[72Montreal]

After being frustrated for sometime regarding the inability to properly adjust the headlamps I had my first service and mentioned the fact that the headlamps only iluminate the trees. They attempted to adjust the headlamps with no success. Eventually it was discovered that there is a service bulletin that instructs the tech not to attempt an adjustment but to replace entire headlamp unit. As of now awaiting the arrival of two replacement headlamp units. Am I the only one who has had his headlamps pointed towards the stars straight from the factory?

 

[LC_LC]

After being frustrated for sometime regarding the inability to properly adjust the headlamps I had my first service and mentioned the fact that the headlamps only iluminate the trees. They attempted to adjust the headlamps with no success. Eventually it was discovered that there is a service bulletin that instructs the tech not to attempt an adjustment but to replace entire headlamp unit. As of now awaiting the arrival of two replacement headlamp units. Am I the only one who has had his headlamps pointed towards the stars straight from the factory?

First I have heard of this, good info to have.

 

[lockem]

After being frustrated for sometime regarding the inability to properly adjust the headlamps I had my first service and mentioned the fact that the headlamps only iluminate the trees. They attempted to adjust the headlamps with no success. Eventually it was discovered that there is a service bulletin that instructs the tech not to attempt an adjustment but to replace entire headlamp unit. As of now awaiting the arrival of two replacement headlamp units. Am I the only one who has had his headlamps pointed towards the stars straight from the factory?

Nope, there are 2 or 3 other reports of headlight aim problems in the forums. One was "as delivered" and one (two?) was "after I lowered the car".

In the "after I lowered the car" case(s), apparently a hard jolt of the car (which is more likely to happen in a lowered car) can disconnect a joint in the headlight height adjuster (perhaps in conjunction with it being abnormally weak to start with?). In one case the owner was able to snap the adjuster back together to regain normal functionality.

If AR wants to replace the whole thing under warranty, let them. It may take a while for the part to arrive. If you need the car to be drive able at night in the meantime, check if the tech will see if the adjuster ball joint can be snapped back together. Even if this works the integrity of the joint may be compromised such that replacing the headlight is a better long-term solution.

 

[72Montreal]

I have great respect for Lockem’s knowledge and have learned much from paying attention.. help me out here. It would seem to me that lowering the car would cause the headlamps to point down. I do understand and agree with the hard bump aspect and I guess that we only have a 50/50 chance default would be down. On an different subject I don’t have a lot of confidence in the shop that installed the Eibach performance springs. The car drives great (TI Performance/Sport options) and I don’t rub. I had a tech (“B” grade dealer service) say that it was particularly low. Can they be installed incorrectly?

 

[AlfaRomeoCares]

After being frustrated for sometime regarding the inability to properly adjust the headlamps I had my first service and mentioned the fact that the headlamps only iluminate the trees. They attempted to adjust the headlamps with no success. Eventually it was discovered that there is a service bulletin that instructs the tech not to attempt an adjustment but to replace entire headlamp unit. As of now awaiting the arrival of two replacement headlamp units. Am I the only one who has had his headlamps pointed towards the stars straight from the factory?

Hi 72Montreal,

I am sorry to hear that this has happened. If you are in need of additional assistance while your Giulia is in service, please let us know.

Darlene
Alfa Romeo Social Care Specialist

 

[jwq2]

After being frustrated for sometime regarding the inability to properly adjust the headlamps I had my first service and mentioned the fact that the headlamps only iluminate the trees. They attempted to adjust the headlamps with no success. Eventually it was discovered that there is a service bulletin that instructs the tech not to attempt an adjustment but to replace entire headlamp unit. As of now awaiting the arrival of two replacement headlamp units. Am I the only one who has had his headlamps pointed towards the stars straight from the factory?

see
08-065-18 headlight.pdf

 

[Jake Aziz]

Had mine fixed about three months ago (ti sport+performance) and just noticed tonight that the passenger side is aimed at the trees again. Guess I'm headed back to the shop ?

