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anyone adjusted their headlights up a bit?

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5K views 31 replies 12 participants last post by  Miggins 
#1 ·
Whilst blatting down the backrounds of Cornwall last week in the dark, I found that on dipped beam whilst the amount of light was good (thank you Xenons :) ) the beam was hitting the floor not all that far in the distance.

To the point where I felt that my (in-built) safe speed on unlit roads was about 45mph - anything quicker and I felt I wasn't seeing things quickly enough to react in time.

Obviously flipping the main beam on completly sorted that but you can't always drive round that way.

Has anyone else noticed the same, or was the technician who adjusted mine a bit eager?

cheers very! :)
 
#3 ·
seeing as how this has cropped up again in the 'driving on the continent thread'...


I thought I'd simply jump on the wen and find out what the height should be set at :)

On the grounds that you can sort it out yourself by parking on level ground with lights pointing at a wall from a set distance (ie duplicating the MOT test)

Unfortunately, it would appear the all the sites I could find don't trust anyone to fix their own cars anymore, and I can't find the info anywhere!


From memory, it's a calc based on the hieght of the bulb from the ground (a), and distance to the wall (b).
You then mark the 'top' of the beam pattern on the wall (c)

Subtract (a) from (c), do some basic trigonometry with (b) and Robert is your Mum's brother :)


But can I find what the max / min allowed result is?
No :evil:
 
#4 ·
Can u adjust the height of the bulbs by a switch or get honda to raise the light a bit for u ? nothing worse than cant see the road propley i had my light set up super and had to have the headlight out to get a bulb out and never been as good since were ever i put the little switch :(
 
#7 ·
Iwant,

On your EX there will be no adjustment. UK law dictates that HID equipped cars have auto-adjusters.

Having said that, I find the setting on mine absolutely fine. :)
I complained to my dealer, yesterday, about the flashing I get from oncoming vehicles when on dipped.

He claimed that he 'turned them' down a bit when he did the 'recal' bit.

"At least I can still smoke in my car"
 
#8 ·
Got to get mine UP at the dealership asap, felt like I was driving on death's door the other night on some unlit roads, go above 50mph and feel like I could die at any moment not being able to see which way the road is going to turn :(
 
#9 ·
Mine are spot on super light better than the xeons i had in the 307 and they were good , yer i was under the bonnet today and found the adjuster looks good to have left and right and up and down. 1 thing i think lookes crap is the side lights because on dip if u look at the front of the car most of the lights are white and look good and the side lights are really strong yellow ruins posh look how easy is it to change then is it light other bulbs major strip down , dont look much room under the bonnet :(
 
#10 ·
Mine are spot on super light better than the xeons i had in the 307 and they were good , yer i was under the bonnet today and found the adjuster looks good to have left and right and up and down. 1 thing i think lookes crap is the side lights because on dip if u look at the front of the car most of the lights are white and look good and the side lights are really strong yellow ruins posh look how easy is it to change then is it light other bulbs major strip down , dont look much room under the bonnet :(
Go for this:

http://www.civinfo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=483

There you are, all done.

""Mothers with teenagers know why animals eat their young!"
 
#12 ·
cool ill look into it ;) at least they are easyer to replace then dip bulbs do the hid bulds in the ex last longer than halgon ? there quite a bit more money anit they , also how much does the headlights move on startup ive read that on startup the light go up and down slightly ive not notcied it yet .
 
#14 ·
Has anyone adjusted the beam upwards a bit?
I noticed that the low beam's range is too short for my taste. On unlit roads with cars comming from the opposite direction(so no high beam), i feel unsafe driving with low beam lights. I recall that i had much nicer low beam range in my fiat punto.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Better - but not perfect




Joora,
I have adjusted mine up as far as they would go. see: Think I found the adjusters for the HID Lights. I'm quite disappointed with the low beam pattern compared to other vehicles (some many years older) I own.

My problem is remembering to turn them on in low light - I see the dash light up and think 'my lights must be on' . . . . Doh!
 
#15 ·
joora - it appears that one or two people have :)

and that there are a few (like me :oops: ) who only ever remember it needs doing when actually driving down dark roads - which isn't really the best time to jump out and start playing...
 
#16 ·
On mine with HID, when going uphill there is no cut-off visible on the road ahead, they are OK on the flat. I keep getting flashed so I guess they are too high. They are probably the same as other cars with non-HID, but the extra brightest dazzles oncoming drivers, just like some BMWs.
I have just turned them down a bit to see if that helps.
A bit = two full turns of adjuster.
 
#22 ·
Close Encounters with a space ship?




I have a SEAT that lights up but I don’t make the same mistake - maybe it’s the way it lights up like a Christmas tree and mesmerises me? It’s a bit scary!
 
#20 ·
I found that on dipped beam whilst the amount of light was good (thank you Xenons :) ) the beam was hitting the floor not all that far in the distance. Has anyone else noticed the same
Yeah, now that I paid attention to it when driving in the dark last saturday, I noticed the same. Better adjust it upwards a little bit. Even so, it shouldn't blind the oncoming drivers.

If I load something very heavy in the trunk the lights should be adjusted back down a bit, right?
 
#26 ·
unfortunately, for those of us with HIDs, whilst locking the wife in the boot may solve many problems (and probably cause even more...), it won't make the beam any higher, as the HIDs have self adjusters for just this eventuallity :(


Ok - possibly not this exact eventuality, but they do self adjust for heavy loads in the boot :)

Not that I'm discussing the weight of anyone's wife! :eek:
 
#28 ·
I took my Civic to the dealer today to have the creaky rear suspension fixed. I also asked them to adjust the headlights up a little bit. Better let the professionals do it than try tweaking them myself.

Oh, and I also asked them to fix the condensation of moisture in the rear indicators. Seems like a pretty common problem.
 
#31 ·
The main and dip beams can be adjusted independantly using a 6mm hex key.

I will try this tonight and report later with results/pictures.
 
#32 ·
Correction

The main and dip beams can be adjusted independantly using a 6mm hex key.
WRONG - they cant be adjusted independently - the adjusters work the lights vertically and laterally.

Back of the class :(
 
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