Repairing Baleno Headlight bracket

[shuvc]

It's bad times for me ...
The bumper got hit twice, then a sidewall tear on the 3 week old F1s and now a broken headlight bracket - all in the span of a week.

Bumped the right headlight into an ambassador's rear during a domino effect braking scenario. The headlight is fully functional , glass is intact.
The only damage seems to be - the lower brackets which are attached behind the headlight assembly have broken. The one on top is fine. The bottom of the headlight therefore has been pushed into the body by about an inch. The beam is falling right in front.


MUL workshop has only one solution - replacement.
option 1 - EURO III headlamp with leveller ~12,000 !! Insurance will take care of 50%.

option 2 - EURO II headlamp without leveller ~ 1,700 !! Insurance will pay nothing.

Although I can go for option 2, it's bugging me to replace a EIII headlamp which is pretty ok functionally. Am planning to explore option 3 this Saturday.

Option 3 - Go to a good roadside garage to fix the bracket. If it doesn't work out, I can always go for option 2.

Awaiting your views and advise.

[mclaren1885]

U can do nothing but replace the headlamps if the mounting brackets are broken .. Just go in for the E- II ones ..

[suman]

Hey man, sorry to hear!

Tell me, if Option 3 works, would your leveller be working still? If not, I'd go straightaway for Option 2 since at least you'd have an intact unit with no "quickfix" on it.

[planet_rocker]

@shuvc - i guess i was right. the bracket was damaged. if you can do it on ur own (read roadside mecs) its well and fine.

going for option two is the second best thing.

[shuvc]

hmmm .. let me try option 3 once .. on saturday .. meanwhile any other inputs are welcome ..

@suman, the leveller is working even now .. all headlight/indicator functions are working fine. It's only the plastic bracket attached to the back of the assembly that's apparently damaged (it hasn't been opened yet). It's gone in an inch and is jammed there. That's why am feeling bad to throw away a fully functional 12K lamp for a 2K one.

[shuvc]

The only +ve for option 1 is that the insurance guy thought all the parking related scratches on the bumper were due to this incident - and said that bumper painting (worth 2700/-) will be borne by insurance
But I guess i can get the bumper painted at a cheaper rate at a good paint shop outside.

[iraghava]

Originally Posted by shuvc

It's bad times for me ...
The bumper got hit twice, then a sidewall tear on the 3 week old F1s and now a broken headlight bracket - all in the span of a week.

Sad to hear that but how did you cut the sidewall on your new tyres?

[Jaggu]

if you can manage to pull out the damaged leg and give it a good deal of araldate gum and leave for 24 hours and you should be fine

but if the damage cannot be pulled out or recovered without opening the lamp unit go for option 2

also has anybody check out if option 1 leveling device can be removed and retrofitted to option 2?

[1100D]

Hey Shuvc, if I get my head turning tomorrow, I may have a look at the unit. Maybe we can take it off once and show it to a person here who repairs plastic buckets. I guess he can do it.

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by iraghava

Sad to hear that but how did you cut the sidewall on your new tyres?

The right front wheel went into a deep/steep/sharp pothole at around 40kmph. Tyre pressure was 32psi. But still .... ended up with almost a inch wide tear.

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by 1100D

Hey Shuvc, if I get my head turning tomorrow, I may have a look at the unit. Maybe we can take it off once and show it to a person here who repairs plastic buckets. I guess he can do it.

The bad times continue .. down with fever today ..
Got another contact - some Hyderbhai's garage on old park street.

[shuvc]

Forgot to update the resolution.
The headlight was taken out at a local garage. One of brackets/supports at the bottom was broken. The other partly cracked and bent. This was melted & straightened and the crack sealed with glue.

They tried fixing broken support with glue too - however it couldn't take the load and came off again while fixing the headlight back.



Apparently due to the absence of one support the right healight beam was still falling shorter than the left one. This was adjusted to a large extent by using the 'beam adjuster' on the unit (not the leveller control in the dash).

So now it's been fixed for a total of Rs. 20 and running on 2 supports for the last 3 months