My car has been in the shop a month and a half of the last four months so far. Might be time to start looking at other options.

 

[lockem]

I have great respect for Lockem’s knowledge and have learned much from paying attention.. help me out here. It would seem to me that lowering the car would cause the headlamps to point down. I do understand and agree with the hard bump aspect and I guess that we only have a 50/50 chance default would be down. On an different subject I don’t have a lot of confidence in the shop that installed the Eibach performance springs. The car drives great (TI Performance/Sport options) and I don’t rub. I had a tech (“B” grade dealer service) say that it was particularly low. Can they be installed incorrectly?

If the car is lowered by the same amount front and rear, lowering the car will not change the angle of the headlights. However, it will cause the light emission point to be lower and that will move the spot on the road closer to the car.

I have not examined the mechanism to be able to comment on the chances of a bump causing the headlights to point up or down. I believe that one has to remove the headlight from the vehicle to have a look at the mechanism which is at the lower rear of the headlamp assembly.

 

[AlfaRomeoCares]

Had mine fixed about three months ago (ti sport+performance) and just noticed tonight that the passenger side is aimed at the trees again. Guess I'm headed back to the shop ?

My car has been in the shop a month and a half of the last four months so far. Might be time to start looking at other options.

Hi Jake Aziz,
I understand how frustrating this must be. Please send us a private message if you would like any additional assistance while your vehicle is at your dealership for this concern. We would be happy to look into this for you.
Lydia
Alfa Romeo Social Care Specialist

 

[MINIME]

Had mine fixed about three months ago (ti sport+performance) and just noticed tonight that the passenger side is aimed at the trees again. Guess I'm headed back to the shop ?

My car has been in the shop a month and a half of the last four months so far. Might be time to start looking at other options.

What other issues were you having other than the headlight?

 

[Jake Aziz]

The sunroof motor broke, that was about 3.5 weeks of the time it spent in the shop.

 

[Alfissimo]

After being frustrated for sometime regarding the inability to properly adjust the headlamps I had my first service and mentioned the fact that the headlamps only iluminate the trees. They attempted to adjust the headlamps with no success. Eventually it was discovered that there is a service bulletin that instructs the tech not to attempt an adjustment but to replace entire headlamp unit. As of now awaiting the arrival of two replacement headlamp units. Am I the only one who has had his headlamps pointed towards the stars straight from the factory?

Interesting. I am wondering if the internal adjustments (ball/socket/screws/gears) pop out due to bad design? Replacement seems wasteful and not the answer unless the headlamp manuf. has fixed the issue. Doubtful. I bet they keep replacing until new ones are produced. I'd like to see one and bake it for 15 min in the oven and remove lens to get inside it. I bet it's an easy fix. Maybe I will grab a lamp and experiment and see what the issue is unless someone wants to send me one? lol

Curious is this is a European or ROW issue or just NA headlamps?

 

[Dorifto]

Ok... ill join in on this conversation with simple explanation and video.. because i had this issue 3 times already (probably because i lowered the car and its stiffer than stock) after hitting a pothole my headlight started to aim way to high, so being me who likes to tinker, i figured to check whats going on, took off the bumper and removed the headlight off the car, just to find out its the projector geting popped out of the ball joint which connects to the height atjuster, pushed the projector down and it poper right back.

Well then i figured its possible to get this done through the fender well, (there is an acess port held by 2 clips), already used this method once, takes 5 mins and your headlight is back on track, or takes 10 minutes if your car is lowered and you will need to rise it up with floorjack lol, anyway just grab the metal part of it and push it up or down, well you push the metal part up so the beam goes down, and with little force it pops back in

here is the video i uploaded for you guys, to see how much movement the headlight has once the ball pin pops out enjoy
https://youtu.be/iLokZPwu3_4

 

[Alfissimo]

Ok... ill join in on this conversation with simple explanation and video.. because i had this issue 3 times already (probably because i lowered the car and its stiffer than stock) after hitting a pothole my headlight started to aim way to high, so being me who likes to tinker, i figured to check whats going on, took off the bumper and removed the headlight off the car, just to find out its the projector geting popped out of the ball joint which connects to the height atjuster, pushed the projector down and it poper right back.

