I get a lot of headlight assemblies in and they all have matching washers. Some thin as in 1/16" and some with as thick as 1/8" but never mixed or more than one per mounting stud. I doubt the factory line takes the time to switch out washers to fit the gap hence the bigger opening in the fender/bumper and the black gasket to take up some of the space. The hole will never be sealed completely regardless.

I am almost positve they have a jig where they set the light in place and bolt down. The fenders and bumper cover come later. I'll have to watch the factory show on TLC and see where specifically in the line that the parts meet. As with the other parts of the car the robot put the parts where they need to be and then fastened.

 

If you want an accurate reply (we'd all like to give you one), then make the effort to post a pic, otherwise no one knows the answer. Sounds like a fender/bumper clip failure, but we can only guess ... here you are ...


and a waste of all our time ...

 

Hi Guys, I've searched & searched & still need some help.

My driver's side headlight's front (leading) edge, sticks up about 3/8" higher than it should, & for the life of me I can't figure out why. I've removed the inner fender liner & lightbulb access flap, so that I could fully slide/adjust the light housing around on it's plastic shelf, but I just can't get that front edge to fit lower(correctly). The entire assembly fits very well in the cutout, proper gaps & fitment all the way around, etc...it's just that front leading edge.

I don't think the front fender/fascia is misaligned or anything, & I can't feel the driver's side fender/fascia moving up/down any more than the passenger side, but now I'm wondering if there's some headlight guide or clip that positions the headlight assembly in the fender's light assembly coutout?

Here's the wrinkle; The passenger side headlight is perfect, perfect gap, fits nice & flush, etc., but I just noticed the driver's side headlight looked pushed up the other day, right after I'd tried to drive the car up on ramps. They both skidded forward & the front fascia got hung up(pushed upwards hard) when all its' weight was stuck on the highest part of the ramp. Which makes me think I tweaked something in how the fascia mounts on the front, or how the headlight sits on that shelf.

I really, really don't want to remove the headlight or the front fascia, as everything else fits/feels perfect, so I'm hoping someone with the same issue has some advice. Many thanks for any input or advice you can offer.

 

If you're using a bra with the tabs that slide into that area, that's probably what pushed those seals out of line in the first place. I had an upholstery shop cut those off and seam the bra around that area. Works great now.

 

I have taken many headlights out and reinstalled and have to mess around a little for proper positioning in the fenders but really not that much. I am not sure why you would have a 3/8" difference. I have had an instance where one of the headlight assembly wires were pinched under the pod and the mounting platform .. you might verify that it is all clear under pod.

 

Yes there is a tapered post on the clear lens that sticks up about 1/2 inch. It has to be placed into a round opening that is molded, or bonded to the underside of the fender.

So the light can pivot around this post but can not be moved forward, or side to side up near the fender opening.

Ed

 

Hi Ed, Many Thanks for that insight & it makes total sense as to why the front fender seems lower, BUT I haven't seen that little tab on any of the C6 headlight pics I've seen. Where abouts is this tab located on the lens, is that it on the right inner edge (@ 12 oclock) in the below pic?

Ps; I spent a few more hours adjusting the headlight in it's tray/bucket last night & made some progress, but it's still not as perfectly placed/aligned as the passenger side is. At least it's not sticking up a full 3/8" high in front...

 

Yes it is the tapered protrusion on the clear part of the lens at the three o'clock position in this photo. Looking from the front towards the headlight it would be at the twelve o'clock position, at the wide space between the tabs of the black surround gasket.

There is a bump on the underside of the fender with a hole in it that this tapered stud goes into. This serves as a fixed position for the headlight in relation to the fender. The headlight can rotate around the stud, but this only allows for side to side positioning at the front of the headlight, but no forward, or aft movement.

As for the previous post regarding washers on the underside of the light housing to adjust the height of the headlight, you don't have to remove the light and change washers to adjust the height. The nuts on those studs can be loosened up and the entire stud can be turned with a small box end wrench (I forget the size, but I used a small ignition wrench to do the job,) in a counter clockwise direction to raise the headlight at any of the three studs positions. There is a Torx shape on the end of these studs that can be gripped with the small wrench. Then tighten the nut to lock in place. The washers on these studs are fixed to the stud and so will move with the stud and will push the headlight upward from the inner fenders headlight mounting shelf. You can probably turn the mounting studs with vise grips, but that will surely mess up the torx shape on the end of the studs

Of course if the mounting studs are fully tightened in the headlight, (as they should be from the factory,) then these three studs can only be used to raise the headlight to change the height between the light and the bumper. It cannot be done to lower the headlight, and I don't recommend this be done to adjust more than a 1/4 inch. Keep at least one of the studs fully tightened in the headlight assembly to insure there is no vibration in the light.

I used this procedure to even out the height of the headlights in relation to the bumper on a couple of c6's, including my own car. It works great with no ill effects

Ed

 

Ed, thank you SO much for this & I never saw that until your pics. I'll dig into that tonight & make sure the fender is located on that thing. Again, many many thanks!

 

Ed, Thanks for responding to my pm. I think I have a pretty good grasp at what you're saying about how to access the adjustable mounting nuts and bolts. Since this thread is so old, I don't think anyone will mind if I post a couple of pics. Ed, based on the gap at the 7pm-10pm area, does that look like a gap that I can close using the mounting bolts, or does it appear that the bucket isn't installed correctly? Again, I appreciate your help.