The steps below are shortened from the Vauxhall TIS pages for the Speedster. The VX220 shares the same engines and most of the car, but check anything unusual against your own car. The TIS pictures and the full wording aren't reproduced, so use the workshop manual if you are doing the job. We haven't seen owners' accounts of this job, so there are no owner tips here.
Removing the whole headlamp assembly is a bonnet-up job, with a nut at the back of the lamp. For the bulb on its own see Headlight bulb replacement. For a cracked or misted lens, or a lamp that sits loose, see Headlight lens replacement, resealing and restoration.
Headlamp removal and refitting
The TIS steps are the same for the Turbo and the NA.
Remove
- Open front bonnet for access to nut at rear of front lamp assembly.
- Front lamp assembly from front clam shell – nut, washer, bracket and harness connector.
- Do not disturb splash shield (if installed).
- Trim cover from front lamp assembly – screws.
- Harness connector from bulb.
Install
- Harness connector to bulb.
- Trim cover to front lamp assembly – screws.
- Front lamp assembly to front clam shell – harness connector, bracket, washer and nut.
- Ensure that splash shield is not disturbed (if installed).
Headlamp check and adjustment
The TIS gives the check as a set-up procedure for a headlamp aiming unit or a projection wall. In short:
- Park on a level surface, parallel to the aimer, with the tyres at the specified pressure. Replace any cracked lenses or blackened bulbs before adjusting.
- Load the car as for normal use: kerb weight with a full tank, plus one person or 75 kg on the driver's seat.
- The dipped beam is set to a downward slope of 1.2 per cent, which is 12 cm at 12 m. The break point where the cut-off meets the rising part of the beam must sit on the line through the centre marking.
- Set the vertical adjustment first, then the lateral adjustment, then check the vertical again.
- The TIS aiming diagrams are for right-hand traffic, and the 15 degree rise of the cut-off on the screen is for that side.
Owners' notes
From a 2004 thread, so check it against the TIS steps above.
- Which way in. One owner quoting a front clam guide said the lamp can be removed from underneath by pulling the inner wing away, or from above by working a hand under the bonnet, and that he found above easier. It is held by a single 13 mm nut with a steel backing plate; remove both, withdraw the lamp and unplug the connector.
- Tools. Another owner suggested a long 13 mm socket (the threaded bar goes inside it), a long extension and a universal joint.
- Beam height. Two owners said the beam can be moved up or down once the lamp is loosened at the back. One said there is an adjusting screw visible with the lamp out, and another that it can be reached under the wheel arch behind a circular rubber seal, with clockwise probably meaning up. A third owner said the adjuster is glued in position from the factory and should be tried only if loosening the lamp and moving it doesn't get the beam right. The TIS method above is the reference.
- If a lamp moves or sits badly once refitted, see the loose headlamp fix.