Afraid I'll break something. There's nice tutorials about swapping the headlight and I've got the headlight out of the car and the new ones ready to go in but I can't get the leveladjustment motor/actuator out. It seems like a bajonet (twist-lock) system but pulling on it just moves the whole H4 light mirror. Seen a RAV4 video* where there was a ball in a socket type of connection, so maybe I am just not pulling hard enough. But I know myself and this is often the stage something goes wrong and breaks... (I've had enough bolts snap during disassembly...) Help??? This is where the motor should go in the new headlight. I can rotate this thing and then pull it out less than one cm (3rd of an inch) but that's it. The hexagonal thing in the middle DOES NOT ROTATE when I rotate the three prongs. This is the motor assembly on the old headlight. (Sorry for the lousy pic but my phone takes a pic, shows it on the screen and when you then go into the gallery to post it, there's only a pic taken a second later (or sometimes no pic at all...) Guess phones aren't supposed to last 5 years anymore). * (Sorry, CHR: )
I've since found pics of the motor on Ebay that might indicate I should unscrew the 8mm hex thingy as there is no ball joint but a long screw-thread... I'll keep searching for answers...
I think I found the solution. Being trilingual has its advantages (there's a couple more I have *some* grasp off). Google might be able to translate (didn't use that) but finding the page in the first place is best done in the original language. Prius 2 Scheinwerfer, Stellmotor Leuchtweitenregul - PRIUSforum TLDR: it's the 8mm socket you'll need to unscrew the thing (obviously also use the 'bajonet' twist-lock function). And NO BALL JOINT to unclip by applying a lot of force... Glad I didn't proceed yesterday in my quest to finish it in one evening... Will reply back once I have ACTUALLY done it. Right now I am just stoked I finally found the answer. I'll make sure to thank the poster on that forum.
The 8mm socket is indeed the solution. I do not know how many turns I should have given it but I have not yet had people signalling that I am blinding them driving at night with the new lights Finished yesterday. Getting everything back together took some time but wasn't too hard. Some clips couldn't be reused as they were rusted together with their bolts and had ripped a hole in the plastic instead of coming loose, so the three underside plastic parts are now held together with plastic clips. (They all still have 10mm socket bolts holding them to the rest of the car). Also the old rubber boots over the H4 lamps were a fraction smaller in diameter than the new ones, so I reused them as the new ones were a bitch to fit with the complete unit resting on my lap, let alone while replacing a bulb in the freezing cold in the middle of the night... I tried adjusting the lights today but figured I shouldn't tempt fate: Left points slowly lower than right but I have the APK/MOT/yearly-test tomorrow and knowing my luck, I probably manage to break something off trying to adjust it today. My Toyota dealer does the yearly test (*), and testing the light-pattern is one of the items they check on so I'll just mention that I adjusted it best I could and they'll hopefully perfect the setting. * Toyota dealer also tests my Volvo as they always treat me very well: always pressing out the front-wheel-bearing for free whenever I have to replace it yet again, often not letting me pay the yearly test fee if a car doesn't pass (most testingstations WILL let you pay and you'll pay again for the retest), not reporting a car if it failed (Prius is OK until Febuari 22nd, but if it fails tomorrow, I am not allowed to drive it anymore, but if they don't report it, there's no official test and I can keep driving until Feb 22nd. Obviously if it is something lifethreatening, they won't be lenient). Only car they don't do the yearly test for is our third car, a Dacia Logan MCV, formally owned from new by my MIL. It sounds like it has a leaking exhaust but it has passed the yearly test like this for >5 years, so not changing the garage that keeps passing it, even if it is 65€ vs 50€ at the Toyota dealer. New vs old with the new one still having a cellofane-like protective layer on it. Motor out:
