djstylze

Ok, I've spent quite some time searching on both corvette forums. Lots of dead links and generic instructions. This is as close as I could get -> http://www.c5forum.com/diy/eurolights.php

Please - does anyone have pictures of the adjustment screws?? Something about pulling out a locking plug, and turning two other screws.


I just installed one fleabay HID and this job was not for the faint of heart. Something about pulling off the headlight panel and see the assembly definitely scared me. Plus I spent hours trying to get the damn bulb into the socket whereas the stock headlight goes in very quickly.

Having only one light shows an amazing difference in brightness, but when I drove on the road it wasn't that great. There's a huge bright spot right on front of the bumper - but its no where near as bright down the road.

My hope is that by aiming it up, I can expand my view. I've seen all the other screen shots and their view is amazing!


PS - I had heard that if you install the bulb incorrectly the view will be diminished. Now in this case, the bulb is extremely tight into the socket. When I didn't have the locks in, it was very jiggly. I just hope by aiming it up I can really cash in on the new view.

Thanks for reading!

AnteVenom

I will try to answer your question.

with the headlights manually raised you will see a black plastic surrround on each. It will be held on with three screws, two on inside and one on outside.

On the inside of this black surround you will see a large circle with a slit acrossed it similar to the head of a regular screw head. If you turn that circle it will come out providing access to the headlight adjustment.

You could just remove the three screws and remove the entire black surround. This is what I suggest.

With the surround removed you will be able to see a silver rod on the engine side of the headlight(it has a torx end on it and you will need a torx bit to manipulate it.) You can also get torx sockets which will also work, and better imho.

I believe this silver rod that is easily accessable on the engine side of the headlight is for adjusting the low beams. further across and harder to get to (may need an extension) is a similar silver rod for the high beams.

NOTE - these silver rods are easily damaged so be carefull. You may wish to carefully spray some wd40 on the non torx end to make turning easier.

NOTE 2 - it is extremely difficult to adjust both the low beams and the high beams, if not impossible. It seems each adjustment of one screws up the adjustment of the other. If you have HID low beams and they are installed and aimed correctly you will never need high beams again anyway IMHO so you could just concentrate on the low beam adjustment.

You will need a flat/level surface where you can pull the car up to within a few feet of a wall of some kind(house, shed etc).

It might have been better to have prepared to do the adjustment ahead of time where you would have marked the wall where the center of the stock low and high beams was located on the wall. Then you could have compared the new HID spots with the stock markings.

Since you have no ,markings saved from the stock set up you will just have to see where the HIDs are hitting the wall and use your best judgement to adjust.

I am not sure which way to adjust? You will easily be able to determine if clockwise equals up or down and go from there.

I hope this helps!

djstylze

Thank you very much for taking time on a well written reply!

I believe I know the rod you are referring to. Its a long thin rod under the assembly that's just kind of floating after you remove the headlight plastic shroud. So that's the rod that apparently breaks easily. Yikes, this job gets harder every day.

I guess my frustration is hearing from everyone how much better HID is and after all that work my S2000 headlights blow this away.

Bill Dearborn

There is one error in the explanation above. The Torx screws adjust both the high and low beams as the beams are contained in one unit. The two screws are there to provide separate adjustments for vertical and horizontal directions of the light. Here are the instructions from the GM Service Manual.




Bill

peebee_c5

Before you start messing with the aiming, I would double-check and triple check that you have the new HID bulbs fully inserted. There are 3 plastic tabs on those lights, it can be very difficult to get all 3 inserted. You can get two out of three in, and it will get tight, but the alignment will be off (resulting in illumination of your bumper rather than the road just as you describe).

When I put in my HID's, the o-ring on the new HIDs was just a smidge larger in section than the o-ring on the OEM bulb. The difference was almost imperceptible, you needed to pull the ring off of both new & old bulbs and compare them side by side to see the difference. After a long long long time trying unsucessfully trying to get the new HID in, with all 3 tabs inserted, we swapped o-rings and then the new HID went in no prob.

I'd try that before messing with the alignment....

djstylze

Peebee_C5 -> you are a Godsend!!

OK, I just spent 3.5 hours trying to get the second headlight in. Everytime I got close I always got 2 of the 3 tabs in place. Then I started wondering whether I truly did get all 3 tabs on the passenger side. Now let me point out I did not remove the assembly as I was worried about realigning the housing and/or stripping those useless screws that allow you to pivot the assembly. (i have crappy tools) The missing tab would definitely explain a lower light.

Somewhere after an hour I noticed the o-rings were different but didn't think much of it. The first thing I'm doing when I get home from work is swapping them over.


