify this... Jaguar is the one the suit sould be targeted to. Not to be mean but, they are profiting the most. They are likely buying the lights from the manufacturer at a discount because they are buying bulk, then they are selling them back to the customer at retail or dealer mark up. Then they are charging the customer for the install and LIKELY NOT requiring the manufacturer to fix the design flaw that is creating this safety issue. Not fixing the design issue has and will continue the cycle.

I could be wrong, but it is just my thoughts. Again, thank you Brutal for the quick fix.

 

They won't be getting Hella to fix them for future production of the S-Type as the S-Type is no longer in production at all.

If this is just the cars with self-levelling, it's not a huge number and only some go bad. I'm wondering what the rules are about class actions...

 

Learned another new trick from Brutal!

Rubber hose under the connector. I like to fix things correctly but the cost of the HID lights makes that a very painful idea!

The internal adjuster repair kit on Ebay was also new to me. The list continues to pay dividends in knowledge!!
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While I was checking it out on making sure I do this correctly, I tried to clean up the exterior of the headlight with some over the counter cleaners intended for this and it seems the inside of the headlight is also somewhat dirty. It looks like the light can be taken apart to get at the inside but have not tried it. has anyone else? Or is it hard to do. If their is a thread on here talking about it, did not find it. thanks.

 

Stick it in the oven after you take off the rubber surround @150-170* for ten minutes to soften the urethane. Then do not get any urethane on the chrome as you pull it aparts(unlock the tabs too)and then try to clean, youll remove the chrome finish. Its thinner than a sheet of paper. When done just put back together, the urethane will reseal itself

 

Brutal,

Our 2005 S-Type does not have the self-leveling headlights (lucky me), but my wife's 2006 XK8 does. Is this an issue only for the S-Type, or does the XK8 suffer the same fate? If the XK8 headlights fail just as the S-Type headlights do, is the screw fix exactly the same?

Thanks for any information you can provide....

 

Thanks Brutal, really appreciate the help.

 

brutal got it dead-on... a few small embellishments:
1. don't need to remove radiator cover or rubber gasket ... just drill pilot hole (always drill a pilot hole) between protruding clear plastic piece and the rubber gasket
2. use a small diameter sheet metal screw (can always go up in screw size if/when plastic cracks or hole expands, but its really hard to make a hole smaller)
3. file sharp point off screw so it wont penetrate further than u want
thanks, again, brutal
drdan314

 

Thanks, worked great. I only needed 3/4 inch, guess it depends on how it breaks. It was pointing way too high with the 1" screw so I backed it out. What is that self-leveling routine about if it doesn't level the lights?

 

Is this for all S-type headlights or just the HID's?

 

HID only...

 

Halogen too, just people freak when they price new hids