Automatic leveling headlights

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lucky400 @ Aug 12 2006, 09:19 AM) [snapback]302077[/snapback]</div>

HID (high intensity discharge) headlights will self level, with a sensor in the back of the car...the prius is made to do that..(regular headlights on the prius arent auto adjust, either.).i believe a few lexus do that, as well. As far as the rest of the car population goes, there are very few self adjusting headlights...except when the owner/drivers/and self proclaimed mechanics get in there and adjust them in all directions...as you can tell with the high alignments, one up, one down scenerio...

 

For your entertainment pleasure, get a friend to sit in the car. you stand in front and watch the headlights as your friend turns them on. You will see the light mechanism sweep up and settle into it's sweet spot depending on how the car is loaded up. The leveling mechanism is in the back of the car.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lucky400 @ Aug 12 2006, 06:19 AM) [snapback]302077[/snapback]</div>

Most of the Prius info I have comes from this site. We have the auto-leveling headlights but I believe I read in a post a couple of months ago that they operate slowly. They don't immediately level themselves like a glass of water, with each jerky up and down motion of the nose, but rather adjust slowly to a more permanent nose attitude, such as putting a heavy load in the trunk.

I hope I'm right. If not, ignore the above.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MarinJohn @ Aug 12 2006, 09:52 AM) [snapback]302109[/snapback]</div>

Cool! i'm gonna try that sometime. Except I might do it myself by facing a blank wall and then turn it on.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(wb9tyj @ Aug 12 2006, 06:51 AM) [snapback]302091[/snapback]</div>

Actually, all factory-supplied HID lights in all cars sold in the U.S. are self-adjusting. It is a requirement of the D.O.T. that they be made this way. Instead of auto-adjusting lights, the Europeans get a manual inside-the-car adjustment for their HIDs. Obviously, the HID lights sold on Ebay are not self-adjusting (and they are illegal to use in the U.S. for this and other reasons).

 

xxx

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jack Straw @ Aug 12 2006, 12:24 PM) [snapback]302204[/snapback]</div>

Then I would suggest it was not a U.S.-spec car but was imported somehow from a European country. Or maybe Canada? I have no idea what their laws are. But in the U.S. the HID lights have always been mandated to have automatic leveling controls.

 

xxx

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jbarnhart @ Aug 12 2006, 11:12 AM) [snapback]302176[/snapback]</div>

This is NOT true. You and I think a couple other posters on here keep perpetuating this myth. My former 02 Maxima came w/HIDs and my 04 350Z comes w/HIDs. ALL 02-03 Maxima came w/HIDs from the factory and all 04 Zs except the Base trim came w/factory HIDs. NEITHER have any self leveling mechanism at all. I even doubly confirmed on the Z by looking in the service manual.

See my responses in these threads:
http://priuschat.com/index.php?s=&showtopi...ndpost&p=201117
http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=1...12&#entry235112

If it were required in the US, why would people be calling on NHTSA to require them?

The updated Consumer Reports URL (they re-organized stuff on their site) is http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/ma...rview/index.htm. It says things like "In January 2003, Perel told a conference of researchers that new rules may reduce the maximum height for all headlights. NHTSA may also require self-leveling, which adjusts HID beams based on load so they don’t point upward when the vehicle is full. Self-leveling is required in Europe, where HID headlights are currently on 25 percent of all vehicles.
...
We think NHTSA should take the following steps:
...
Adopt the European standard requiring HID headlights to be self-leveling."

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MarinJohn @ Aug 12 2006, 09:52 AM) [snapback]302109[/snapback]</div>

Sorta. The level sensor is in the back, and engages with the rear suspension to get the reading the system needs. The acual leveling mechanism is an electric motor driven affair, which you can just see if you look at the headlamp assembly, right below the bulb shield. For reference, here's a tiny bit I e-snipped from the 2004 Prius repair manual:


Apologies, I snipped too tightly -- what's pictured here is the actual headlight assembly at the front of the car, and the motor described is inside and integral with it.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Aug 13 2006, 02:58 AM) [snapback]302480[/snapback]</div>

OK, I know I'm going to come off as a smart-a@@ on this one, but is it "manual" or "self" (presumably automatic, like the Prius is)? I've heard of manual systems, as in you adjust a knob (vs the old fashioned way, under the hood with tools), but never confirmed the existence of such a system. Am I making this much more complicated than it really is?

 

[lamp assembly, right below the bulb shield. For reference, here's a tiny bit I e-snipped from the 2004 Prius repair manual:


Apologies, I snipped too tightly -- what's pictured here is the actual headlight assembly at the front of the
[/quote]

A bit off topic ... where did you get the electronic version of the reapir manual? I am looking for one for a 2006 Prius.
Tim

 

Tim:

The repair manuals, TSBs, owner's manuals, warranty stuff, more things than I can think of, can all be found at techinfo.toyota.com. It's a virtual treasure trove of Toyota info. The only "drawback" is that it is not free. There are three levels of access. You can have one day for $10, 30 days for $50, or a whole year for $350. At any level, you get access to everything that's there. I've bought days and months, variously, in the past, depending upon what I was doing.

I recommend one of the first two options. To save you time on your visit (it's a little non-intuitive at first), first you buy a subscription. Then, on the screen to the left, you enter username and PW, and select Toyota or Lexus, and the model you're looking for. Then you check the pub or pubs you want to search below on the left. Then you hit the search button at the lower left. This done, the "real" search window will appear to the right, if it hasn't already. From there you enter the actual search. Results will be in the form of sections of the various pubs. You click on the one you want, and it appears in a new window. You can save it as a pdf. That's pretty much it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ekpolk @ Aug 13 2006, 08:55 AM) [snapback]302572[/snapback]</div>

As I recall, if you buy the one day subscription on a Friday (late) it's good until Monday. (At least that's the way it use to work.)

 

Mazda RX-8 has self leveling HID headlamps - in Canada. The sensor is on the rear suspension like the Prius. I was told the self leveling is required. Perhaps a case of the "me tooers" in Ottawa jumping the gun to follow the US. Perhaps the one who told me was wrong.