My first attempt at maintenance/repair on my C3 is/was going to be to replace the passenger side low beam head lamp. Removed the four screws holding the headlight cowling (or whatever it is called) but for the life of me I can't get it out of the headlight bay, no matter how I tilt or angle it. I don't want to bend, break or scratch anything in the process, but exactly HOW is this piece supposed to come out? There just doesn't appear to be adequate clearance.

 

Possibly your headlights are not opening far enough for you to remove the surrond? How far is the bottom of the other surround below the top of the body work? You may need to adjust the buckets up till you have enough clearance.
Good luck!
Stump

 

Both bezels are even with the body when fully opened. I wouldn't think the bottom of the bezel would be designed to be above the body/hood line when fully opened?

 

More photos

 

Hi S3,
Is it possible the bezel is 'caught' on something?
Here's 2 photos of the headlights with the bezel off.
Perhaps you can spot something.
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan

 

Because of the angle between top and bottom of the headlamp cowling, it should just pull straight out (in the direction of the TOP of that cowling) to be removed. Otherwise, your headlamp system is not raising as far as it should. There is an adjustment for that, too.

 

Thank you Alan, I can't figure this one out. I was beginning to believe the headlight housings were indeed not adjusted properly but when they are closed the alignment is perfect, so if I raise them to allow the bezel to be removed easily the headlight doors would protrude above the hood line.

Anyway, I did manage to remove the chrome trim ring around the loosened but in-the-way bezel, tested the head lamp bulb ok, so I reinstalled it and it now works, so it appears to have been a connection issue. This was very much like building a ship in a bottle.

I did also discover, in removing the chrome trim ring that PO had evidently stripped out the threads on the mounting cup (or whatever it is) that the lamp mounts into. He had a retaining nut on back of the top screw which holds the chrome ring.

This is humanly impossible to replace working around the freakin' bezel, so I only have two of the three retaining screws in place. I guess my next project will be to figure out how to temporarily adjust the headlight doors so I can at least remove the bezel long enough to replace the headlight mounting assembly with the stripped out hole.

At least my head lights are working, for the time being.....

In looking at the headlight doors again for photos closed I suppose I could raise the passenger side 1/16 of an inch all around, I will have to see if that solves the problem. Thanx for the input....

 

Although your lights appear to be pretty close to correct in the up position, there is a up-stop on the side of each headlight. It is possible that it's set slightly too low. You may be able to adjust them to allow the light to rise enough to remove the bezel






Sometimes the rubber pad is missing. If that stop isn't touching, then there may be something wrong with the overall mechanism adjustment and much more complicated to get into.

M

 

Hi S3,
The headlight door does look a 'little' low, but doesn't really seem low enough to give you trouble getting the bezel off the headlight housing.

Do you sense that the bezel isn't completely free of the housing, or is it trapped by the opening in the hood surround?

Have you tried to take the other bezel off to see if that tells you anything?
Regards,
Alan

 

[QUOTE=See 3;1596192736]



I did also discover, in removing the chrome trim ring that PO had evidently stripped out the threads on the mounting cup (or whatever it is) that the lamp mounts into. He had a retaining nut on back of the top screw which holds the chrome ring.
QUOTE]

have you tried a bigger screw to see if that holds ? the cup is only sheet metal , nothing worse than a shaky light beam at night from a loose bulb !

 

 

Alan, there simply is not enough vertical space to allow me to lift the bezel out. I didn't have the time or patience to take the other assembly apart today, but I think maybe Mooser's idea of the "up stop" needing adjustment could be on the money. If there is a way to adjust how high the headlight assembly rises without affecting the position of the headlight door when it is closed, then that's exactly what I am looking to accomplish.

Once I can get the bezel out I'm sure I can get a fix on that stripped out trim screw hole. The way I was working on it today with the bezel in the way you would need to have hands the size of a Ken doll to reach around back of that trim ring to hold the backing nut in place.

 

Definitely the hood surround, the bezel is free, I just can't manipulate it up and forward over the hood surround.

 

In case you can't locate the 'up-stop' in Moosers picture here another perspective.
If that screw is out all the way and you need more room to lift up
Go under the car and remove the 4 springs the cotter pin and pull #8 out.
You will then be able to lift the headlight assembly.

 

Thanx, hopefully there will be sufficient adjustment in #5 left for me to raise the assembly far enough to remove the bezel.

 

I had the same problem. A slight adjustment to the 'up stop' was all it took to remove the bezel. It is not easy to reach. Search on "Headlight Surround Removal" for the thread.
I believe the stripped headlight and bezel mount tabs is a pretty common issue. Clip nuts might be a easier/cheaper fix than replacing parts.

 

Thanx, I did pick up some clip nuts today, that should solve that problem once I can get the bezels off and get my hands in there. Do you approach the "up stop" bolt with the headlights in the open or closed position?

 

If you can't easily remove the bezel, the mechanism needs to be adjusted upward a bit. If the headlamp aim is then too high, adjust the bulb adjustments to get lamp alignment correct.

 

It's been a little while but I believe I got the best access to the 'up stop' adjustment with the headlights in the up position.

 

Tape is your friend for projects like these. Make sure you don't mar that nice paint.