Headlight Adjustment???
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 825
Likes: 2
From: Monument CO
Headlight Adjustment???
Had to have body work on rt fender, bumper and rt headlight assembly. Noted bodyshop had not properly aligned headlight in the down position. The front appears to dip down slightly below the bumper. Is there a quick DIY adjustment fix for this or do I need to take it back to the shop?
Instructor
Joined: Aug 1999
Posts: 167
Likes: 3
From: Milltown NJ
The two screws for adjusting the headlights are:
1. Behind the plug in the bezel is the screw for horizontal alignment.
2. below the lower edge of the bezel is the screw for vertical alignment.
One full turn of either screw will move the beam approximately 3.5 inches when measured at 25 feet.
You need an aiming area that is level and 25 feet away from the front of the car. You will need an area that is 6 feet high and 12 feet wide. You can use electrical tape to put up a horizontal centerline at the same height as the center of the headlights. Put a piece of tape in the center of the windshield and rear window and use them to line up the vertical centerline of the car with a vertical piece of tape on the wall. It helps to have a helper here. Be sure that the tires are properly inflated and there is less than 1/2 tank of gas in the car. Close the doors and shake the car to stabilize the suspension. (Really, I am copying this out of the service manual.)
Measure the distance between the headlights and put two vertical pieces of tape at 1/2 this distance on either side of the vertical centerline of the car. You now have the centers of the headlights located on the wall.
Turn on the LOW BEAMS.
Adjust the horizontal screw so that the left side of the high intensity zone is within the range of +/-4 inches to the right side of the vertical centerline.
Adjust the vertical screw so that the top of the high intensity zone is within the range of 2 inches above to 2.5 inches below the horizontal centerline.
Put the plugs back in and you are done.
While you are at it, you might as well adjust your fog lights, if you have them. I have found that they are usually aimed somewhere too close to the bumper to make them useful at all.
To aim the foglights use the same aiming screen. Cover the headlights so you can see only the fog light beam. The adjusting screw is a #15 torx and is at the top outside edge of the foglight. Adjust it so that the top of the high intensity area ( it will be a well defined line) is 4 inches below the horizontal centerline with a tolerance of 0 inches to 8 inches below. (I have found that 6 inches below seems to work the best.)
Aren't you sorry you asked?
Good luck,
C5YA!
Paul Eggermann
Milltown, New Jersey
1. Behind the plug in the bezel is the screw for horizontal alignment.
2. below the lower edge of the bezel is the screw for vertical alignment.
One full turn of either screw will move the beam approximately 3.5 inches when measured at 25 feet.
You need an aiming area that is level and 25 feet away from the front of the car. You will need an area that is 6 feet high and 12 feet wide. You can use electrical tape to put up a horizontal centerline at the same height as the center of the headlights. Put a piece of tape in the center of the windshield and rear window and use them to line up the vertical centerline of the car with a vertical piece of tape on the wall. It helps to have a helper here. Be sure that the tires are properly inflated and there is less than 1/2 tank of gas in the car. Close the doors and shake the car to stabilize the suspension. (Really, I am copying this out of the service manual.)
Measure the distance between the headlights and put two vertical pieces of tape at 1/2 this distance on either side of the vertical centerline of the car. You now have the centers of the headlights located on the wall.
Turn on the LOW BEAMS.
Adjust the horizontal screw so that the left side of the high intensity zone is within the range of +/-4 inches to the right side of the vertical centerline.
Adjust the vertical screw so that the top of the high intensity zone is within the range of 2 inches above to 2.5 inches below the horizontal centerline.
Put the plugs back in and you are done.
While you are at it, you might as well adjust your fog lights, if you have them. I have found that they are usually aimed somewhere too close to the bumper to make them useful at all.
To aim the foglights use the same aiming screen. Cover the headlights so you can see only the fog light beam. The adjusting screw is a #15 torx and is at the top outside edge of the foglight. Adjust it so that the top of the high intensity area ( it will be a well defined line) is 4 inches below the horizontal centerline with a tolerance of 0 inches to 8 inches below. (I have found that 6 inches below seems to work the best.)
Aren't you sorry you asked?
Good luck,
C5YA!
Paul Eggermann
Milltown, New Jersey
