Prius Headlights angled too low?

[tom1l21]

Is it just me or are the prius headlights angled dangerously low? It seems that on a road with no street lights, the headlights only light up about 30' in front of me. I have to constantly use the high beams to have a better view of the road. I used to drive in a Ford Explorer previously, so that could be why I am seeing the difference. Is it just me, my prius, or is that the normal viewing distance? Thanks!

[jayman]

My Prius shipped with headlights aimed so high, on low the tops of trees were lit up.

There are a few threads about aiming the headlights yourself.

http://priuschat.com/forums/care-mai...eadlights.html

Let us know how it works for you

[yardman 49]

Hello Tom:

My 2009 had the same exact problem as yours.

They are pretty easy to adjust once you know how. Check out Jay's link. You can also find more threads by using the forums' search feature.

Once I adjusted mine I had great visibility, and also discovered that my foglights actually worked!

Best wishes,

[Ct. Ken V]

Hi again, tom1l21,

This is Ken again (I answered another question of yours in another thread a few days ago). I don't suggest you bother playing with the individual headlight adjustments because you most likely have a problem with your HID headlight aiming/load sensor under your car attached between the car body & the rear axle. Its purpose is to detect the weight of a heavy cargo load in the back or a passenger load in the rear seats (which would normally tip the front of the car upwards, blinding oncoming drivers with your HID brightness). If it is working it commands the motors in the headlight housings to tilt down some to compensate. When the load in the rear is removed, they tilt back upwards.

If the sensor isn't working properly you won't necessarily get any kind of warning alert or code [I sure didn't when mine quit at 13,000 miles---I had the same symptoms as you (couldn't see any more than 20 feet ahead of me, then pitch black beyond that)]. You can do an easy check to see if the sensor is working : at night park your Prius about 20 to 30 feet away from a verticle surface (your garage door or a wall) & turn on your headlights. Then you or a family member/friend stand on the rear bumper or in the open hatchway & watch how the headlights react to the added weight back there. When you first get on, they will move upward (with the tilt of the car), but then in a few seconds they should correct by moving downward to the original spots where they were aimed to begin with. If you don't see this correction happen, then your sensor isn't doing its job. It's probably corroded. When this happens, mostly the lights are aimed too low, but some have them too high & some get warnings (on the MFD screen) & others don't.

The part replacement cost varies from about $270 to $300 (plus labor), but some here have removed the original part & cleaned & repaired it successfully on their own (they clean the contact strips & replace the rusted springs with those from inside a ball-point pen). If you do decide to order a new sensor from the dealer, make sure the part # has a suffix letter "G" after the number on the part label(that's the improved version of the original part). I'll see if I can find & post a link to something on this if you don't have any luck doing a search for "headlight sensor". Look at these threads below.
04 Broken auto leveling headlights - fixed!

http://priuschat.com/forums/care-mai...rror-icon.html

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-te...djustment.html

http://priuschat.com/forums/care-mai...-corroded.html

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

[Ct. Ken V]

Hey, yardman 49,

If I were you, I would have taken your 2009 back to the dealer & had them test (& replace if necessary) the HID headlight sensor under warranty. If they said it was functioning as it is designed too, then I would have THEM do the headlight re-aiming (also under warranty---your car never should have been delivered to you with the headlights aimed that low).

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

[tom1l21]

Originally Posted by Ct. Ken V

Hi again, tom1l21,

This is Ken again (I answered another question of yours in another thread a few days ago). I don't suggest you bother playing with the individual headlight adjustments because you most likely have a problem with your HID headlight aiming/load sensor under your car attached between the car body & the rear axle. Its purpose is to detect the weight of a heavy cargo load in the back or a passenger load in the rear seats (which would normally tip the front of the car upwards, blinding oncoming drivers with your HID brightness). If it is working it commands the motors in the headlight housings to tilt down some to compensate. When the load in the rear is removed, they tilt back upwards.

If the sensor isn't working properly you won't necessarily get any kind of warning alert or code [I sure didn't when mine quit at 13,000 miles---I had the same symptoms as you (couldn't see any more than 20 feet ahead of me, then pitch black beyond that)]. You can do an easy check to see if the sensor is working : at night park your Prius about 20 to 30 feet away from a verticle surface (your garage door or a wall) & turn on your headlights. Then you or a family member/friend stand on the rear bumper or in the open hatchway & watch how the headlights react to the added weight back there. When you first get on, they will move upward (with the tilt of the car), but then in a few seconds they should correct by moving downward to the original spots where they were aimed to begin with. If you don't see this correction happen, then your sensor isn't doing its job. It's probably corroded. When this happens, mostly the lights are aimed too low, but some have them too high & some get warnings (on the MFD screen) & others don't.

