Hello,

I am looking to buy the repair kit for my dipping headlights(Xenon ones), can anyone give me out a hand in picking the right one? Should I get them with the gears or without? I really want to fix it because it’s a nightmare at night to drive like this, and I really cant fix it using the screw option because it fells to unorthodox. Was thinking to do it myself if it’s easy to pull it off, but from what I understood I have to remove the front bumper.

 

HI
There usually forsale on ebay, just confirm with them they do for HID headlights
I took the bumper off, it does not take long, some people leave the lower fixing in, but did not want to stress the paint and its better off out the way
also disconnect the battery before you unplug the headlights or the self leveling will stop working and can only be reset with Jaguar ids/sdd or some later icarsofts
once headlights are out and partially stripped, pop them in the oven on about 80 deg C for 10 minutes, it softens the sealer between the lens and headlight and they come apart easy
same for putting them together, heat and they clip together easy and seal
cheers
Joe

 

Thank you kindly good Sir, I will order them on EBAY and hopefully they arrive om the shortest time possible.

Will keep you up to date once I manage to change them! Thanks again!

 

I'm not a big fan of the screw option either. It's butchering the headlight..
To add to Joedotcom's post:
Once lights are out, have a good look at the beam adjustment gears on yours, they may be okay and not need replacing. They will need lubricating.
The internal chrome surface will likely be very deteriorated, any finger marks will now likely be permanent. Handle these pieces very carefully or with clean gloves. Not really cleanable.
The internal glass lens in front of the xenon bulb will need cleaning as it will likely have a film on it.
Maybe wipe the xenon lens as well with alcohol as that will likely have a film on it as well. Do not touch this with your fingers.
The internal gears will need greasing after being replaced.
Clean the inside of the outer plastic lens as well.
Once reassembled have the outer plastic lens polished and resealed. You may be lucky and the outer lens plastic may not have any internal stress cracks like mine...
Since you're close to Poland, maybe check with the Polish manufactures/suppliers if they'd be prepared to release to us some new outer plastic lenses!




Non reparable outer plastic lens 'stress' cracks. Mainly caused by UV damage. Cars in high UV areas are more prone. Polish manufacturer either has no supplies or won't release lenses separately.

 

Thank you very much! I will give it first a go with our Polish Neighbours, maybe they have something in stock and I would end up getting them much cheaper, couldn’t find any sets in UK, found someone on EBAY who has the metal ones but he is from USA, no idea how fast it would arrive in Eastern Europe, ordered once a Air Mass Flow Meter for my dads XJ6 III 1984 from Cali and I was quite surprised to see it arrive in 10 days (payed like 65$ for the transportation auch). Quite hard living in Eastern Europe and having a Jaguar, I checked with my local dealer and he said 500€ to repair or 1000€ to replace (Dealerships in Romania are a rip off for a Jaguar lol)

 

All dealers in all countries are the same!
At least you're close to the source, not much fun paying crazy postage for items if you're in Australia..

It's the headlight front plastic lenses that are impossible to get that are made in Poland (not the repair kits).
You'd think there maybe a few new ones floating around still in Poland where they were made but I don't think the manufacturer will release them..
I therefore appeal to anyone in Poland to do a bit of detective work!

Eventually all plastic lenses get like mine with enough UV exposure.
Luckily the standard S-Type lights have the same front outer lenses. Without being able to buy just the lenses I've managed to find a good standard LH side light and looking for a good RH side. I will eventually change the lenses over from these.

 

The outer lenses were available at one time? First time I had heard of that.

 

i recently did the repair myself and managed to do it without any special tools or skills so you should be fine, only couple hints from my expieriance.

1) you need to take off the front bumper anyway so i chainged the bulbs while i was in there.

2) dont forget these screws on the sides (visible from the engine bay)

3) i was not brave enaught to use the oven (melting some plastic in it would end with me sleeping in the car for a long time) so a regular heat gun worked just fine

4) when taking out the reflector its attached in 3 places (some are probably broken) use the adjustments screws to move it araund and see where to apply presure. Be cereful as they are fragile and 1 of the fittings you need to slide to side to get off. Carfully look witch side and you should be fine.

 

Hope this helps and dont forget to put something under the bumper becose it will fall down and pull on the wire harness.

