[DRC]

Expert advise sought..

How to adjust the headlight beam of a Palio/petra for up/ down, left right?

Is it possible to adjust the focus of the beam?

And what is the optimum height for safety and visibility.?

Thanks in advance
DRC

[tsk1979]

Every car has a different focusing system. New ones come with a switch to move the lights up or down. But in all(most?) cars you can adjust the headlight beams manually.
I dont know how it is done in a palio, but for indica, santro, gypsy, getz the procedure is similar, diffrentiating only in the position of the screw.
you nead a screwdriver, spanner to move the nut or screw clockwise or anticlockwise. Some cars have two of them(for sideways and up down), but most have just one as the sideways setting is fixed to an extent.
So locate that screw, If you are unable to find the screw go to your mechanic and ask him where it is. Afte that you are all set.
Park your car against the wall and switch on to full beam first. Make somebody stand against one light, or disconnect the bulb. You will see the light from one headlamp on the wall.
I perfer the "scene" mode adjustment. Park your car on a dark empty street. Switch on the lights and adjust till the scenery looks to my taste.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by ksethuram

DRC, I haved tried and succeeded this in our amby (till 1997) but really could not in any new gen cars as the headlight seems fitted to the body using bolts with no visible adjustment nuts or bolts.

Modern cars have a nut or a screw on the back of headlight housing which is used to adjust. Its not very obvious though.

[DRC]

Now that every one is talking, here is my understanding..

Palio / petra comes with 2 bulbs each side, one for low and other for full beam,

Manual mentions to adjust the beam after changing the bulb, from which I assume there is a way to adjust. Newer cars come with beam level adjuster internally, but my car does not have it. But, there is a knob inside the sealed beam assembly, which the manual quotes, can be used to adjust (rather switch) in case there is heavier load in the back and beam goes skywards due to this. this means only up/down adjustment. and this moves the whole assembly, not the individual beams.

So let the thought process go on...

[solly]

Just open the bonet, you'll have 1 screws about each light ie 2 for low beam and 2 for high. you can adjust the height of the beam by turning this screw. You can adjust each light individually for height. I don't think there is a method to adjust the beam sideways..

chao
Solly

[Rehaan]

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 = ? 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

[DRC]

Rehaan ,
Thanks a lot for help...

"The last time i answered one of your lighting questions i never got a reply... you = ? lol"

Yes, You only proved yourself right, I had missed out the wire length part in my thought process... You are right to the last word. Thanks a lot for info.. Yes in deed I slept off, and I could not remember when I woke up.

Again, now, wonderfully, you explained the intricasies to me!! Thanks a lot again.
I tried your suggestions. It has 2 crown screws as you mentined one for low beam and onne for the full beam. Both do up/down adjustments. Noting for left right.

On carefull observation, I found the whole sealed beam ***embly can be moved slightly, by loosening the bolts fastening the ***embly as they are mounted on a oblong hole. ... for anyone else who want to try..

Again, thanks a lot!!!

[mithun]

But what is the process of adjusting headlights in the case of bikes ?

[tsk1979]

Pillion rider, heavier for higher beam

[kjdesigns_2000]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Pillion rider, heavier for higher beam

Cool man, this was real fun.

[HappyWheels]

Alto 2005 model - any idea how to adjust the head lights for this guy?

Do note - this model does not have the head light adjuster! :-(

[razor4077]

Tried adjusting the headlights on my Lancer today. Got the vertical part sorted out, but the horizontal aiming screws were not working. The "kinks" in the two beams are both too much to the right, and twisting the adjusting screws wasn't making a difference in their positioning.
Has anyone faced this issue before, where the horizontal adjusters don't seem to work?

[snaronikar]

If you are not getting through with what Rehaan has informed, better visit your local mechanic and ask him. He will show you practically how to do it. And after that, you can follow this thread and advices there of.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

Alto 2005 model - any idea how to adjust the head lights for this guy?

Do note - this model does not have the head light adjuster! :-(

Happy wheels, are you refering to the adjustment dial in the cabin, or the screws/holes/knobs on the headlight assembly? Have you looked under the hood properly?

Originally Posted by razor4077

Tried adjusting the headlights on my Lancer today. Got the vertical part sorted out, but the horizontal aiming screws were not working. The "kinks" in the two beams are both too much to the right, and twisting the adjusting screws wasn't making a difference in their positioning.
Has anyone faced this issue before, where the horizontal adjusters don't seem to work?

Razor,

The "kinks" in the beams do not need to be centered / pointing forward. Cover one headlight and see the spread of the other and aim accordingly.

You say the L<>R adjustment wasnt working at all... in either direction, or does it just not move further in the direction you want?

If it doesnt work in either direction, maybe the gear/screw doesnt have a stop at the end and has been turned so far that the two parts are no longer in contact. If this is the case, try pushing the headlight in the desired direction while turning the screw too... this might make them contact each other once again.

If the screw works in the other direction but doesnt go more in the direction you want, your headlights might be misaligned due to an accident etc? or your bulbs might not be seated correctly in the holders.

cya
R

[n_aditya]

Got the clear lens headlamps for my car but not able to get the focussing right.

Called MRF Tyredrome on cathedral road, Chennai but they have stopped that service temporarily.

Apparently only other person having equipment to perfectly focus headlight beams is concord motors in ambattur, chennai (previously sundaram motors) according to technocrat (not our tbhp member, but an ICE installer in chennai).

so guys please suggest. The MASS is not able to satisfactorily do the job.