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At the recent dodgy day a MX5 with popup headlights had a very annoying movement where the lights moved around when raised annoying the hell out of the driver.

It took a few of us some time to find the solution, and it was suggested that a post be made for others.

Here is the fix....

There are two bump stops that can be adjusted on the pop up headlights. Circled in red - 1 for open (middle top) and 1 for closed (middle).

DSCN2818 by Eipeip, on Flickr

From the other side
DSCN2819 by Eipeip, on Flickr

In this instance it was an issue when the lights were open so that bump stop need adjustment:

This is the light in the down position.
DSCN2822 by Eipeip, on Flickr

However when up it rests on the bump stop
DSCN2823 by Eipeip, on Flickr

Simply adjust the bump stop to stop any movement
DSCN2817 by Eipeip, on Flickr

Once we did this no more movement. However when the lights were down there was still some movement, so adjust the other bump stop:

DSCN2821 by Eipeip, on Flickr

By all reports the car is now drivable at night without an annoying light movement!

Certainly is! [WINKING FACE]

Thanks again for the fix and an excellent write up.
It was very interesting to watch how the problem and solution were worked out and I'm sure you'll agree that it helped to have your spare assembly there to be able to twist and turn it around.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

I guess having a spare headlight assembly helped with the fix

A timely write-up as I've noticed my car has the same problem and I'm now fixated on it whenever the lights are popped. Thanks Magpie. When you say your "lights moved around when raised," was it like a bouncing of the unit that caused the light beam to flicker?

MXO005 would be best to comment as it was his car that had the problem. I think it was more about the light moving around than a 'flicker', a bit like somebody holding a flash light whilst intoxicated.

If you can move the headlight around a little bit when it is raised/lowered then this is a similar problem that we fixed. It is only a few mm's of movement.

Smacca wrote:When you say your "lights moved around when raised," was it like a bouncing of the unit that caused the light beam to flicker?

Hi Smacca,

I could see the whole headlight unit physically moving/bouncing as I drove. It wasn't that the light was actually 'flickering' on and off but the effect of the beam on the road was similar in a way.
The hard edge of the beam would move rapidly up and down.

Smacca wrote:I'm now fixated on it whenever the lights are popped.

That's it exactly. I couldn't take my eyes off of the edge of the beam on the road. It was hypnotising and actually made me feel physically sick a couple of times.
Heaven knows what it was like for anyone in front of me.