Quote:
Originally Posted by DRC No one answers my questions??? |
Hey DRC,
The last time i answered
one of your lighting questions i never got a reply... you =
![ZZZ](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/ZZZ.png)
? lol
Ok here goes - (from my experience adjusting headlights on a few cars, not all may be the same).
The bulbs are set in the reflector housing, and do not ever move.
Make sure they are seated properly otherwise no amount of adjusting the housing will help you.
Each headlamp unit has 2 screw type adjusters. (one up/down one L/R) (Cars with foglamps in the unit
eg. the inner/round lights on the W123 will have an additional screw just for fog lamp beam height.) Maybe your palio is the same? (The Left/Right is controlled by the same screw on the entire unit.)
To find the screws, open your car's hood and look at the back of the headlamp units. There are two different types of adjusters i have seen -
i - Wrench / Screwdriver - Its a hex shaped plasic "bolt" with a slit in the top. The beauty of these babies on the old MB's is that the slot is designed not for a screwdriver, but for a coin!
ii - Long Philips screwdriver - There will be a plastic guide through which you pass the screwdriver, which aims it at a
crown gear, which when turned does the adjustment.
Once you find the screws, you will see that near them, probably embossed n the plastic of the headlamp unit itself there will be a notation of which way to turn for L<>R and UP<>DOWN, naturally this also tells you which screw is for which.
Now the actual adjustment.
- Remember not to keep the lights on for toooo long as your battery might die.
- Do it at night for better visibility
- Find a level surface with a flat wall about 15-25feet away (any closer and your adjustments will just be less precise)
Keep in mind that your headlights should ALWAYS be aimed a bit downwards Because otherwise the beam will just continue to go higher and higher (or horizontally) and wont illuminate anything on the road!
As a personal preference i like to have my left headlight aiming outwards a tiny bit more than my right headlight. Reason being - To illuminate pedestrians, cyclists, cattle on the left, and to not bother oncomming traffic too much on the right
With your car facing the wall as perpendicularly as possible, turn the headlights on. Stand in front of the headlight you are not planning to adjust at this time so only the beam you plan to adjust is projected on the wall.
The light projected on the wall (on low beam) should have a clear straight line of light and shadow on the top edge. As this beam travels the 25feet to the wall, this line should be projected on the wall a few inches (~2"-5") lower than the height of the bulb in the headlamp.
Adjust the L/R screw so that the headlamps are aiming directly forwards.
Keep in mind that any slight misalignment at this 25 foot range will only be magnified at larger distances
Go for a drive on a dark road, come back and fine tune.
cya
R
ps - I should also mention that the "knob in the cabin to adjust height" is usually a vaccum system. This (i think) is a EuroIII requirement, and the purpose of this is to lower the beam when you have load in the back of the car (which will cause the beam to point skyward due to the back of the car going lower and hence the lamps will blind oncoming traffic).
When setting up your headlights, this switch should be at the OFF or "0" position. And it ideally should be left in that position at all times, except when there is a heavy load at the back.
Also,
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html is a great resource