Sometimes the adjuster for the facelift headlights becomes unclipped. This often occurs when replacing the dipped headlamp bulb as a lot of force can make it ping out of the socket. When this happens, you will notice that the dipped headlight section of the cluster rattles around. This is quite serious as you will not be correctly cutting-off your headlight beam and will dazzle oncoming traffic.

In order to fix this, remove the offending cluster from the car.

You need to remove the clear lens cover but the clips (see below) that hold it in place become very brittle with age. You can try placing the unit in a warm place (e.g. airing cupboard) to make the plastic more pliable.

Carefully free all the clips and remove the cover from the rest of the unit.

You will see the the dipped headlight section is made up of an adjustable mechanism that is separate from the high beam and indicator section. This section is held by two arms, one of which will have become disconnected.

To fix this, simply push the reflector back on to the arm.

Check the adjustment of the arms by turning the hex sockets on the side of the fitting. Ensure that you correct the adjustment to what it was before.

Clean the reflector in order to remove any finger marks.

Clean the lens cover as well.

Carefully push the lens cover back on to the fitting.

Ensure that the plastic pin is located as well.

Before fitting the unit back on the car, remove one of the bulb access covers and put the whole fitting in a warm dry place for a few hours. This will ensure that the unit is free from any water vapour that may condense and damage the fitting.

Remember to get your headlight cut-off angles corrected at an MOT station.