Greetings. I recently pulled into my driveway and noticed that my right headlight points more upwards than my left headlight.

I took it to the mechanic and they said they would have to replace the entire housing (about $600) is there any other solution?
I took it apart and noticed a tiny plastic piece that appears to be snapped in half. Is there a way I could replace this piece?

Here is a picture of the issue.

Let me know the best/cheapest plan of action.
Websites to get a new housing or replacement plastic piece would be helpful.

~Kory

 

Kory, yes, this is a common problem with our cars. What you can do is to remove the headlight from the car and using some 2 part epoxy, glue the plastic pieces back together. I tend to help support it afterwards using some tie straps so the epoxy is not the sole weight baring item. It seems to be working on the cars I have done this too. if you need some more info on this, let me know.

 

Welcome to the club, I found out that mine where messed up or more like confirmed that they where broken when I took them off to put my HID kits, I am going to buy the adjusters that they sell on Ebay to fix this issue, I have to take down my bumper again to place HIDs on the Fogs.

But from all the reading that I've done in the forums, it looks like the sonly two solutions is the Ebay Fix or what Thermo just recommended.

Good luck

 

I just went through the process of fixing a headlight. The car was
in an accident but the headlight was not hit but the parts did break.
Here are some pictures;


Here is what I started with.






To reinforce the plastic parts I made some supports out of steel wire.



Then I covered them with JB Weld epoxy. Epoxy and probably any other
glue will not stick to this type of plastic very well. The glue will
stick to the steel wire and hold it all together.





One of the pieces broke
into too small of pieces so I made part of it in brass.



Then I covered the whole thing in epoxy putty. I found out that
the epoxy putty is not very strong after I did it and I would not
do it again.




These are the repaired parts put back in place. While snapping the
left one in I broke it again. The pieces that have broken are seriously
deteriated. The other plastic parts in the assembly remain strong.
They must have used a bad batch of plastic in the molding process.
You must hold the broken parts gently or they will break further.
After going through this I might consider fabracting entirely new
parts next time.




Here is the light assembly back in place. Next is to put the outer
cover on.



The outer cover is snapped back in place. Here is the butyl rubber
that I am going to use to seal the assembly again. I believe
that the original seal was butyl rubber and it is still soft and
plyable but it probably won't seal as well when reassembled.



Here is the completed job with the additional butyl seal.



I have been using the car for a few weeks not and so far, so good.
Clearly there is a manufacturing flaw here, the bad plastic parts
broke easily in my hand. They will break in relatively minor accidents.
The other white plastic parts in the assembly seem to be in very good
shape. Only these two parts break easily. They appear to have
a white powdery surface where the other white parts have a shiny
surface.

I hope this helps anyone who wants to embark on this project.

Pete.

 

Great stuff Jagger, one question how did you took the headlight assembly apart like that? Im close to getting the Ebay adjuster fix and I think if I take it apart like that it will make it a lot easier, and also I got some dead bugs inside I will like to clean up

thanks

 

The trick to seperating the two halves of the headlight unit is slow
steady force.

A lot of people who try it also break off the tabs that hold the
unit together. I used some sheet metal to slide under the tabs
while I was working on it. This lifted the tabs and prevented them
from snapping back together as I worked. The metal from tin cans
should work.

The adhesive that holds them togther seems to be butyl rubber
and remains gummy. The plastic halves are suprisingly tough.
I used two screwdrivers to pry open the seam. As I worked
with the screwdrivers I used a thin bladed knife to cut the buytl
by sliding it in the groove.

I worked my way around the unit making small progress each time.
I would wedge the two haves apart to protect the progress I had
made as I moved around the unit. Without the wedges it would
pop back together as I moved to the next section. Sliding nails
under the tabs worked for me. When the gap got large enough
I could use the nails to bridge the groove.

I had thought of using some solvent to soften the butyl but
decided against it because it might damage the plastic or
contaminate the reflector. However, that might be a good
way to go it some wants to experiment. It is possible
something like liquid soap would help with the buytl.
There is a lot of room for experimenting.

