Headlamp unit. Has anyone opened one up the to fix an issue?

Hi,

My car failed the MOT for having water inside the drivers headlamp.

So I opened it up and attempted to remove the water etc.

I also noticed that the Indicator bulb had deteriorated, and the coloured coating had come off.

But when I put it back in, the holder inside the unit came away and is now floating inside.

I was wondering what to do.

1. Get a replacement indicator bulb and somehow try to fix the floating holder?
2. Remove the headlight unit, and if possible attempt to perform a more permanent repair by opening the unit up?

I was just wondering if the latter is possible. Or should I just attempt option 1, and replace the entire unit if that fails?

Thanks

Hi midiman

midiman wrote:My car failed the MOT for having water inside the drivers headlamp.

No need to do too much work to clear the water from the headlights, there is a topic that covers it here.

midiman wrote:I also noticed that the Indicator bulb had deteriorated, and the coloured coating had come off.

Yes, they can do this when they get wet. Not very expensive and available here on amazon as a pair.

midiman wrote:I was just wondering if the latter is possible. Or should I just attempt option 1, and replace the entire unit if that fails?

Opening the unit up is very difficult and impossible to get a good seal if you try to reassemble. I would go straight to get a replacement because all that water may have damaged the headlight level motor (if you have them).

Have a look through the list here on ebay for the correct year and side for your car.

hi my wife's car had water in both headlights when we bought it so i searched this site and found a way to empty and clean my headlights but as the headlight leveling motors were shorted i just drilled about 4 small holes in the bottom side closest to the grill and with having them holes in my wife's car has past the last 2 mots and headlight discoloration was an advisory and is now no longer an issue.
To clean the green out of the lights i used hot water and bleach with rice bunged up the holes and shook vigorously then left to soak and shook again i repeated this about 5 times and then i washed it all out and used an hair dryer to dry it out and left the drill holes open and i still don't get any fogging.

But i would say top and bottom of it find yourself a replacement as if like mine water has got in chances are the headlight levelers are blown! and as a note the water gets in from incorrectly fitted covers at the back of the unit.

MATTHEW LOMAX wrote:To clean the green out of the lights i used hot water and bleach with rice bunged up the holes and shook vigorously then left to soak and shook again i repeated this about 5 times and then i washed it all out and used an hair dryer to dry it out and left the drill holes open and i still don't get any fogging.

I like the rice idea to act as an abrasive on the gunk and not on the plastics

MATTHEW LOMAX wrote:as a note the water gets in from incorrectly fitted covers at the back of the unit.

Yes, very common problem because the access is difficult and visibility is poor.

This is the cover that MATTHEW LOMAX describes and you can see the foam rubber seal that needs to make good contact with the headlight unit to keep it sealed.

I've just been out to clean it up. But I think the unit is pretty much had it.

Do I need to buy one with a levelling motor?

I have the levelling dial in my car with the three settings bellow my steering wheel.

But I've never used it.

Options to buy a replacement on Ebay are plenty, but not all of them have the motor, and the ones that do are significantly more.

Thanks

I can't remember if I posted this elsewhere but: I find it useful to use a mobile phone camera to take a picture of the rear of lamp assemblies when bulb changing. Most mobiles have a decent camera which usually has a really good close up focus so you can get a decent picture in the small space behind the lamp.

I take photos at each stage of disassembly so you can see where things should be, I also find these pictures useful when I'm removing connectors and retaining clips. Many times you're working blind because your hand obscures your view, having a picture to visualise which way to pull, push or press can help.

I also take photos during reassembly so I can see that everything is back as it should be, clips in place, connectors pushed home etc.

midiman wrote:Do I need to buy one with a levelling motor?

I would say yes. There is no requirement to have adjustable levelling headlights, however you can't have one that adjusts and one that doesn't.

If you got a non-powered headlight you could try to disable the adjusting one. That might not be as easy as it sounds. Most headlight motors have a fail-safe position which is usually fully down. I'd suggest you investigate further before going down that the route of spending money on a non-electric levelling headlight.

Great.

I'm not particularly looking forward to fitting it.

Are the bulbs easier to fit once out of the car?

midiman wrote:Are the bulbs easier to fit once out of the car?

Yes, as you can get a hand in as see where what is in there more easily when its off the car.