I've noticed that periodically when hitting a decent bump in the road, my right headlight assembly apparently momentarily loses electrical contact with the socket it connects to because it will display a "check dipping headlamp" warning on the dash. I've also had the low beam go out temprorarily, as well as the front turn signal. If the unit doesn't bump itself back into place, I can push it back into the body and everything lights up again.

Is this a case where I need to bend the receptable socket for the headlamp forward a bit, or is there something else I can to do to have it maintain electrical contact for those times it gets a jarring bump from the road?

I know early on there were problems with the mounting plates for the headlight assemblies, but I don't think that's what I'm dealing with.

 

There's a tool in your spare tire kit that's a long ratchet with an allen wrench-looking tool that spins at one end. Pop the hood, on the inner side of each headlight (towards the motor) there's a plastic piece that looks like a tear drop, pop that thing in and look down. There should be a small male piece that you'll connect that tool to, and you'll spin it until you hear a click. It'll feel like you're about to pop something, but you won't, just torque it until you hear the click and the headlight should be secure in it's cavity.

It would probably be best to loosen the headlight and make sure it's in its tracks properly before re-tightening. The key here is hearing that click noise though.

Hope this helps, good luck!

 

Try bending the socket forward a bit for now. Usually the fix requires a new headlight base, as they tend to warp ever so slightly causing intermittent contact loss.

 

Thanks for the tips. Last night I removed the lamp assembly, adjusted the position of the electrical socket the headlamp unit plugs into, and carefully reinstalled the headlamp assembly. I didn't hear any "clicking" noises, and am not really sure what would click on engagement since all that holds the assembly in place appears to be a sort of "U-shaped" rotating bar in the mounting base that rotates up against a small curved notched arm in the base of the headlamp assembly. Unless someone lets me know otherwise, I was afraid to over-twist the hex release bar while tightening it back in place for fear of breaking something (which I've done more than a few times). The assembly seemed secure in place without a clicking sound, but maybe I'm not fulling seating it until it clicks. Anyone know for sure?


Anyway, did the 30 mile commute this morning and no more warming lamps and missing lights . . . so far.

 

I replaced my cornering lights a few months back, and about a few weeks after I put the headlights back in, I was driving on these lovely NJ roads when my dash warnings went haywire. I pulled over and manually pushed one of the headlights in a bit, waited until I got home to fully fix. Turned out all I needed to do was hear the "click" on the passenger headlight. When I previously re-installed the headlight assemblies I wondered why only the driver's side clicked so easy and there wasn't an audible click for the passenger side, even though it really felt like it was in there tight.
I reset the headlight in the tracks multiple times and finally just torqued it a little further (trust me, it doesn't feel comfortable at first and feels like you're going to break something) and finally heard the click. Haven't had an issue since.

 

It helps if you push in on the headlight assembly while turning the lock tool.

 

Well, mystery solved. I had been using a small socketed nutdriver to turn the release pins on the headlights. I obviously wasn't generating enough twisting torque with the small nutdriver.

Enter the factory tool from the toolkit under the rear compartment floor. With it, it was very easy to twist each headlight assembly's securing pin enough to hear (and feel) the "clicking" or "popping" noise of the headlight assembly locking into place. Another proof point for "using the right tool for the job."

Thanks for the tips, everyone!