Replaced the lefthand headlamp this morning, and reinserted the headlight assembly. Now the headlight wont pop up more than an inch and I cant pull open the hood. It wont budge: any real application of force starts to bend the hood about the headlight area. My guess is that I worked impatiently and didnt properly align something, and the headlight lid spring got caught on something below, possibly the plastic motor cap. This happen to anyone, and any ideas of how to start fixing this?

Also my toolbox is now entombed in the front compartment. Just great.

Can you manually open the headlight hood cover?

Hardly at all. There is something physically impeding movement on the outer edge, if I pull too hard Im sure something will break. It really does feel like something has caught inside like a hook.

The black trim that has the screws into the side of the main assembly is what pushes the door up and down. The top edge of the side shield pushes against Teflon strips that are mounted on the bottom of the doors. If you put the assembly in crooked, it might be off to the side and that will let other things bind.

Try raising the hood as much as you can while working the door up and down or have someone operate the light switch while you work the door up and down in each ON and OFF position.

Can you see anything from the underside?

quote Originally posted by fierofool: The black trim that has the screws into the side of the main assembly is what pushes the door up and down. The top edge of the side shield pushes against Teflon strips that are mounted on the bottom of the doors. If you put the assembly in crooked, it might be off to the side and that will let other things bind. Try raising the hood as much as you can while working the door up and down or have someone operate the light switch while you work the door up and down in each ON and OFF position.

Looked into it a bit more, and yes this is what happened. The headlight assembly was installed so crooked that the trim misses the door entirely and hits the hood. Something has definitely caught the door "arm": just to raise the door another half inch Ive already cracked the connection between arm and pane.(this "arm" is what has been caught).

Could perhaps one of the kind souls on this forum examine their car, and identify what is most likely to be the point of "failure" (the hook) should the assembly been installed much too far to the outside?

I really dont know what to do at this point, and am reaching the point of despair. The moment I tried lifting the hood last night I knew it would be really bad. Helluva lesson about learning to check your work and not just assume everything is idiotproof.

[This message has been edited by rednotdead (edited 06-21-2015).]

I'm away from home for the day but try realigning the assembly using the marks made by the nuts. Maybe someone else can help in the meantime. I may have a good replacement piece. I can't get a clear pic on my small phone.

quote Originally posted by fierofool: Still away FM home but got better look at pic. Mechanism hinge is broken. May still have everything you need to repair.

Im sorry, I should have been more clear: the picture is not my car, I posted just to indicate where I think the problem is occurring. At the moment, I have no way to get behind the headlight door, as I can only open it about an inch at very most.

Worst comes to worst, Im starting to consider breaking the door to get access.

[This message has been edited by rednotdead (edited 06-21-2015).]

It will probably require an assistant to work the hood up and down while you use something to insert into any opening you have and try to maneuver things around. If you feel you need to break something, put the hood down so the edges around the headlight door are supported by the body and pull up on the door. Which side and what color is the car?

Thanks, i'll keep that in mind.

quote Originally posted by fierofool: Which side and what color is the car?

Driver side, silver. Though the hood and headlight doors are rattlecanned and I will need to redo them anyways after fighting with this issue.

Bump, if someone has the chance to have a quick look at their own headlamps and see how a misaligned headlamp assembly might catch on the cover arm.

I just looked and it appears that that hook end of the door torsion spring might be able to catch underneath the flange where the top curve of your question mark is located. The headlight assembly could be far to the left. With that in mind, with the headlight in the off position, you may be able to insert a long long screw driver through a slightly raised door and be able to push the door hinge sideways enough that an assistant could lift the hood.

This first picture is with the hood closed and the headlight door raised about 2 inches. Insert it just to the left of the headlight door flange and pry, pushing the handle to the passenger side.


This picture is with the headlight door fully open so you have a reference to how things align. You want to go in just to the right of that hinge bolt. The one that's missing in your example.

Thanks so much Fierofool - pictures too, nice! Im gonna try this out as soon as I get the chance. Fingers crossed...

Update: it worked! Knowing where to apply force made the job pretty simple, again, thanks so much FieroFool for your time. No major damage done (nothing that cant be fixed). Ultimately, it turned out that part of the door flange had previously been cracked, creating an edge for the headlight assembly to catch on.

rednotdead. Can you add a picture detailing the area that got caught?

quote Originally posted by rednotdead: Replaced the left hand headlamp this morning, and reinserted the headlight assembly. Now the headlight wont pop up more than an inch and I cant pull open the hood.

Why couldn't you get the hood open??