Repair Headlights That Wont Adjust

[snoop]

After a small crash my headlights seem to have been knocked out of alignment from the force of the crash, but i couldnt seem to adjust them back to normal and they seem very very sloppy.

I have done a search for different ways to repair your headlights that wont adjust or headlights that seem loose inside the housing, i came across some topics and it was discussed a little but nothing ever came of it.

I got a few ideas from some some topics, like the oven idea and a heatgun idea, but no real step by step guide on how to do either (from what i could see)

So i thought why not give it a go myself.

This way might not be good for some, but i found it worked a treat in getting my headlights to adjust back to normal.

I went with the heatgun idea!

So lets hop to it!!

Tools needed - 

-Flat head screw driver (1x small 1x Larger)

-Maybe a chissle of somesort to pry with

-Small phillips screw driver.

-last but not least the Heat gun!

Remove the headlight from the car..wow really??

You will need to remove these clips from the light, 5 in total from memory?

This is where the small flathead comes in handy 

This screw is located on the parklight side and needs tobe removed.

This bit can be tricky, There is a little clip that must be pressed in, in order to remove the wiring plug and the globes so is not to damage with heatgun.(melt) once pressed it should slide off, but it is not easy, so be careful not to snap.

Time to use the heat gun!! heat along the highlighted area on both sides.

As it says this is where you will begin to pry the headlight open!!

Use the mounting point as it is strong and shouldnt warp/bend the plastic to much.

Once you get the top open you will have to work your way down the light and slowy pull apart, then heat, then pull, and repeat!

Should look a little like this, my headlights seemed very strong, but if your are brittle be very careful not to break/crack the housing.

But mine seemed to take alot of muscle to get them apart.

Once open you should see this. You'll need to remove the parklight surround to access the adjustment screw and elbow.

This is where the small phillips screwdriver comes in handy!! It's held by just the one screw and a little plug/clip thingy.

All that work just to get to here!! the picture says it all, and it takes 2 seconds to fix. But some maybe snapped/broken 

which means you've done all this for nothing and might aswell get a new headlight! But atleast you knnow right?

Just pop or screw the elbow joint back in place, If it has come unscrewed from the back of the light ad some glue before you rescrew and pop into place. (dont glue the rounded bit for the idiots just the thred)

If the adjustment screw had come out make sure you dont lose the little black peice, you'll know its out because there will be a rattle inside your headlight. SLide it back in and screw the blot back through. (hope all this makes sense?)

Location of the screws, somewhat similar on the other light.

Now time to put back together!! 

Rescrew your parker light back in place Else you'll haver to redo it all over again!!!

Then reheat the black sealent with the heatgun.

Slide the two peices together small end first!!

Just keep heating the black sealent as needed.

Push and re-heat the sealent as you go, then re-add the clips and the small screw at the parker light end.

then heat the outside of the light again to allow the clips to pull the headlight back together and so the sealent can 

spread around evenly again.

I found there was plenty of sealent on the light not to add anymore, but if you feel it is lacking in some areas then get ahold of the windscreen sealent or Black acrylic sealer and add where needed.

Hope this makes sense as i cant spell and gramma sucks but i hope you can understand it and i hope it helps!!

ta.

Lee.

[R33 Eddy]

just what i was looking for!!!

good guide.. will be giving this a go as i have water in my headlight that wont dry out

[Pezhead]

I had a similar problem but one of the adjuster mounting points broke. Here is the thread on how I fixed it with some 5 minute epoxy and a screw.

Headlight Fix