Pete.

 

I wish they mounted these projectors like normal headlights. Otherwise I'd take it apart and put better projectors in.

Is the off rotational alignment to do with the broken tabs as well?

 

I am not sure that I understand your question.

The headlight unit contains an inside adjustable unit that holds
the headlight bulbs. One adjuster screw moves this inside unit
left and right, the other adjuster screw moves the unit up and
down. The headlights are not independently adjustable. The
high beam and low beam are adjusted together.

The inside unit is held at three mounts, two of them adjustable.
The mount points are like ball joints allowing rotational movement.
It is the adjustable mounts that break. When that happens the
inside unit drops down inside the headlamp housing. Then it is
free to flop around since it is held by only one flexable mount.

I hope this answers your question,
Pete.

 

Thanks for the quick responses guys. I have finals this week so I can't work on the car yet.
When finals are over I'll order my HID's and work on my car and let you guys know how it goes.

~Kory

 

Is the problem with failing headlight mounting pieces more likely to happen with HID lights or are regular headlights just a likely? Do HID lights produce higher heat and is that heat baking the plastic mounting hardware?
================================================
Jaguar: Grace, Pace, and Space - Sir William Lyons

 

I think that heat is a deciding factor in the early breakdown of the polymer material - used for these Adjusters.

A more general purpose (food grade) Nylon wold most likely be more resistant.

For those who have adjusters that have broken into many pieces.... I suggest they totally replace the unit and not bother to attempt to repair the bits.

If anyone wants a CAD drawing to show the geometry from which to make new parts..... I've made a PDF - which is attached.

Good luck

 

I tried to open your attached PDF but it's apparently corrupted? I'm assuming you're using a Mac, right? Could you upload the PDF without zipping it?

Also, how do you attach the new adjusters to the assembly after you make them?

I have to fix my right side headlight but I haven't gotten to it yet. I was thinking of actually 3D printing these once I'm able to unzip the plans

 

I already tried to upload the PDF (unzipped) and it failed too ?

Anyways, I will try again here - OK ?

 

To attach the adjusters..... each adjuster has a base flange which fits into the corresponding slots of the headlight housing

 

Thanks Lcgi, that PDF worked.

Sounds easy enough as far as attaching the new parts to the old assembly. I'll get these drawn up in Autodesk Inventor and then 3D print them. Thanks for giving me an excuse to use one, those things are the coolest!

 

I don't think that heat was a cause of the breakdown of the plastic.
Other plastic parts seem to be just as strong as new. The mating
piece to the little ball joint is also a white plastic and it remains
strong. There is no evidence of heat discoloration in any plastic parts.

I think they were made with a bad lot of plastic that affected only
the two parts that break. To hold them gently in your hand and have
one break on you tells me just how degraded they are.

 

this thread was very helpful to me. I had to rebuild both headlights. i really appreciate jagger taking the time to post pics. thanks dude.

 

Hi,
I have been scanning the forum for information on the actual self leveling mechanism, between the stepper motor and the lens, I seen quite a lot about the pivots but so far I cant work out if the motor has a link that is prone to fail and if this part is included in the kits on ebay.
My motors just buzz and do not move the lens up/down sweep so I am thinking the linage may be broken.
I have a 2005 S-Type and the internal headlamp fittings seem to be the same as other models and just as prone to fail.

I would appreciate any information,

Stan

 

Hi,
I have been scanning the forum for information on the actual self leveling mechanism, between the stepper motor and the lens, I seen quite a lot about the pivots but so far I cant work out if the motor has a link that is prone to fail and if this part is included in the kits on ebay.
My motors just buzz and do not move the lens up/down sweep so I am thinking the linage may be broken.
I have a 2005 S-Type and the internal headlamp fittings seem to be the same as other models and just as prone to fail.

I would appreciate any information,

Stan

 

The pictures and description that I posted in this thread relate to the halogen headlights and not the auto-leveling HID headlights. I don't know how different they are or if the HID lights have the same problem with brittle plastic adjusters.