2007 XC70 Headlight adjustment

[Kiwirst]

I'm struggling to figure out how to adjust the headlights. Both are very low, I was able to only lower the one side. The other side it seems like the adjustment is either broken or maxed out and won't return to the adjustment track.

Has anyone got good tips/tricks to get the adjustment back to working?

This is on the passenger side, which I had some issues with getting the new bulb to actually seat itself in the locking ring.

[ericjp]

I had one of the adjusters pop out on a 2002 that kept me from adjusting it correctly. I think it was a ball socket. Not sure if the 2007's are the same.

[Scopeman]

Pull the bumper cover, a 10 min. job, then you can easily remove the complete light assembly and repair as required! Replace the bulbs while you have it apart, by FAR the easiest way!

[Reverend]

I had a similar issue and it turned out that the adjustment motor for the headlight had a little piece of the gear sticking out...

There's a pic of that here;
http://www.robdiesel.com/wordpress/2016/02/volvo-v70-headlights/

I pushed it back in and superglued it in place and haven't had any adjustment issues since.

[Kiwirst]

Thanks for the pics, do these adjustment modules need the headlight assembly removed to access these or can they come out without removing the bumper?

[Kiwirst]

Pull the bumper cover, a 10 min. job, then you can easily remove the complete light assembly and repair as required! Replace the bulbs while you have it apart, by FAR the easiest way!

Since when has a job on a Volvo ever taken 10min??? Especially when you've never pulled one apart! ;-)

[pbierre]

The bulb must be mounted correctly...this is a key optical variable, since it positions the filament wrt the mirrored reflector. You should be able to see all 3 tabs of the bulb out in front of the mounting collar (viewed from the outside). The H11 headlight bulb replacement design is one of the worst lapses of human engineering from Volvo.

[Kiwirst]

Can the adjustment motors/drives/whatever you call them, be removed without removing the whole headlight assembly?

Can the headlights be removed without removing the bumper?

[Xfingers]

Maybe others will disagree, but I don't see how you can get at the 6 bolts to remove the headlight without first taking the bumper off. Removing the front bumper/nose cone is one of the easier more straightforward procedures on this car. After you do it the first time, you can almost do it in your sleep. There's instructions somewhere on this site. Just pay attn. to how you angle and slide out the headlight because you'll want to keep that same angle/position in order to slide the (new) headlight back in.

[albertj]

Since when has a job on a Volvo ever taken 10min??? Especially when you've never pulled one apart! ;-)

The point is it's not difficult at all, although the first time you might/should allow 30 minutes. I'm pretty sure you'll find a YouTube showing how, or use your VIDA/DiCE (or get one if you don' t have).

[albertj]

Can the adjustment motors/drives/whatever you call them, be removed without removing the whole headlight assembly?

Can the headlights be removed without removing the bumper?

Not that I am aware of. I appreciate your concern at removing the bumper cover but, if you have a space to work in, it's not a big deal. If you don't have a space to work in, you might ask an independent Volvo mechanic to re-aim your head lights. By the way did you check tire inflation and are your shocks/struts correct? Issues with the car's stance and measurement errors (not having/using a truly level surface to park to check the aim) can push the apparent headlight adjustment out of range.

[Kiwirst]

So playing around last night to see if the lamp wasn’t properly seated within the frame (tabs etc) & I noticed that I can move the entire assembly up and down by pulling on the lamp while it’s seated, is that normal?

This headlight adjustment is wearing on my patience