Headlight adjuster broken again

My 21 Tahoe, the drivers side headlight had to be replaced at 13,000 miles because the adjuster failed and the bulb pointed to the ground. Last week, at 36,220 miles same thing. You turn the adjuster screw on top of the headlight and the bulb does not move. GM says if the adjuster is stripped, they will not assist me in out of warranty repairs as “this has never happened before to other Tahoes”. Dealer wants $350 to pull the headlight out and take pictures to send to GM to see if they will assist in an out of warranty repair. I am puzzled as the dealer is the only one who i have ever taken the vehicle to for all maintenance and repair work. It is also my 3rd Tahoe/Yukon is have bought new in the last 6 years. They quoted me close to $2000 just for the headlight assembly. I am just venting here as I don’t expect anything to happen.

brucesmays said:

My 21 Tahoe, the drivers side headlight had to be replaced at 13,000 miles because the adjuster failed and the bulb pointed to the ground. Last week, at 36,220 miles same thing. You turn the adjuster screw on top of the headlight and the bulb does not move. GM says if the adjuster is stripped, they will not assist me in out of warranty repairs as “this has never happened before to other Tahoes”. Dealer wants $350 to pull the headlight out and take pictures to send to GM to see if they will assist in an out of warranty repair. I am puzzled as the dealer is the only one who i have ever taken the vehicle to for all maintenance and repair work. It is also my 3rd Tahoe/Yukon is have bought new in the last 6 years. They quoted me close to $2000 just for the headlight assembly. I am just venting here as I don’t expect anything to happen.

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Your dealer has a certain amount of "goodwill" they could provide if they choose to...depends on your business level w/ them, etc...but they definitely do have it available.

That said...who/why is someone messing w/ the adjuster? Seems like whomever it is that took a tool to it may be on the hook to fix it? Unless, the adjuster failure was present at 13K miles and never rectified w/ the warranty fix...can't tell from your post whether it was a spontaneous fail at 13k, or whether someone tried to adjust it then and it broke, then was never properly fixed...

WalleyeMikeIII said:

Your dealer has a certain amount of "goodwill" they could provide if they choose to...depends on your business level w/ them, etc...but they definitely do have it available.

That said...who/why is someone messing w/ the adjuster? Seems like whomever it is that took a tool to it may be on the hook to fix it? Unless, the adjuster failure was present at 13K miles and never rectified w/ the warranty fix...can't tell from your post whether it was a spontaneous fail at 13k, or whether someone tried to adjust it then and it broke, then was never properly fixed...

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brucesmays said:

My 21 Tahoe, the drivers side headlight had to be replaced at 13,000 miles because the adjuster failed and the bulb pointed to the ground. Last week, at 36,220 miles same thing. You turn the adjuster screw on top of the headlight and the bulb does not move. GM says if the adjuster is stripped, they will not assist me in out of warranty repairs as “this has never happened before to other Tahoes”. Dealer wants $350 to pull the headlight out and take pictures to send to GM to see if they will assist in an out of warranty repair. I am puzzled as the dealer is the only one who i have ever taken the vehicle to for all maintenance and repair work. It is also my 3rd Tahoe/Yukon is have bought new in the last 6 years. They quoted me close to $2000 just for the headlight assembly. I am just venting here as I don’t expect anything to happen.

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I’ve had the same thing happen to my 2021 Tahoe. Out of nowhere, the driver side headlight starts pointing towards the road. When my husband tried to adjust it, it wouldn’t do anything. I brought it to the dealer for them to adjust and they said the plastic piece was stripped and it would cost $2100 to replace (a perfectly good headlight that can’t be adjusted). Since I’ve been such a good customer they’ll do it for $1100. I refuse to pay that much, this was absolutely a failure of a cheaply made GM part. I shouldn’t have to pay that much for their poor design. To clarify for other posters, I NEVER touched the headlight or the adjuster before it fell and started pointing down. This is a safety issue and GM and my Chevy dealer needs to do better than that. I guess 30 years of business isn’t worth that much.

lawoman70363 said:

I’ve had the same thing happen to my 2021 Tahoe. Out of nowhere, the driver side headlight starts pointing towards the road. When my husband tried to adjust it, it wouldn’t do anything. I brought it to the dealer for them to adjust and they said the plastic piece was stripped and it would cost $2100 to replace (a perfectly good headlight that can’t be adjusted). Since I’ve been such a good customer they’ll do it for $1100. I refuse to pay that much, this was absolutely a failure of a cheaply made GM part. I shouldn’t have to pay that much for their poor design. To clarify for other posters, I NEVER touched the headlight or the adjuster before it fell and started pointing down. This is a safety issue and GM and my Chevy dealer needs to do better than that. I guess 30 years of business isn’t worth that much.

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The secret, probably was not try to adjust it yourself..if the fail occurred out of warranty (3yr, 36k miles), you probably are out of luck..but had it occurred within the bumper to bumper warranty period, a return to the dealer should have resoved it under warranty.

FWIW, the driver side healight assembly on a suburban is P/N: 85547100 and the MSRP is $1270, so if the dealer agreed to do it for $1100 you got a great deal...they basically ate the labor, and some of the parts profit (part can be had from one of the online parts houses for around $850 + shipping).

This is the state of things these days, all these manufacturers are building custom headlamp assemblies...I sure miss the old days of the sealed beam lights that were $10 and two philips screws to replace...that said, the performance of these LED lamps is way beyond those old sealed beam halogens.

brucesmays said:

My 21 Tahoe, the drivers side headlight had to be replaced at 13,000 miles because the adjuster failed and the bulb pointed to the ground. Last week, at 36,220 miles same thing. You turn the adjuster screw on top of the headlight and the bulb does not move. GM says if the adjuster is stripped, they will not assist me in out of warranty repairs as “this has never happened before to other Tahoes”. Dealer wants $350 to pull the headlight out and take pictures to send to GM to see if they will assist in an out of warranty repair. I am puzzled as the dealer is the only one who i have ever taken the vehicle to for all maintenance and repair work. It is also my 3rd Tahoe/Yukon is have bought new in the last 6 years. They quoted me close to $2000 just for the headlight assembly. I am just venting here as I don’t expect anything to happen.

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I think I found the problem. I have a 2021 Suburban LT. Same exact issue. You can remove the adjustment knob by using a wrench and turn the whole adjustment assembly Clockwise 45°. It will pull out. Be very careful from dropping it as it is crazy hard to retrieve! You will notice that the adjustment screw end is connected to a white pin (don't know a better word). This pin is ribbed that connects to the actual interior light assembly. The pin literally is 1/8" of plastic and any hard bump from rough roads will break it. This is destined for failure. All we need is a replacement part and easy fix. But I can't find this part anywhere. Should be a $5 part considering the way it is made. I cut a hold in the top of the headlight about 1.5" in size directly above where the pin connects to the interior light assembly. Screw the adjuster all the way out to extend as far as possible with the pin attached. Hold the adjuster with pin into the hole. Drill a 1/16" hole in the assembly and through the adjuster pin. Put a 1/16" nail in the hole through the pin. Screw in the adjuster until it starts lifting the interior light assembly and remount the adjuster by turning counter clockwise 45°. Adjust your headlights to the proper height. Seal the hole with good duct tape or whatever you find best. Been working now for 6 months.

Bdbdzz said:

same issue here, broken adjuster

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did you attempt Lanyx's fix? i am having the same problem on my 2021 Suburban that's out of warranty and was going to try it out if badgering the dealer for goodwill fails.

i've been googling around this issue, and it's definitely a defect in the way the adjuster assembly is designed...cheap plastic used and seems to be giving out for folks right around the 2-3 year mark. there's a thread over here on the chevrolet forums where people are talking about the same issue. one of their headlamps all of a sudden pointed down, never touched the adjuster.

i will update with how i fix this and make sure to post here.

riptusk331 said:

i've been googling around this issue, and it's definitely a defect in the way the adjuster assembly is designed...cheap plastic used and seems to be giving out for folks right around the 2-3 year mark. there's a thread over here on the chevrolet forums where people are talking about the same issue. one of their headlamps all of a sudden pointed down, never touched the adjuster.

i will update with how i fix this and make sure to post here.

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I just made a quick fix by applying glue to the head of the adjuster and then reinstalling it in the headlight. Make sure to wait until it gets dry. It works for me.

Lanyx said:

I think I found the problem. I have a 2021 Suburban LT. Same exact issue. You can remove the adjustment knob by using a wrench and turn the whole adjustment assembly Clockwise 45°. It will pull out. Be very careful from dropping it as it is crazy hard to retrieve! You will notice that the adjustment screw end is connected to a white pin (don't know a better word). This pin is ribbed that connects to the actual interior light assembly. The pin literally is 1/8" of plastic and any hard bump from rough roads will break it. This is destined for failure. All we need is a replacement part and easy fix. But I can't find this part anywhere. Should be a $5 part considering the way it is made. I cut a hold in the top of the headlight about 1.5" in size directly above where the pin connects to the interior light assembly. Screw the adjuster all the way out to extend as far as possible with the pin attached. Hold the adjuster with pin into the hole. Drill a 1/16" hole in the assembly and through the adjuster pin. Put a 1/16" nail in the hole through the pin. Screw in the adjuster until it starts lifting the interior light assembly and remount the adjuster by turning counter clockwise 45°. Adjust your headlights to the proper height. Seal the hole with good duct tape or whatever you find best. Been working now for 6 months.

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I too used this as my fix. Thanks for the suggestion! It worked really well, make sure to measure before cutting, ensure you don’t cut too deep and hit the electrical work inside (look through the headlight lens to verify), and the hardest part was cleaning out the debris after opening up the top of the headlight. I used a small shop vac with an attachment to get plastic out. I used a hole saw so I could JB plastic bond it back together, make sure to let the epoxy harden a little so it doesn’t drip down in the reflection surface. I used a 1” finishing nail and a 5/64 drill bit for the fix.

I did this because I can’t stand the thought of paying $2000 to have the same problem because they install a light with the same engineering problem. Not only that but it’s only a matter of time before the other light does the same. Instead this is a stronger fix for $25 between the JB Plastic bond, the box of nails, and the drill bit. I did use a drill, a 3” hole saw bit, a shop vac, a microfiber cloth (to wipe smudges inside the light), and a measuring caliper (to measure and mark where to drill the finishing nail hole as to not puncture the black ball). These were all items I already had.

Here are photos of what the inside of the adjuster looks like when broken, what the inside of the headlight area where the adjuster connects to it. Also, here’s a picture on how I decided where to cut my hole, where I drilled/pinned the adjuster, and a picture of the hole sealed back up with the JB plastic bond.

Take your time and focus, it’s not too hard. Hopefully this helps! Lord knows it’s worth saving $2k!!!!