So I spotted this little bugger inside the light housing a few days ago and thought I could just pop out the bulb and remove it. Until I realised that the bulb is behind the inside glass. So, do I have to remove the bumper, and the light, and disassemble the light, with all "sticky stuff" and reseal/reassemble it?
Or is there an easier way to get in there?
Am I just better off buying a second hand light?
Does that little plastic bit look like it belongs to some part of the headlamp adjustment?

 

If the pieces were in between protective lens and projection lens then; Yes! You have to remove the bumper to remove the whole light assembly, and that space is sealed, I don't know how it have that piece of something in there!?

 

Bet that is part of the headlight level adjustment that is notorious for getting brittle and breaking on the X.

 

Yea, the only likely explanation is that it's part of the light adjustment (from inside the housing) and it somehow broke and made its way down in there. It looks like the same kind of white plastic as the adjusters on top of the light.
But, then I also saw the crack in the light, and the scratches inside the housing from the bit of plastic bouncing around, and I just bit the bullet and bought a new assembly on eBay there a while ago.
I've got the NCT coming up (Irish MOT), so if the adjuster is also broken it would absolutely kill me if I took the whole thing apart, then had to reseal it, and then couldn't adjust the light, and had to take it all apart again and buy a new one anyway! I really hate jobs where you have to remove sticky crap and then reseal it..

 

Ah, good to know! That was my thinking alright as I mentioned to Thanguar above..
I didn't touch the adjusters in case this was the case, and the light seems reasonable straight at the moment, so I don't want to screw it up before the new one arrives. Don't want to be blinding anybody on the road!
Although I did notice the lights seem to "wobble" a bit when I go over bumps. But I haven't taken it out at night, much, so I'm not too familiar with how the lights work in this car, but they seem to be normal, manual, adjustments.

 

Post #4

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...usters-241848/

 

Thanks, yea this sounds like it alright. I started watched this video earlier when trolling YouTube, and when I saw the heatgun coming out I immediately went to eBay to buy a new light!
I'd prefer to do a ball joint or suspension than to do that job.
Or maybe I just need to buy a heat gun and some sticky crap, and then I'd be more willing to take these jobs on, but I don't know if I have room in the house for any more tools..

Update:
Bought a heatgun. Guess I can squeeze one more tool under the couch or something.

 

I bought a roll of butyl tape from an online roofing supply company and heat gun from Harbor Freight. Got a **** pot size roll that I'll never use in my lifetime but, it was really inexpensive. Like $8.00 delivered. Being OCD I knew I'd prefer replacing the old with brand new. Wider than needed but, a razor knife fixed that easily.

 

So, the new light arrived from eBay and I fitted it, and all is well. But I'm glad I went with a replacement light since the other one was in pieces when I removed it..
Judging from a repaired crack in the back of the bumper, and some slightly off coloured paint behind light, it looks like the previous owner got a cheapo fix job done. I even had to do some banging and filing and dremelling to get the new light to fit.
And yes, the little bit of white plastic was indeed from the adjustment system, which was also in bits!