 

I recommend the steel adjusting ball version if you can get them. I replaced my gears too but they still stripped out when trying to adjust the headlight. BUT if you look it is a right angle drive on the gears and I was able to turn the shaft with a socket and that did adjust the head lights. Not as convenient as the factory setup for sure!

Heed the advise above about NOT touching the interior chrome. It's very soft at this late date and you will leave marks. Also the wiring inside the head light was cracked and very brittle. If you don't touch it you should be fine. I did and had to rig up some wires. The headlights run very warm on the inside I think.
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I had the insulation start to break up and crumble on the internal wiring in the headlamp assembly on a Mercedes E420 that I once owned. I used "Liquid Electrical Tape" to repair the breaks as vinyl electrical tape is not the way to go for this repair. Most liquid repair formulas have an upper head limit of 200 degrees, but "Star Brite Liquid Electrical Tape has an upper temp range of 275 degrees. A comparison review of this type of product can be found here:

https://rxmechanic.com/liquid-electrical-tape/

 

The best headlight repair kits have stainless steel ball joints molded into high-strength resin. They are made by a small company in Poland called Car-Lami. I ordered their 2-headlight repair kit with adjuster gears in March for less than $90*, but I am still waiting for it to arrive. (FedEx Tracking # says it finally arrived in the U.S. yesterday, ETA next week!)


You can find Car-Lami items on eBay. Or at least you could. I just checked eBay again and could not find them! (!?!??) I hope they are still around for your sake. They may not be happy with me because I gave them a less than stellar review for poor customer service since they never responded to my emails. The only reason I know the kit ever shipped was because of a FedEx notification---over 5 weeks after my order! Please let me know if you find them on eBay.

See if these links work for you. They show nothing for me, zero items. I have a hard time believing that they shutdown right after my order. I'm more inclined to believe I was blocked by that vendor.

https://www.ebay.com/usr/car-lami
https://www.ebay.com/sch/car-lami/m....1&_ipg=&_from=

*I paid around $90, but my money was refunded later in the process. Car-Lami posted that they had plenty in stock, but they waited over 3 weeks to share an unknown tracking number. Then eBay found that tracking # was invalid. So I contacted eBay to look into it, and they refunded my money--just before Car-Lami actually shipped it out 5 weeks later. So I'm getting my kit for FREE! I'll let you know when the kit finally arrives. I hope it isn't just a box of stale Polish crackers!

 

Yes those are the ones I used too. Very satisfied with the repair.
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I have that kit also. It appears to be good quality. I still have to install it.

 

Well, I finally received the kit last week. The components look stronger than the stock components with the metal ball joints, but they're a bit rougher too. Covered in sanding dust and silt. There are small chips missing in places, and the metal parts apparently did not set straight in the resin molds, so the vendor ground them down where the metal was protruding from what should have been flat surfaces.

Anyway, thinking that I need some spray lubricant upon assembly since the parts are chipped and rough. Will silicone spray work with this type of resin?


Complete, robust, but a chipped and a bit rough.

I hope the out-of-center holes don't affect assembly.



Gears are chipped and a bit ROUGH. What lube would work on resin?

 

just use the screw

 

I did use the screw, years ago. However, the factory plastic ball joint link inside the headlight has since broken and JAMMED inside the housing. So the headlight is now physically JAMMED in the DOWN position. The screw does nothing. This has also happened to quite a few people here. The "screw-fix" will only get you so far. Hence the purchase of the kit, like so many others.

 

Yes same thing here. I did the screw fix and it worked for several years. But as the plastic continues to age and decay it will eventually lead to further breakage. I just had no choice and used that as an excuse to remove the lens, replace all the bulbs, replace the adjusters and when assembled I polished then clear coated the headlights. The good thing about S-Type headlights is a DIY repair will leave them looking brand new.

I was surprised how much the HID bulbs had decayed over the years and how much brighter the new ones were. The old ones lasted great but slowly started to reduce output over the years. I just could not tell it was happening.
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I just installed this repair kit - also from Poland.
Very hard virtually unbreakable plastic and all fitted easily and perfectly.
I’ve gone from dropping headlights to fully functioning adjustable headlights. Im gobsmacked that the adjuster motors still work!

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/373183839022

 

Yes the adjuster motors never seem to go out and I can't remember anyone changing them either. Just those cheap plastic ball adjusters that always break!
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