How do you stop the head lights from moving around?
Asked by Mcllwain Jul 22, 2007 at 11:11 PM about the 2005 Chevrolet Malibu Maxx
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
While driving my Malibu Maxx with the head lights on, the passenger head light seems to be moving or vibrating. I've added some weather stripping below the head lamp to stop the vibrating. I need some advice on how to correct this problem.
4 Answers
littlehorn answered 16 years ago
This seems to be common on most new vehicles due to the position of the upper engine mount on the fender well area on the passenger side. Check the engine mount with a pry bar to see if you can move the engine more than 1/2" in either direction, in which case the mount is bad, which can cause increased vibrations. You may also replace the bulb as sometimes bulbs flicker or vibrate before they burn out.
This really doesn't have anything to do with the engine mount. The Malibu has a CHEAP design on how they mounted the lights. the entire light housing just sits down into a mounting hole on the bottom and has a screw to hold the top. Wonderful GM engineering.....NOT.
One question for you. Has the vehicle ever been in an accident on that side? If so, was the headlamp assembly ever replaced? It was not uncommon for LKQ (after market or off-shore) partsto be spec'd by insurance companies. These headlamp assemblies, in a number of cases, were of very poor quality. The most common problem with them is exactly as you described...
some of you are thinking to hard on this one. i had an 06, and now drive an 07 LTZ maxx and the answer is crystal when you pop the hood and simply look at the headlight mounting bracket. its crap, its cheap, its simple. theres no way that i have discovered to secure the headlight so that it doesnt 'bounce' that wont be obvious and visible from the front. my only suggestion is to call GM and complain - as long as we keep buying and putting up with crap, they are going to keep making crap.
