S2000 Under The Hood S2000 Technical and Mechanical discussions.

Headlight Jiggle

Old Aug 11, 2002 | 07:33 PM
  #1  
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From: Kingwood
Default Headlight Jiggle

Does anyone else have trouble with one or both of their headlights bobbling up and down? When I'm braking at a stop light, approaching the car in front of me, I can always see the sharp top line of my left headlight jiggling up and down, while the line of my right light is virtually perfectly still.
American Honda is trying to get me to fall for their line that "it's normal"! Of course, it isn't, but I'm wondering how many others are having similar problems. I'd like to know whether (1) it's a common problem that Honda knows about but believes it can stand firm and not have to fix for anyone or (2) it's an uncommon problem and they're just thinking they can get away without paying to fix mine.
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Old Aug 11, 2002 | 07:40 PM
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Mine do that all the time. I thought it was simply bumps in the road coupled with the tightness of the light stream, and the tightness of the suspension. Try driving another car and have an s2000 in the rearview. It might drive you to Madness...
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Old Aug 13, 2002 | 07:39 AM
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Have you checked to see if your light housing (or bulb, lens, etc.) is coming loose? I am not sure how accessible everything is, so you may have to remove your front bumper to check. If only one of side is bouncing, while the other is still, then something must be loose.
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Old Aug 13, 2002 | 09:12 AM
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its perfectly normal, not a problem, nor an issue and nothing is lose at all.

the suspension is tighter than most suspensions out there and the HID's are very EXACT in how they direct light - which means, very little dissipation for you to tell if the light is or isn't bobbling up and down.

for more info on HID's in the S2000, check out these two Library articles:
https://www.s2ki.com/article/articleview/114/1/29/
and
https://www.s2ki.com/article/articleview/51/1/29/
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Old Aug 13, 2002 | 10:30 AM
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I think that there are two differnent issues here:

1) normal tight suspension/sharp cutoff looks like flashing.
2) something loose that causes a headlight to actually rotate up and down, like a bobble-head doll.

Everyone has #1; only a few people have #2.

jerrypeterson has #2 on the driver's side, and it drives me crazy everytime he's behind me at night.
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Old Aug 13, 2002 | 10:38 AM
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Since rev29k is having a problem with just his left light, I think he's got something loose, or broken.
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Old Aug 13, 2002 | 07:39 PM
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From: Kingwood
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Just to clarify, I'm not talking about how easily you can see the light's sharp line on the road or bumpers ahead bouncing up and down as the car pitch changes (rocks back and forward) as it rides over bumps. I'm talking about how the LEFT light--relative to the right one--is very jiggly. Sure, the right one is bouncing up and down with the same frequency that the car body moves, but the left light has a much higher-frequency vibration in it, probably 2-5 cycles per second. As I approach another car's bumper at a stop light, I see the right beam very steady and left one bobbling up and down.

Maybe I'll take a short movie clip of the effect and post it (would anyone care to see it?). Maybe even American Honda will view it and see how ridiculous it is to say it's "normal"!

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Old Aug 13, 2002 | 07:41 PM
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Oh, forgot to mention. I've checked the bulb and everything else and all is tight that can be tightened. You can actually see the low-beam lens component (that is sealed inside the headlight assembly) vibrating. Of course, it is normal for the left light to do this, while the right one is perfectly tight!
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