Hi All, I'm new to the forum but not to Volvo wagons. Looking forward to learn and hopefully contribute where I can.
Our current Volvo is a 2005 V70 2.4 manual which we have had for 8 years and will never sell. It has now 193k miles.
I just replaced the headlights with TYC aftermarket units. The TYC units came beautifully packed, with all bulbs installed, and went in without any issues -- fit, work and look great.
I do need to adjust the side-to-side aim of the passenger side headlight. Is there a special tool which can reach the 6 mm hex horizontal screw (not the white one) without disassembling the ECU box and the windshield washer reservoir? My 1/4" drive wrench and short 6 mm socket won't fit in there. (I did disassemble the air filter box to adjust the driver side...)
Thanks for any tips!

 

P.S. I am aware that the vertical white screw is geared with the horizontal one and essentially doing the same thing, and the white screw is accessible from above with an extension, but it seems that the white screw does not want to turn without help from the 6 mm horizontal one and I am afraid of breaking the little conical gears. Any clues will be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Update (answer?) to my own question...: I looked closely at the headlight adjusters on my removed OEM headlights and found the following: The vertical aim adjuster (the one located higher and closer to the center of the car) indeed has a 6 mm plastic hex head at the end of the main horizontal shaft as well as a vertical hex head geared to the horizontal shaft so theoretically one can adjust the vertical aim with either of the hex heads (in reality it's easier to turn both together to overcome the friction).
However, the horizontal aim adjuster (the one located low down and more outboard) does not have a hex at the end of the main horizontal shaft, so it has to be adjusted only with the geared vertical head. Problem is it is very difficult to turn and I am afraid of stripping the hex (keep in mind all these parts are plastic). So, I exercised the removed OEM headlight adjusters and got them to turn easier after squirting some silicon spray. I will attempt this tomorrow on the headlight installed in the car and report results.

 

Thanks for the informative posts. I've never looked at my headlights except when changing bulbs.

Your 2005 has plastic lenses, no? What made you renew them, just plain aging?

 

Thank you for your kind words and apologies for any confusion from my multiple posts as I was "fact finding" my way through this.
Yes and yes -- my OEM (as well as the replacement) headlights have plastic lenses and the original ones got very opaque and dim. I had tried to polish them several times but it yielded marginal and only temporary improvement. The new headlights are like night and day... literally. I hope they last that way for a long time.
To the best of my understanding headlights with glass lenses were used before the 2005 facelift and do not fit the later cars. Quite a shame -- looks like the kind of standard cost cutting accompanying most facelifts...
Speaking of changing bulbs, that's also not a friendly task -- I had to remove the air filter box to get to the driver's side and the ECU box to get to the passenger's side low beam bulbs, and was actually not able to twist them all the way into place (left them wedged in part of the way).
Yup, headlight servicing is not the high point of the otherwise mostly stellar design of these cars.

 

Another P.S. -- silicone spray does the trick. The vertical white hex adjusters turn easily with no fear of stripping or breaking the (plastic) conical gears.

 

What is so irksome about our headlights is that the design differs little from other Volvos which have the "pull blade" release.

I don't know the real name or if it even is named. There are clearly obvious straps of metal which you pull up to release the entire headlight unit.

Friends had an '05 XC-90 with that feature.

 

Yup. Ours is the double whammy. You can't stick your fingers and reach the bulb without disassembling part of the car and once you reach there, you don't have enough force in your fingers to rotate the damn bulb to separate it from the housing. Maddening.
Now, after replacing the complete headlights I'm actually wondering whether it's not easier to remove the headlight from the car to replace a bulb rather than disassemble the air filter box or the ECU box.
By the way, the original issue of my thread - headlight adjustment - is moot. It is very easy and readily accessible with a 6 mm socket (long extension for the horizontal aim). After spraying some silicon spray the adjusters turn very easily. Completed the adjustment tonight using the trial and error method - small adjustments in my driveway followed by a short run down some straight dark country road observing the pattern (and making sure oncoming traffic does not flash at me when I'm in low beam). Took two cycles to nail it. The lighting (with std halogen bulbs) is now excellent. Should have done this 3-4 years ago.