Trying to repair broken OEM headlight adjuster cogs

In this video we attempt to repair our broken OEM headlight adjuster cogs. This has been an issue for at least the last 15 years, with older cars facing this issue more and more as they age. Without these you aren't able to adjust your headlights in any direction - up, down, left or right.
On some cars this is as simple as removing the existing cog and putting a new one in place, but others (such as ours) require a lot more work.
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[@SwatiGurpreet]

We made this video to show the process and steps we went through trying to fit the headlight adjuster cogs. We ended up failing but hopefully by showing the process one of you may be able to fix your adjuster cogs 👌

[@manaboutthehouse5181]

Dude you can purchase New Cogs from eBay just remove the old ones with a dremmel and either glue or press the new gears on.🤞

[@EdderzX1]

@@manaboutthehouse5181 can’t find them anywhere on ebay

[@manaboutthehouse5181]

@@EdderzX1 what county you as I have some spares

[@EdderzX1]

@@manaboutthehouse5181 I’m in Colchester England mate

[@manaboutthehouse5181]

@@EdderzX1 how many do you need I'm in Norfolk

[@williammessick6951]

First how to video I have seen that was unsuccessful yet I loved it because I like trying to fix things without replacing. Not many KZbinrs have the humility you have. Thank you for sharing.

[@SwatiGurpreet]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@rahliE777]

I love that you showed your failure in order to help others out! Much love, hopefully 4 years later you’ve got it all figured out!

[@stubbs5244]

Props for trying mate and even more props for uploading it even if it was a flop. Enjoyed in nether the less!

[@SwatiGurpreet]

Thanks, much appreciated! I hope it can help someone by looking at the way we did it and finding a way to get it working without throwing the headlights in the bin

[@jimthompson7035]

Hope this will help for anyone that has a late model gm headlight. I have a 2017 chevy colorado, and if you screw the adjuster to far either way, as I did, it will break the adjuster part insise.If you take off the cover to where to replace the bulb you can see that the headlights have alot of play in them, the adjuster keeps this from happening. If you adjust the headlights too far it causes the plastic pin to rotate, thus breaking where it seats into the headlight. To repair, I turned the adjuster, similar to this video at 2:26, counter clockwise and it released it from the housing. I then used some plastic JB weld to glue back into place.

[@Furiac.]

This is helpful mainly because now I know how the mechanism works. The cog is hidden on the inside on mine so I wasn't sure how it was adjusting it

[@salilm1]

Appreciate your attempt. I have exactly the same issue and this video is very informative. I will try drilling into the cog and shaft in my tester headlight.

[@SwatiGurpreet]

Good luck!

[@richardbarnes700]

This video is great, gave me the inspiration to fix my xenon height adjuster, actually isn't that hard of a job if you're happy cutting a hole in the top of the light, but with glue and a bit of know how and will power, I got mine fixed

[@AbyssalTenacity]

nice to see the breakdown and function of the parts!

[@christopherplessinger4664]

Thank you for the video. Couldnt find a video to explain how this mechanism worked.

[@MikeOfAmerica]

Brilliant! I especially appreciated the way that you explained why the part fails, and also the way that you addressed handling the waterproofing of the repair area, for those of us who do not have a garage to work in.

[@MikeOfAmerica]

This helped me to learn about the problem, regardless of whether the repair attempt succeeded.

[@SwatiGurpreet]

Thank you very much! Of course I hoped to fix the cogs but thought it would be good to share the process so nobody else makes the same mistakes

[@GSXRMVDUCRD]

Good try. I have a similar problem with my 2005 CRV. I'll try some other repair method and try to get back to you here. Thanks again

[@GSXRMVDUCRD]

Apparently the headlight lens should be removed with heat, to get access to the internals. kzbin.info/www/bejne/l5-xYamPd89pi9E He uses an oven, but I think a heat gun will work. For reassembly use "Butyl Rubber Glue" $10 on ebay It will be a month or two, but I will get back to you on the headlight adjusting gear repair.

[@MagreloBrejo]

This video helped me, thank you.

[@LucyLusmommy]

Great video!! Im having issues with mine..Im a huge fan of "thinking outside of the box" when it comes to fixing things! Ty for posting this video. PS I love your word choices...(doohickey, thingy)

[@SwatiGurpreet]

Haha thank you very much

[@jbronz213]

I just put a wire on the clip that holds the bulb then poked it through the rubber cover and use the wire to pull it back or up and the screw with the loose ball joint to push it down

[@novo7445]

Very informative, ether this is the issue or the headlight level sensor. Which is located near the back left wheel. Near the control bushing (it has a green arm which moves to give information to the sensor)

[@BloodyKnives66]

Nowhere in the instructions for my headlight did it say "don't over adjust" also every video I watched on KZbin didn't mention over adjusting. So annoyed right now that I destroyed my new headlight...

[@SwatiGurpreet]

It's even more frustrating because the cogs are just cheap plastic.. So even when over adjusting the headlights you don't feel any resistance before breaking them

[@user-pq1ni4wz6h]

May I know if you were able to repair it or did you have it replaced?

[@whatsthetruth23923]

I put h1 projectors in mine, after reinstalling with leds the beam is aiming Really low, after full adjustments they will not go any higher. Top of beam is about 4mtrs infront of the car on the road surface, wayyy too low. These headlights are terrible and I'm fed up of removing the bumper to try and sort them out. Winter is here and dark days are coming. Adjustments will not raise it any higher. 😣

[@SwatiGurpreet]

Sounds like unfortunately you have this same issue. The cogs will spin and spin but nothing happens

[@BeatBoySupreme]

How not to fix your headlamp.

[@raymangtir]

I'm wondering if you could've drilled through the white cog and the shaft from the top and knocked a roll pin in, then the cog and the shaft are one and turn together.

[@SwatiGurpreet]

If you could get the pin to go through the shaft that could work. It would also retain the OEM style where you can make the adjustments from the top of the cog rather than the back. I still have the headlights so if I have a bit of time I may give that a go, one of the cogs are still slightly in-tact.

[@joeportelli4222]

Couldn’t you open the headlight assembly to get to the adjusting screw and engage the parts back in place? Thanks for the video. Still informative

[@SwatiGurpreet]

We could have done that, but needed to re-seal it fairly quickly as this car is our daily. With hindsight it would have been better to open the headlight assembly and fix it rather than trying to mess with the cogs.

[@jamesregan4437]

What about for a 2020 Dodge charger I need to adjust it one of them doesn't just it when you turn it

[@lilafernim9943]

Is there no replacement cogs? Same issue on a 2004 Fabia vrs. Ridiculous!!

[@SwatiGurpreet]

Unfortunately not we never found any! The only option was try to repair it like we did, or buy new headlights :(

[@1776FreedomNow]

in the description you should put down the name of the bit and where someone can find it

[@aryanveersinghsidana9882]

I broked by over adjusting

It's a frustrating job

[@SwatiGurpreet]

Did you manage to fix your adjusters or just replace the headlight?

[@zeez9053]

Car make ? So I know who to avoid

[@SwatiGurpreet]

My car is a Seat Leon, but you'll see the same style headlight design in VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda

[@jstriker623]

​@@SwatiGurpreetadd Nissan to the list of shame.