Headlight Illumination Issues

redwngr · March 7, 2015

My dealer knew about the Product Improvement bulletin, and was curious how I found out about it.

Bulbs are in stock, appointment next week.

SGI2015 · March 7, 2015

No way to adjust from side to side, except to loosen the top fasteners and try to turn the headlights inward with the "slack" n the mounting holes. I do not seem to have that issue with my headlights. If, in fact, you think that is a problem, it would show up very noticeable on an alignment screen. See my procedure below that I did on my truck.

My mechanic told me he did not have any way to do the alignment procedure. My dealer is a small town, west Texas dealer. They have very good GM mechanics and are very good and knowledgable, but their on site size is limited. My service manager gladly printed the PIT5374 bulletin and gave it to me.

I have a fairly big metal shop building here at the ranch, so I pulled my truck in and closed the doors. I set up a "screen" on the inside of the roll up door as per the instructions in the TSB. When I turned out the shop lights, I could see the cutoff line very well. As it turned out, my headlights were within 1/2 turn of each other vertically. I syncronized (spelling ?) with each other and then proceded to perform the alignment procedure. I ended up raising each headlight exactly 1 1/2 turns on the adjustment screws to bring them to the cutoff lines on the door screen. I think I left mine very slightly (1/4 turn) on the high side of the final alignment, but not too high for oncoming traffic. It did make a big difference with the down road visibility. A quarter to half turn on the adjustment screws is very noticeable on the alignment screen.........

And while I was set up, I also did the procedure on my fog lamps. It helped them also. Same procedure, just different vertical height measurements on my door screen.....

Ranch55 - all of your posts, and especially the pictures, have been tremendously helpful to those of us who have been struggling with the headlight issue. In my case the truck is only a couple of weeks old but the first evening I drove it, almost whacking a pedestrian "hiding" on the right side right next to the truck as it went by and then running off the road toward my neighbor's pasture making a sharp (90+ degrees) turn from a two track dirt road onto the (also dirt) road to my place, I was stunned by how dim the lights were and how limited the peripheral lighted area was. I've made that right turn thousands of times and I literally could not tell exactly where I was on a black dark night with no peripheral illumination.

I complained to the dealer immediately and they wanted me to bring it in to check the alignment which didn't seem to me to be the problem at all. Then the TSB came out and since my truck is a December 14 build and I definitely lived in a dark rural area I'm eligible for the upgrade. Called my dealer, they were not aware of the TSB, gave them the number and they were going to get back to me. Still waiting.

In the meantime I have, after multiple tries, failed to be able to print the pictures of the TSB posted earlier so if anyone has any suggestions about how this can be done or if anyone has a copy of the TSB that could be posted as a pdf that would be very helpful.

I feel bad for those of you who have struggled with this for the long time it has taken to get this resolved but I'm extremely glad that GM has addressed this issue and happy that the result seems to be good. Can't wait to get mine done so I can drive at night - otherwise the truck has been great so far.

AUTOGUY · March 7, 2015

Since there is no way to do a horizontal adjustment, I think I might order one of these from my wholesale supplier.... They make Black and Stainless with Bars or 1/2 holes.

Edited March 7, 2015 by AUTOGUY

AUTOGUY · March 7, 2015

Or a Windshield Light or Grill with LED Lights.....

jamin87ss · March 7, 2015

Or a Windshield Light or Grill with LED Lights.....

Yukyuk lol

Ranch55 · March 7, 2015

If you can set your truck up in front of an "alignment" screen or a very light colored building with the measured specifications in the TSB, you should be able to see whether there is a "dark" spot in the middle or not. As the TSB instructs, when checking the individual lights, the other headlight needs to be blocked off. When you block it off, you can see how the remaining single beam spreads the pattern horizontally. I have heard of one other person make this same complaint, but without me actually witnessing it myself, I have a hard time seeing it happen. The way the projectors put the beam of light out, the light is spread horizontally in a fairly wide pattern. It can be seen very easily in the alignment scenario....... The headlights would have to be severely pointed to the outside track of the truck in order to have a "dark" spot in the middle.

I reference the photos I posted in a previous post.

DRS 95 Silverado · March 8, 2015

I have know the parts guy at my dealer for years. Stopped by yesterday and showed him the TBS number. He didn't know about it yet but had no trouble looking it up. He printed himself a copy of the TBS and ordered the bulbs. Give it a few weeks and the dealers will start stocking bulbs and know what your talking about. I didn't even talk to the service manager yet, but I'll bet he didn't know about it yet either. Small town dealer here.

FuelHauler87 · March 8, 2015

Drive tonight for the 1st time . since the new lights got installed......so much better!!!!!

jamin87ss · March 8, 2015

Great news

GMMediumDutyMQ · March 8, 2015

My dealer knew about the Product Improvement bulletin, and was curious how I found out about it.

Lord forbid some of their customers are well-informed... :-)

In the meantime I have, after multiple tries, failed to be able to print the pictures of the TSB posted earlier so if anyone has any suggestions about how this can be done or if anyone has a copy of the TSB that could be posted as a pdf that would be very helpful.

I would if I knew how to attach a PDF file here without having to host it elsewhere...

SGI2015 · March 8, 2015

Thanks. Not the best copy but I did finally figure out how to print from the jpg pictures. I just needed something to show my unresponsive dealer and this should work ok. I'm going to visit with the service manager tomorrow, show him the TSB and see if that gets things moving.

tbarn · March 8, 2015

Lord forbid some of their customers are well-informed... :-)

I would if I knew how to attach a PDF file here without having to host it elsewhere...

It is not a TSB is probably why they were curious as to how you got it. It is a "Preliminary Information" bulletin. Not supposed to publicly available although if one reads this forum and others, they do become available

brocka · March 8, 2015

In the meantime I have, after multiple tries, failed to be able to print the pictures of the TSB posted earlier so if anyone has any suggestions about how this can be done or if anyone has a copy of the TSB that could be posted as a pdf that would be very helpful.

Thanks to B&J Aviation for the great images of the TSB. I compiled them into a PDF SGI2015.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fuz3rs57h27se2l/PIT5374.pdf?dl=0