Headlight adjuster doesn't work.

[Jpump]

Last Saturday on my way home from work I ran over a piece of a tail light which got stuck under my car for a few hundred feet until I was able to pull over and check. I didn't see any damage, but since between then and now, I've noticed my headlight beams are off.

I checked last night after I got home from work after noticing my visibility had gotten worse and the driver adjustment screw does nothing. The passenger side works, but on the driver side the projector is just pointing down as low as it can. I can jiggle the light at the adjustment screw and see the projector moving up and down, but the the screw does nothing.

Is there anyway to fix the adjustor, or will it require opening the headlight to see what's wrong? If not, I won't bother taking my bumper off today to get the light out and I'll just skip to seeing if I can find a used OEM replacement. I'm not interested in paying $1,000 for a new headlight from Ford. I can't catch a break with my car lately.

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[topdeadcenter2016]

Isn't it just a plastic screw? I would think the two incidents aren't related unless the thing you ran over jumped up before you hit it and hit your headlight. My guess is that the plastic screw is stripped out and may have been from the last owner and barely hanging on. So I would first check out the screw itself (hard to see - I know). Just see if the part of the light that it threads into dropped out and can be lifted back into place or if it is cracked. If cracked off, probably not much can be done. But it could be as simple as getting the screw reconnected to the back of the headlight. Best of luck!

 

[Jpump]

Isn't it just a plastic screw? I would think the two incidents aren't related unless the thing you ran over jumped up before you hit it and hit your headlight. My guess is that the plastic screw is stripped out and may have been from the last owner and barely hanging on. So I would first check out the screw itself (hard to see - I know). Just see if the part of the light that it threads into dropped out and can be lifted back into place or if it is cracked. If cracked off, probably not much can be done. But it could be as simple as getting the screw reconnected to the back of the headlight. Best of luck!

I couldn't see anything wrong with it last night when I looked, but it was dark. I'll check it again today and see if there's anything missing or broken. It was probably broken by the previous owner and whatever I ran over rattled it loose. I've never touched the adjustment in over 17 months since I've owned the car.

 

[MAGS1]

Prior owner may have messed with it and stripped it out. That’s my guess if it’s turning but not actually doing anything.

Probably don’t want to pop the headlight open and mess with it either. You’ll never get it sealed as good as factory, then you’ll end up with water and/or condensation inside the headlight. Some are brave enough to try it, I am not.

 

[Jpump]

Prior owner may have messed with it and stripped it out. That’s my guess if it’s turning but not actually doing anything.

Probably don’t want to pop the headlight open and mess with it either. You’ll never get it sealed as good as factory, then you’ll end up with water and/or condensation inside the headlight. Some are brave enough to try it, I am not.

Yeah. I don't want to do that. I have the headlight out and the projector is just flopping around inside the headlight. Can't see how the adjuster is connected to the back of the light though.

 

[Jpump]

Passenger side looks the same to me from what I can see on the outside.

 

[MAGS1]

Yeah. I don't want to do that. I have the headlight out and the projector is just flopping around inside the headlight. Can't see how the adjuster is connected to the back of the light though.

I’ll try to take a look at mine later. Might be hard with it attached to the car though. Will let you know if I can figure out where/how it connects. I think I’ve seen in other threads that people have opened up their headlights, I just can’t remember which threads.

 

[Jpump]

I’ll try to take a look at mine later. Might be hard with it attached to the car though. Will let you know if I can figure out where/how it connects. I think I’ve seen in other threads that people have opened up their headlights, I just can’t remember which threads.

You probably won't be able to see much. I can see a metal bracket inside behind the light, but that's about it.

 

[Jpump]

Might be fixed. I tilted the headlight forward and started turning the adjustment screw clockwise and eventually the projector stopped flopping around and seems to be connected again. Won't know until it's dark so I can see if the headlight is actually adjusting. Hopefully the adjustment just came loose.

 

[Vertex]

Might be fixed. I tilted the headlight forward and started turning the adjustment screw clockwise and eventually the projector stopped flopping around and seems to connected again. Won't know until it's dark so I can see if the headlight is actually adjusting. Hopefully the adjustment just came loose.

If you park in a garage, do you have about 20 feet from the door to the car? That's typically how I've always adjusted mine if I needed to (not mustang specifically just vehicles in general)

 

[Jpump]

If you park in a garage, do you have about 20 feet from the door to the car? That's typically how I've always adjusted mine if I needed to (not mustang specifically just vehicles in general)

Too many broken cars for me to get in there. Have to wait until tonight. I put everything back together, which I probably shouldn't have. I don't want to have to take it apart again if I have to buy a new headlight.

 

[MAGS1]

Might be fixed. I tilted the headlight forward and started turning the adjustment screw clockwise and eventually the projector stopped flopping around and seems to be connected again. Won't know until it's dark so I can see if the headlight is actually adjusting. Hopefully the adjustment just came loose.

Sounds like you may have at least gotten the screw to connect with the projector, so I think you’re on the right path. Will probably take a little more adjusting but you should be better than you were

 

[Jpump]

Sounds like you may have at least gotten the screw to connect with the projector, so I think you’re on the right path. Will probably take a little more adjusting but you should be better than you were

Hopefully. I'll report back when it's dark and have time to see of it works.

 

[Jpump]

Seems to work. Waiting until it's darker to actually adjust them.

 

[Jpump]

Went for a drive and it held position. Wasn't dark enough to see if the headlights were adjusted enough. I just did a rough setting. Car wasn't completely flat, but I lowered the lights some to hopefully offset it. I'll have to look for somewhere with flat ground and enough space to fine tune them this week.

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