Well then i figured its possible to get this done through the fender well, (there is an acess port held by 2 clips), already used this method once, takes 5 mins and your headlight is back on track, or takes 10 minutes if your car is lowered and you will need to rise it up with floorjack lol, anyway just grab the metal part of it and push it up or down, well you push the metal part up so the beam goes down, and with little force it pops back in

here is the video i uploaded for you guys, to see how much movement the headlight has once the ball pin pops out enjoy
https://youtu.be/iLokZPwu3_4

Like I said. Nice work looking into it. Lowering or not, this should not happen. Popping it back is just a temp fix, so a good pic of the problem ball/socket might help figure out why it's a problem and come up with a solution. I have seen this issue on other lamps from Hella, Stanley to AL. I am also wondering if the lamp (should) has enough suspension in it (rubber bushings). Or is one end solid to body and other in suspension with the lamp? That might be an issue.

 

[Dorifto]

Ok... ill join in on this conversation with simple explanation and video.. because i had this issue 3 times already (probably because i lowered the car and its stiffer than stock) after hitting a pothole my headlight started to aim way to high, so being me who likes to tinker, i figured to check whats going on, took off the bumper and removed the headlight off the car, just to find out its the projector geting popped out of the ball joint which connects to the height atjuster, pushed the projector down and it poper right back.

Well then i figured its possible to get this done through the fender well, (there is an acess port held by 2 clips), already used this method once, takes 5 mins and your headlight is back on track, or takes 10 minutes if your car is lowered and you will need to rise it up with floorjack lol, anyway just grab the metal part of it and push it up or down, well you push the metal part up so the beam goes down, and with little force it pops back in

here is the video i uploaded for you guys, to see how much movement the headlight has once the ball pin pops out enjoy
https://youtu.be/iLokZPwu3_4

Like I said. Nice work looking into it. Lowering or not, this should not happen. Popping it back is just a temp fix, so a good pic of the problem ball/socket might help figure out why it's a problem and come up with a solution. I have seen this issue on other lamps from Hella, Stanley to AL. I am also wondering if the lamp (should) has enough suspension in it (rubber bushings). Or is one end solid to body and other in suspension with the lamp? That might be an issue.

No rubber bushings as i recall just plasic arms to chasi

 

[Alfissimo]

No rubber bushings as i recall just plasic arms to chasi

Interesting.

 

[lockem]

Interesting. I am wondering if the internal adjustments (ball/socket/screws/gears) pop out due to bad design? Replacement seems wasteful and not the answer unless the headlamp manuf. has fixed the issue. Doubtful. I bet they keep replacing until new ones are produced. I'd like to see one and bake it for 15 min in the oven and remove lens to get inside it. I bet it's an easy fix. Maybe I will grab a lamp and experiment and see what the issue is unless someone wants to send me one? lol

Curious is this is a European or ROW issue or just NA headlamps?

What is ROW?

At least the front shock towers don't rip out, like they do on some models of Porsche when they are lowered.

 

[Martyn]

ROW = Rest of World

 

[JohnnyTheBeast]

yeah... I've had this happen twice since I got my car. At first, they thought that it just needed adjustment, but then realized that the entire housing needed to be replaced.

Apparently, it's a super common issue, caused by a weak piece of plastic holding the bulb in place or something like that. Basically, the little plastic bit snaps really easily if you hit a big enough bump, dip, or pothole hard enough.

Good luck getting it repaired tho, new headlights could take close to a month to order and install.

 

[Alfissimo]

It's a ball and socket that holds the entire assembly inside the lamp for adjusting. If it pops out the whole thing is loose.

I will fix them if you send them to me. No need to wait on Alfa. Mainly for after warranty cars. Headlamps are made by AL (Automotive Lighting GmBH). Very good lamps but obviously a flaw.