Also I want to thank you all for the great information!

jrprich

Because of the limited access in the lights area, it is actually much easier to remove the painted cover (4 torx screws), then the black surround (3 Phillips) and then the two pivot Torx screws/nuts that the light assembly pivots up and down on.
Once done the entire light assembly can be rotated down into the headlight well and you have wide open access to the bulbs.
This takes less time that trying to do it all from the backside blind....AND you won't end up bending the flimsy metal retaining rings that the bulbs lock into and never being able to get them to lock in. See thread http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1898804 for pics on how to do this

djstylze

Thanks JR - I have already removed the painted cover and the plastic housing around the lights. Its a tight fit, but I can get my into the socket fairly easily, just confused why I can line up the 3 prongs and it won't turn. I'll try Peebee's idea and if not, I'm going to remove the loctite screws. (I had started on one, and it was rough)

jrprich

What happened to me was while I was trying to get the HID bulbs in there blind I got 2 of the 3 tabs in but because it is all by feel, as I kept trying I actually bent in the locking ring on the third slot and therefore it would never seat. I had to be able to look at it and pry up the mounting ring where I had bent it.

If you decide to remove the two with loctite, I used vise grips on both sides until I was past the loctite. Then replaced the nuts with locking nuts from Home Depot. Now it is a breeze to do

djstylze

If anyone's interested - sorry for the long drama..

I tried swapping out the o-ring and this time I got 3 tabs in but could not twist the light. Frustrated I spent another hour before I gave up. Then I decided to go ahead and pull the locking nuts out.

I made a huge error: I did not properly mark the assembly tray that apparently moves any direction.

So I quickly put the bulb in with the assembly out of the way, but realized getting the headlight back was going to take a long time. Finally after loosening every screw, putting the headlight down and moving it to an acceptable position - I finally got it in place.

After checking everything out, the driver's side light is indeed aimed correctly. Now I am hesitant to pull the passenger side assembly so I can reinstall that light since its low.

The HID kit is not for scrubs like myself - I am just not that precise to do these kinds of jobs!!!

AnteVenom

Calm Down! You did great and just to let you know it's not a big deal that the headlight assembly can be moved around in all directions once you remove those two tough lock nuts on the top rear. It's just that the only thing holding it onto the car at that point is the linkage arm.

At that point you cannot really put it back together incorrectly as once you have it so those nuts and bolts are reinstalled and tightened you are done!

Now if you had romved the linkage arm it would have been a bit more difficult but as long as you have the arm positioned correctly related to the stop you woul dbe fine there too.

Go ahead and do the other side and you will notice how much you have learned and how much less difficult that side will be. If it makes you feel more confident take a digital picture of it before you do anything.

Again you did a great job and now know a lot more about the C5 than many others!

mrm1149

Frustrating to say the least but do not put yourself under time constraints. When you get it completed (and you will) you'll be armed with more knowledge than you thought

djstylze

Thanks guys for the kind words.

For clarification sake - the 4 bolts that let the "top plate" slide around was the item giving me fits. You're right about the two anchor bolts, they go right back into place. This time I'm going to try an 8mm wrench so I can try squeezing it in between the tiny hole to remove the anchor bolts.

Have a great weekend!!

Camjamsdad

My 2 cents. When you have it all apart lube the adjusters with WD40. Coat the long screws well that go through the adjuster mechanism. I managed to strip the nylon block on the front of the screw. I screwed a small screw in the corner wedging the nylon socket in place so I could use the adjuster. I also stripped the torx adjuster screw head and then found out a 1/4" 12 point 1/4" drive socket works better anyways. I recommend removing the lock tite bolts as well for extra room. You'll also realize that after you have done this job that future stuff like side marker lights, fog lights, and even a Vararam install is made simpler by going through the easy access headlight hole.

And for the record I did the drivers side first in an hour Then the passenger side took 20 minutes.

bojangles5169

Same here - couldn't figure out why I couldn't get the HID bulbs to snap in place like the stock - lows are too low. Thank God I saved the stock blubs - I'm switching O rings - bet that solves my problem too. Y'all are great - info is invaluable!

bojangles5169

I've read all the above including the GM blurb but there has to be a way to adjust the vertical individually on both the hi & lo doesn't there? I have my HID lo beams adjusted about right vertically but I could go squirrel hunting with one of my hi beams now! I've only found 2 adjustment screws - both torx - both on the inboard side - 1 on a long shaft 1/2 way between and behind the headlight units and the other in plain sight inboard of the hi beam. I did the HID bulbs install using the stock O rings - got both to snap in place so I don't think the problem is a HID bulb installed incorrectly - could be wrong. HELP PLEASE!!!!

byronhunter

No, you CAN NOT adjust high and low beams seperately.

mrm1149

Correct I think the high beams being thrown way off after the HID mod have to do with having two different beam types within the same capsule. Hope that attempt at an explanation makes some sense.

bojangles5169

I'm 99% sure both HID bulbs seated properly after switching to the stock O rings but I'm only having real problems on 1 side so I think I'll do some more diss assembly so that I don't have to use the braille system and make sure both HIDs are seated properly - if that doesn't work - guess I'll take my rifle, turn the beams on hi and go squirrel hunting in the trees at night!

Nick1

It's always a real bummer when you are working on what should be a straightforward job and it turns out to be a nightmare.
There have been some other aftermarket bulb problems that are freakish.
I have a good HID low beam set, and replaced my stock high beams with PIAA bulbs. As it turned out, the diameter of the neck was a imperceptable bit large. Therefore you went nuts trying to get a good full insertion, nonetheless a full seated twist. Luckily I read a thread on this before I chucked them.