996 Xenon Low Beam Height Adjust - broken

[millerchris85]

I am a brand new 996 owner as of two days ago 😃

 

I bought a 996 turbo and drove it home, and immediately noticed that the passenger side low beam was dipped way low.

 

Referencing the manual, I tried adjusting it, but no success.

 

I removed the housing and found that the adjust mechanism is broken inside - with the setup being manual adjustment --> gear/lever mechanism --> auto adjust motor (996 631 135) --> bulb housing, the gear/lever arrangement is broken at the interface to the auto adjust motor.  As a result, nothing is controlling the beam height.

 

I spent some time trying to find a part number for the gear/lever mechanism and no luck - only got as far as the auto adjust motor.  I can attempt to repair with glue or similar but not convinced it will hold.

 

Any tips for this one?  I would prefer to replace just this mechanism.

[Loren]

 

You will need to find a salvage yard for internal light parts as Porsche only sells the whole assembly.

[judgejon]

From past experiences, I think you will likely find it easier to replace the entire module.  But you found the 996 solution to overdriving your headlights without constant hi beam/lo beam flicking.  Set the lows up just a few clics. “Back in the day” with older 911’s the trick was to replace the Bosch low-hung fog lights with real driving lights or to remove the internal lamp shrouds.  Problem either way is you might get some blinks from other irritated drivers or attract a LEO.  Have to balance that with your driving pattern..ie, lots of night driving on twisty mountain roads?  Easiest solution is just replacing the needed headlight module. Good luck. 

[millerchris85]

Thank you both for the advice!

 

I am searching for used units right now.

 

Just to ask the question - is there any awareness whether the headlight leveling bits inside the housing are the same for turbo versus non-turbo?  Used right-side housings for turbo are hard to come by; I could potentially get a non-turbo unit and swap the bits over.

Edited January 6, 2020 by millerchris85

[judgejon]

I’d bet they are the same, depending on the model year.  I’d guess C4$ would for sure be the same.