Headlight adjuster broken again

[riptusk331]

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!!!!

Wow, great post New Guy -- super helpful to see what the inside of the assembly looks like from the top down. Glad you were able to resolve it!

After fixing it that way, do you think your method and all the cutting/drilling/mess is worth it, or could I get away with just putting JB Weld on the adjuster head and then reinserting it and letting it dry (like Bdbdzz mentioned)?

 

[New Guy]

Wow, great post New Guy -- super helpful to see what the inside of the assembly looks like from the top down. Glad you were able to resolve it!

After fixing it that way, do you think your method and all the cutting/drilling/mess is worth it, or could I get away with just putting JB Weld on the adjuster head and then reinserting it and letting it dry (like Bdbdzz mentioned)?

It might work if you’re lucky. The main problem is that when the chrome piece doesn’t have the adjuster attached, the chrome piece won’t be aligned to reinsert the adjuster with the job welded white piece.

I liked the route I took because it’s a stronger fix that operates just as good as oem equipment (just more reliable).

The big thing I would call out is not to get jb weld on the connection between the white part of the adjuster or the sphere that is on the adjuster as the light won’t be able to adjust due to the adjuster not being able to spin freely.

Overall, I would say it is a 65% chance it would work, and a 35% chance that it caused irreversible damage that would require buying a $2k replacement light.

 

[West1]

Having the same issue on my four year old 21 RST Tahoe @50k miles.

 

[cstapp99]

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!!!!

Thanks for posting this fix. I plan to do this myself also. Your photos are throwing me off a bit. The one with the drill marks on it and the one with the epoxy applied don't look like they are photos of the same headlight. Is that the case? It just looks like the "made in Mexico" label is reversed on one of them. Thanks!

 

[cstapp99]

Thanks to the description from Lanyx and the added photos from NewGuy, I tackled this fix today. It’s about an hour job and most of that is epoxy drying time. I will note that there is a small area of opportunity for the nail to hit without accidentally interfering with the rotation of the black threaded rod that needs to be free to spin. It will all make sense once you take it apart and look at how it goes together.

 

[micdzi]

does anyone have a picture of the good headlight adjuster? any chance to model it and then 3d print?

 

[West1]

When you epoxy it back, are you able to adjust the headlight as if nothing ever happened or do you need to glue it to the desired height in one shot?

 

[West1]

Thanks to the description from Lanyx and the added photos from NewGuy, I tackled this fix today. It’s about an hour job and most of that is epoxy drying time. I will note that there is a small area of opportunity for the nail to hit without accidentally interfering with the rotation of the black threaded rod that needs to be free to spin. It will all make sense once you take it apart and look at how it goes together.

Which direction did you go, drilling a 2-3” dia hole above the light or pulling stuff out from the adjuster side?

 

[ivin74]

You should do a detail write up with pictures.

 

[Tahoe Rob]

I had the headlight problem so came upon this post. 2021 Tahoe LT that just hit 50,000 miles and the driver side headlight adjuster broke. I used Lanyx's fix, with the help of New Guy's additional post and pictures.

This all makes way more sense once the hole is drilled and you see the assembly. I did not remove the adjuster before drilling a 2 1/8" hole thru the top of the headlight assembly, there doesn't seem to be a need to remove it.

As of today, an entire replacement assembly is priced at $1,267.63 on parts.chevrolet.com and $851.12 on gmpartsgiant.com. I figured it was worth a shot to save at least $850. I consider myself handy but certainly no mechanic or machinist. This entire fix took me under an hour from hole drilling to final headlight adjustment and even left me time to search for and order the grommet to plug the hole. I had everything on hand, except the grommet that I had to buy 4 of and ran me $7. (2 1/8" because that's what I had from drilling door lock sets).

I held a shop vac to the drill bit as I made the hole, but still get some plastic shavings in the light. I vacuumed what I could out and used some compressed air to blow out the rest out.

The part that had me confused about the previous posts was I didn't understand that the nail stays in a vertical position once it's put in. I was picturing that it spun with the assembly when adjusting, and didn't see how it either didn't fall back out when inverted, or didn't see how there was clearance to spin. But again, this all makes way more sense once you have it opened up.

I used gorilla tape to seal up the hole for now until the grommet gets delivered. I'm going with the grommet instead of epoxy in case for some cursed reason I have to get back in there at some point.

Seems like this is a better fix than the original design. Thanks Lanyx for posting and New Guy for expanding. Hopefully these pictures will help show more of the process for the next person to come across this.