The part replacement cost varies from about $270 to $300 (plus labor), but some here have removed the original part & cleaned & repaired it successfully on their own (they clean the contact strips & replace the rusted springs with those from inside a ball-point pen). If you do decide to order a new sensor from the dealer, make sure the part # has a suffix letter "G" after the number on the part label(that's the improved version of the original part). I'll see if I can find & post a link to something on this if you don't have any luck doing a search for "headlight sensor". Look at these threads below.
04 Broken auto leveling headlights - fixed!

http://priuschat.com/forums/care-mai...rror-icon.html

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-te...djustment.html

http://priuschat.com/forums/care-mai...-corroded.html

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

Ken, once again you proved to be very insightful. From about 25-30 ft away, standing on the bumper moves the bright part of the headlights up about 1 foot on my garage. I weight about 210lbs so not sure if that is enough weight, but when I do stand on it, it doesn't auto correct. It appears that I do have that broken sensor. What really sucks is I passed my 30 days from purchasing so I doubt my dealership will replace it on their dime. I guess asking can never hurt since it is a serious safety issue. It's funny, when I tried using my fog lights a little while ago, I couldn't even tell they were on since the headlights were drowning them out. Thanks for the info, I'll keep this thread updated on what I end up doing.

EDIT: I saw the DIY fix, and it looks pretty straightforward. I think I'm going to give it a try if my dealership won't cover the costs.

[yardman 49]

Originally Posted by Ct. Ken V

Hey, yardman 49,

If I were you, I would have taken your 2009 back to the dealer & had them test (& replace if necessary) the HID headlight sensor under warranty. If they said it was functioning as it is designed too, then I would have THEM do the headlight re-aiming (also under warranty---your car never should have been delivered to you with the headlights aimed that low).

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

Hello Ken:

I think that others have reported this same problem with brand new Priuses. I doubt there is a sensor problem in new cars, although you never know: maybe something could be not plugged in correctly.

Thanks for your very helpful information. I may need to use it someday as my car ages.

When I replied to the OP, I was doing it from my Blackberry, which accesses the "mobile version" of the PC Forums, so I couldn't see that he was driving a 2005.

Best wishes,

[tom1l21]

I tried changing out the springs and indeed, they were corroded. When I did insert new springs however, it didn't fix the problem. I will try again with new springs since I used different sized ones and they were not cut properly and were not very sturdy. One thing I did notice was that when I removed the apparatus, there was only two bolts connected to the metal portion and the other part (the bone looking joint that connects to the chassis) was missing. Essentially, it was the black metal part with the sensor attached with two bolts, thats it. Is that maybe the reason why its not sensing anything? If that is the case, do you think I can go to a salvage or junk yard and just grab one off of a prius? Thanks!

[Ct. Ken V]

Yeah, tom1l21,

It certainly looks like you have the skills & time to make this a DIY project, so if I were you I would certyainly consider a salvage yard. I would just get the WHOLE assembly (dog bone & sensor) off of the newest car available [less corrosion & maybe even a "G" suffix upgraded part (that will hopefully last longer)]. Just put it on first & see if it works at all. If not, at least you can re-do your rebuilding proceedure on that one with better luck.

You will have saved yourself the $270 to $335 part price plus the installation labor which was quoted pretty high in the last of the links I gave you above [just look at post #'s 1, 6, 7, 8, & my #11 of that thread for the part & labor price variations & how long it took one owner to do the whole thing himself (including the re-build) versus how long another dealer wanted just to do a 10 minute swap-out of old to new part].

If your headlight aim is still not right after replacing/repairing your sensor, I don't think I would recommend playing around with the individual adjustments because in the TSB it says something about doing a re-calibration of the system, if needed, after installing a new part. Hopefully the dealer won't charge too much for just that (but you have to be sure the sensor is at least doing its up & down adjustment first when you stand/kneel on the rear bumper).

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

[tom1l21]

Originally Posted by Ct. Ken V

Yeah, tom1l21,

It certainly looks like you have the skills & time to make this a DIY project, so if I were you I would certyainly consider a salvage yard. I would just get the WHOLE assembly (dog bone & sensor) off of the newest car available [less corrosion & maybe even a "G" suffix upgraded part (that will hopefully last longer)]. Just put it on first & see if it works at all. If not, at least you can re-do your rebuilding proceedure on that one with better luck.

You will have saved yourself the $270 to $335 part price plus the installation labor which was quoted pretty high in the last of the links I gave you above [just look at post #'s 1, 6, 7, 8, & my #11 of that thread for the part & labor price variations & how long it took one owner to do the whole thing himself (including the re-build) versus how long another dealer wanted just to do a 10 minute swap-out of old to new part].

If your headlight aim is still not right after replacing/repairing your sensor, I don't think I would recommend playing around with the individual adjustments because in the TSB it says something about doing a re-calibration of the system, if needed, after installing a new part. Hopefully the dealer won't charge too much for just that (but you have to be sure the sensor is at least doing its up & down adjustment first when you stand/kneel on the rear bumper).

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

Hey Ken,

I called about 4 salvage yards in my area and no one has a prius except this northampton salvage yard but its a 2002 so I don't think it will have the same sensor. I guess I'll just have to call around and probably travel a bit to find one. Is it because the GenII are relatively new and prius's aren't as common as say domestic cars?

EDIT: Is that 2nd dogbone piece which is attached to the small metal piece necessary for the auto leveler to work? I find it strange that that part is completely missing from my prius. If not, then I will try some better springs.