mini projector headlight question

I know this topic has probably been played out but I just got around to doing this mod. So for anyone watching the Youtube videos and planning on going for it. Here is somethings I ran into and either missed or did not understand. I ended up with a weird light pattern, kinda like a mountain peak / \ instead of the ___ . For dummies like me, it was the torx adjustment screw in the middle of the projector that needed to be loosened and adjusted. Hence why there is an included torx tool with your projector. It seems simple but at 8pm after work and rushing, I was clueless! Additionally, I did experience the documented issue of losing the fog lights upon projector installation. The following day I installed the relay suggested by Tyler208 on youtube and with just one relay installed, all went back to normal and operational again.

** Now I'm having an issue with the projector on the driver side not adjusting down, also it seems the housing clip keeps coming loose and the projector goes out of alignment as its wobbling freely! Other than that, the light output is quite impressive as others have stated. Im hoping to resolve these little issues to give this Mod a fair shot.

I installed a $10 amber LED into the DLR slot (2005 and up lenses) and boy does that look slick with the new housings. BTW, I got them at Rockauto and went with the DEPO housing which are nice quality. Anyhoo, dont mean to belabor the topic, just want to help someone looking to do the mod.

 

Did you buy the same COlight projector?

The cutoff on each bulb is supposed to be like _____/¯¯¯¯¯¯

So when you get them properly aligned it should look like __/¯¯¯¯¯¯/¯¯¯¯¯¯

You should NOT need to adjust any bolts on the bulb, and I wouldn't recommend doing that. If you bought those from COlight and you think you got a defective bulb, contact them so they can replace it. I have no idea what you actually did (and if you should've done it) by tweaking on that bolt, but ... I suspect you may've just un-calibrated the bulb somehow.

 

Likely just loosened the set screw, rotated the bulb to line up the cutoff horizontally and then tightened the set screw. I had to do that on mine as well.

 

Really? I just spun to loosen the heatsink on mine, spun the bulb, then tightened the heat sink down again, if memory serves.

 

Now you got me second guessing. The LED bulbs in my daughter’s projectors were a set screw for sure. I do remember the heat sinks having to unscrew to get the bulb in the housing seated and get the boot back on them. Hmmmm.

 

Okay, not going crazy

 

Hmmm. I don’t remember that. And I can spin the bulbs in the housing for fine tuning. Is that the screw OP is talking about though?

 

Sounds like it. Torx in the middle of the light housing. Included tool.

 

Mine seems to be designed a little different from the ones pictured earlier ITT

it appears to me the included tool (allen) and screw on mine is to resolve the problem others experienced where the light was pointing too high, beyond the adjustment screw limit on the light assembly, which caused them to have to adjust the whole light assembly. This caused the light assembly to jut out beyond the hood at the top

I believe it is intended to be on the bottom and by screwing it in further it points the light beam lower



that whole wheel, for lack of a better term, will spin around so that you can have that set screw at the bottom. If I am not mistaken, the headlight assemblies are designed where the light is installed with 2 fingers or prongs equidistant at the top and 1 at the bottom.

With the set screw at the bottom you can easily adjust the light beam lower by screwing the set screw in further

I suspect that's why these lights disappeared, and were replaced by the next generation, so as to resolve that issue

it has the added benefit of making the headlights easier to align. at least in my experience, it was very difficult with the light assemblies and I had to take mine off the truck to make adjustments

 

Ah, I thought you were referring to this fastener, and I was, like, "Uh, it's probably a bad idea to mess with any of those three..."

​

 

That was someone else and his appear to be designed differently. It was confusing to me as well.

On mine that Allen wrench does not fit that screw although I did try it after reading his post. That's when I found that set screw and realized the purpose

I don't think it's in the instructions. Although I'd have to have a magnifying glass to read them. And they seem to be too brief to reference that screw

hard to tell from the pic, but @KNABORES don't appear to have the set screw that is on mine to adjust the light downward.

Also hard to tell without a pic but it didn't sound like @rrod were to lower the light beam either




I should have a chance to try mine this weekend.
If you were one of the ones that had to adjust your whole light assembly, it might be worth the 34 bucks to get the version like mine

 

Where did you get the amber light?

and if you're still having a problem getting your light lower as you mentioned I believe on the passenger side, look for that set screw like mine in my earlier post with the picture

Edit: I see now you were using the set screw to steady the light. Try to spin/adjust it where the set screw is at the bottom and then you can use it to lower the light beam

 

Knabores hit the nail on the head, his picture shows the exact (torx?) screw that I needed to loosen to adjust the light angle. BTW, they have been adjusted in the horizontal orientation now and i lowered the lights via the Philip screw housing on the headlight housing. All seems good now and they are working quite well. I guess the confusion stems from the different mini-projectors out there so be aware your mileage may vary.
heres my culprit: You can see how you can twist the projector side to side once loose to adjust the angle. I did not see this explained anywhere - hence why I wanted to make this post in case someone else ran into the issue.

 

I shared a screenshot from the post above from the other thread on these lights where I explained using the set screw to adjust the angle of rotation. Mine did not have a screw to adjust the elevation angle however.

 

Mine had the Torx set screw. I loosened it and adjusted by looking at the bulb in the housing with the flat side sitting on my table. Was able to TLAR it close enough. My PAX side is canted maybe 1-2 degrees but not worth a disassembly.