1992 Cadillac Deville Replacement

SEAN03

MEMBER
1992 CADILLAC DEVILLE
4.9L
V8
FWD
AUTOMATIC
136,000 MILES

Hi I have a 1992 Cadillac Deville the headlight failed inspection due to a hole in it. They said it could catch on fire. He looked at the other one it also had a crack but not a hole. He said it would fail inspection next year. So I just went ahead and bought 2 new ones. Everyone wanted 199.99-215.00 dollars for the headlight so I went on eBay and got 2 for the price of one. I got 2 brand new ones for 199.99 and free shipping that is coming in tomorrow they were fast shipping. Only 3 days and it came in. Now for the real question when I take the old ones out how do I align the new ones. Or is their a way to mark the old ones before I take them out to match up the new ones. When I take it back for inspection he will check to see if it is adjusted right o not. If not he said I will have to pay 15 dollars a peice to have them aligned. Which comes out to 30 dollars plus one dollar for inspection which is not bad. But if you can shed some light on how to adjust it easily let me know. Thanks.

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,741 POSTS

Where are you that they get that picky with inspections? I've never heard of a headlight catching fire.

Head light aimers are obsolete now due to all the different headlight designs. All service manuals list a procedure that involves placing targets, like a piece of tape, at a specified height, on the wall or garage door of the shop, then you back the car up a measured distance, commonly 20 feet, and aim the lights to hit those targets. In my opinion that is not real precise, and it is just a starting point. I prefer seeing where they're pointed while driving at night, then I make fine tuning adjustments. When you don't have a service manual to find the right height, measure from the ground to the middle of the headlight housing, subtract I believe it is two inches, (might be four inches), and that's the height to place the targets.

You may want to use the wall method with your old lights first to determine where to place the targets. That way, if the lights are okay now, you don't have to worry if the ground is level, and you'll get the left / right set the same as they are now.

A lot of headlight housings have bubble levels built in for the vertical adjustment. That accounts for sagging suspensions and varying weight in the car.