Jagman.....pretty general statement. Not EVERYONE has had that problem although common. Dont come here just to hate. Stay with your Merc crew.

 

So Jagtech does that mean there's no way to make them stationary? I really don't want to spend 2800 on lights. I love the car but the lights mean nothing to me to be honest.

 

Put it this way, Iowned an STR for about 2 weeks before I dumped it bc of this problem seriously. I argued with Jag about the headlight problem where I bought my car from, I had to turn my car back in bc they said it wasnt covered under Select warranty and tried to charge me $2800 for brand new assemblies. I like the STR but the headlights were terrible, I couldnt drive at night either.Someone mentioned they have xenon headlights available on ebay. You should check there.

 

If it's what happened to me - here's the issue and the fix for making the light assembly stationary.

Open the hood...

Standing in front of the lights, pull the rubber sheathing back that sits between the low and high beams. Beneath that sheathing is clear plastic. Look through the plastic and you'll see where the adjustment screw (on the back of the light) interfaces with the internal adjustment/joint mechanism for the internal lamp assembly.

On mine, that intersecting point/joint was broken. The joint must have fatigued over bumps/adjustments and it is that joint that holds the internal light assembly level. With the joint broken - the assembly points down and flops. Turn the adjustment screw all you want - nothing is going to happen. If you're not sure the joint is broken, grab the back of the assembly (inside the engine bay) and move it up and down. If it moves freely - that internal joint is broken.

If that's your problem, here's the cheapo fix. You'll need:

A drill, a small diameter drill bit, a bolt that is slightly smaller in diameter than the drill bit, super glue and silicone sealant. Read below and you'll be able to determine the size bit and bolt when you look at the procedure. I used one of the little brass bolts that are segmented so you can break off bits to adjust the length.

It's a little uncomfortable but you’ve got nothing to lose because you're assembly is broken and you'll need a new one anyway if you screw up the procedure below.

In short, drill a small hole in that center plastic beneath the rubber sheathing. The drill bit needs to be only a miniscule larger than the bolt you will eventually insert in that hole. The hole needs to be perpendicular to the internal assembly so that the bolt will "push" assembly up and level.

I then took a thin piece of coat hanger wire and put it into the hole until it pushed the internal lamp assembly up to the proper angle. I marked the wire for length and then cut a small diameter bolt down to the length of the wire you measured.

Then insert the bolt through the drilled hole, hold it flush against the hole and make sure you're good with the leveling of the light. If so, super glue the bolt against the hole, seal with silicone to keep moisture out, and put the rubber sheathing in place.

It also helped that I had the driver's side assembly properly aligned, which enabled me to determine the proper level for the borken assembly.

Leveling still works on start-up and mine has held perfect for 15K.

If you need pictures let me know.

Best,
Eric

 

During your bolt insertion, why not put a little silicone/sealant on the end of the bolt, so that it permenantly adheres to the assembly, and won't bounce up on those hard bumps.

For that matter, why not also put a nut glued to atop the hole, that way, you can 'adjust' the bolt as necessary. One of those nuts with the plastic in it for more permenant adjustments. ??

 

Hi,

Not sure if the link below is working but I did post a message earlier on how I repaired mine.
It requires a bit more work but the lights are fully adjustable and much stronger than the original plastic bits.

Someone proposed to block the internal reflector using the hose which is in top of the assembly and pushing it inside under the reflector. Obviously, it may not be that secure so that you can take the speed humps as usual...


https://www.jaguarforums.com/m_43066..._3/key_/tm.htm

HP

 

Well, sure it does not work, it should be this:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/m_36713/tm.htm

HP

 

H2OBoy,
If I had been a little smarter I would have thought of your suggestions. If the "other" side ever breaks, you can be sure your suggestions will be included.

Overall - this is a very elegant, simple, and long term fix for what is a very exepnsive part/repair.

Best,
Eric

 

Embassure, my passenger side light sounds exactly like what you're talking about. When I grab the back of the brights and move it up and down both of the lights moved up and down freely. I can see exactly how you did what you did and it looks like it will be easy.

The driver side is different though. When I move the back of the brights it doesn't really move and the little it does just moves the bright and not the other.(neither of them are really moving). What the heck does this mean? The driver side points down more than the passenger side.

 

The motor is driving it down on that side.

 

FactoryJagTech, is there a homeade fix for that?

 

RB,
Nothing re: your comment about the driver's side rings a bell.

Re: your passenger side - have you actually seen the internal joint where the engine side light adjustment connects? If so, just confirm that the joint on the driver's side is not broken. If it's not broken - your guess is as good as mine.

I'll ask just to be safe but you have tried a manual adjustment using the two adjusting screws, correct? I believe the one closest to side of the car controls vertical and the other controls horizontal.

One last thought, maybe the auto leveling is not adjusting and/or it adjusting down and is pulling the light with it? If so (and if you're out of options) I would consider trying to break the internal joint (don't know how to do that though) and then to do the "fix". If the dealer won't fix under warranty or you don't want to pay $ for the fix - I'm not sure what you have to lose.

Finally, for adjusting the lights and I can not document where I saw this on the internet but the headlight's "hot spot" should shine at the same height and horizontal position 25 feet from the car onto a wall. Obviously you'll need a level surface.

I measured from the ground to the center of the low beam light and then marked that height on the wall. I then measured from the center of the car to the center of the low beam light. Once I marked off 25' from the wall and moved the car, I then attempted to determine the center of the wall relative to the center of the car and then marked the wall with the horizontal alignment and moved the vertical mark to intersect. I then vertically leveled the light to that mark and used the screw adjustment for the horizontal alignment. Is it a perfect alignment? Hell, who knows but it works for me and no one has flashed their brights. I can only assume the "high beams" are in fixed alignment with the lows. If they have a separate adjustment, I don't know where it is.

Good luck,
Eric

 

Ok, left side fixed with what Embassured did to his.

The right side-(I hope I can describe this but who knows) The adjustment screw does work but here's the problem. The light is too far forward and it hits the bottom when I start adjusting it up. When you move the light the bottom part that moves with it(I'll call it the bra of the actual light) hits the part of the assembly that is stationary so it can go any further up. It looks like my the light(the whole part thatyou can adjust)has been pushed forward within the whole thing. I'm so bad at describing things. If nobody understands, maybe i'll take a picture and label it.