Strike one on HID headlights pointing too low

[rlcarr]

The HID headlights on our 2004 BC have started pointing way too low. The visible light spot on the road is barely one second ahead of the car at 30mph. We had a co-worker with an identical car line up next to ours with noses even about 30 feet from a wall. His lights hit the wall a foot or so up. Our lights didn't even come close to reaching the wall.

Our problem has not been intermittent. Every time the lights are on they are too low.

Brought it to the dealer today. Tech claims that the lights are "dead on" the calibration marks in their test area. Told him about the light spot and about the test we did with the co-workers car. Tech claims co-worker must've illegally modified his lights to shine higher. Which is total BS. :x

Going to try another dealer. Will also explicitly ask them to test the auto-leveling sensor.

This is really ticking me off -- the car is simply unsafe to drive at night.

[jayman]

I rather doubt you can properly aim HID headlights by measuring up on the wall and sticking masking tape.

About the only good thing about the Provincially-owned Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation - AKA "AutoPac" - is the requirement for digital headlight aiming in all AutoPac-approved collision centres (Note metric spelling of "center").

This equipment is very expensive, but when I had my halogen headlights aimed on my Prius (They were WAY too high as delivered, dangerous to other drivers) it was a day and night difference.

The technician claimed the digital aiming equipment is so superior to the old fashioned aimers, especially to the wall-and-tape method, that the other aiming methods should be illegal.

[rlcarr]

Any suggestions on how to make a better case to dealer #2 and have them actually do stuff like checking the auto-leveling sensor and/or comparing the car to another one on the lot? We'll certainly ask them to do it, but I'm not going to hold my breath thinking they'll do it just because we asked.

[DanMan32]

Just that if it is aimed wrong, it would be illegal, and if someone was to be blinded by you and cause an accident, you would have them liable for not checking as you requested.

[rlcarr]

Success! The second dealer came through, and at least for the moment the headlights are back to normal.

First, it does turn out that a code is not stored when you get the Red Triangle o' Doom with the headlight icon on the MFD . However, this dealer believed us and when they did the "wall" test, saw that the lights were indeed way low (when we picked the car up, they even took us into the shop and pointed out the wall and pointed to how much lower than proper calibration the lights were).

The tech said it took over four hours to fix. Some of that was tracking things down and some of it was calling Toyota's internal tech support, as the dealer had never seen anything like this before. The fix was a "mechanical adjustment" coupled with doing something to the computer. They weren't clear on if it was a reset or download or what.

And we have the work order, so we now at least have written proof that at least one dealer saw the problem.

[jayman]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rlcarr\";p=\"104399)</div>

However, this dealer believed us and when they did the \"wall\" test, saw that the lights were indeed way low (when we picked the car up, they even took us into the shop and pointed out the wall and pointed to how much lower than proper calibration the lights were).[/b]

I'm happy to hear you no longer need a flashlight while driving at night.

I'm starting to have a lot of concern over modern vehicles with advanced headlight optics (Very sharp cutoff) and especially gas discharge lighting, and the dealer will still use the archaic Tape On Wall Aiming Method.

Most dealers already have tens of thousands of dollars invested in electronic diagnostic equipment, possibly +$40,000 in a digital wheel alignment rack, and they stick tape on the wall to aim sophisticated headlights.

I checked with my local AutoPac certified collision shop, where they adjusted my headlights after they were WAY too high upon delivery, and this is the machine they have:

http://www.let.be/sam1000.html

The technician who adjusted my headlights claims it's virtually impossible to properly aim modern optics with sharp cutoff and especially HID with the Tape On Wall method.

Either the headlights will be too low or off center and provide poor illumination, or they will easily blind oncoming drivers. While adjusting the vertical, he showed me just how sensitive the aiming was, a very minute turn of the screw resulted in major pattern changes.

The Tape On Wall Aiming Method is an illegal repair/modification under Manitoba Public Insurance regulations.

[rlcarr]

Well, to be fair to the dealers, the shop manual for the Prius tells them to, in essence, put tape on the wall.

The manual says to draw a horizontal line on the wall at the height of the HID bulbs. Then it says to draw
a vertical line bisecting the horizontal line. Then the center of the car is lined up with that vertical line and two more vertical lines are drawn, each one drawn at the horizontal position of each bulb.

Then the car is backed off 9 meters from the wall and you turn on the lights and compare the pattern to the light distribution pattern given in the shop manual. The manual gives exact dimensions (to the mm) of where the beam cutoffs should be relative to the horizonatal and vertical lines.

But as you say, it's very easy to misalign the car (not be exactly 9m back,
not be exactly perpendicular to the wall, etc.) which will in turn result in mis-aim.

[naterprius]

Not to mention there isn't a shop in the world with a level floor. They all slope one direction or another for drainage.

Nate

[KTPhil]

It actually doesn't need to be level, just flat. Since the tape line is made on the same flat-but-not-necessarily-level surface as the 9-meter-removed car, it is the RELATIVE position of the light pattern, not the ABSOLUTE position.

Don't forget to check your tire pressure first! That will have a much greater effect than a non-level surface.

Those automated gizmos are fancy, but no more accurate than the tape-on-wall method. In fact, since they are so close to the car, the angular error they must cope with is far larger than that with the tape-on-wall method.

The only advantage is for a shop, since they need neither night nor a large are to dedicate to a rare adjustment. For the owner, the tape-on-wall is much much better. After all, the only meaningful test is whether they have the correct down-angle, which you can easily see with your plain eyes against the wall at night.

It is also much easier with these Euro pattern lamps than with the old "fuzzy ball of light" sealed beam pattern American cars used for 50 years. The razor cutoff is far easier to locate then some murky "pretty light but not too light" edge on sealed beams.

It's low tech but it's foolproof, cheap, and accurate.

[devo1182]

Last time I drove at night my headlights were aimed much to low.
I have never had anything heavier than two dogs in the back of the car and they have not been in the car for a while.
I found what I am guessing is a manual adjustment screw (sort of a screw, maybe a wheel) behind each headlight.
Has anyone tried adjusting lights by turning this?
Right now lights are aimed so low that I have been using highbeams and so far, nobody has flashed there highbeams back at me.