Well, my repairs have been holding up, but either as I make headway new problems pop up, or maybe as I take care of big problems, the smaller ones start to become more noticeable.

Anyway, the two pet pieves with my car now are the squealing supercharger belt (and Jaguar trying to sell me on $400 in a new drive belt design and pulleys) that I am going to try to fix with a Gatorback belt, and the headlights.

My biggest problem is that everytime I drive at night, I can't see very well. The headlights are aimed very low. The next chance I get, I will look at the bubble levels, and indeed the headlamps are low. So I adjust them until they are level, but they apparently don't stay level because the next time I need to use them they are too low again. I have raised them at least 4 times over the summer so far.

Has anyone seen this? Anyone have an easy fix before I disassemble the front end of my car? They are the regular base headlamps, not HID, and not self aiming.

 

An idea if nothing else. Can you add a nut on the adjustment screw. Better yet if you can get a nut on the adjustment screw use a Nylon insert nut. Then once you get them adjusted where you like tighten the nut against the assembly as a stop. The nylon insert will keep the nut in place. Because it is evident the there is not any resistance left to keep the assembly where you set it. The nylon inserts are available at you home centers and they come in metric sizes.

I have not looked at the screw to see if it is a machine thread, but I'll pop the hood this evening to see if this idea holds water.

Again just an idea, cheap fix if it works.

I have to say it , its the cheapest pair of nuts you will ever buy!

 

That's one thing I hated about my XK8, the standard lights are rather pathetic. The HIDs on my 05 are amazing.

 

Fit an aftermarket HID kit (£60) on ebay.

It transforms the night time driving experiance

 

My 05 has self leveling HID and even after being adjusted by the dealer still seems to low. Still cant see that good unless I put the fog lights on.

 

Next time you take it to the dealer or indy shop, tell them to raise them higher.

Mine are pretty high, but the left side silhouette puts the light below window level of oncoming traffic. I never need to use my high beams or fog lights, even if I'm driving fast.

 

Sorry about the nut thing. I raised the hood and looked and the best I can come up with is to try to affix something to the nylon hex adjustment stem. What comes to mind first is very crude but will work. Go out and buy a couple of cheap box end wrenches the same size as the hex stem. Them cut them up in order to lock them, wedge them in place. Just use a zip tie to start and if that holds them in place,then you can figure out how to make it look pretty.

Of course this is presuming that the hex drive is vibrating and slowly turning to cause the misalignment.

Harbor Freight for cheap tools under $5.00. Could fix an expensive problem.

Don't laugh until you try it. I'm always good for some crack pot repair that will usually work.

 

Well, they have slipped again, it doesn't seem to take very long.

I think I will try to mark the hex shaft to se if that is where it is slipping. If so, perhaps just a piece of strategicly placed tape might work.

I am not concerned about the amount of light output. I think t would be fine, if it were pointed further down the road.