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Headlight low beams

Discussion in 'Prius c Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Jasonbpriusc, May 22, 2012.

  1. Mr Incredible

    Mr Incredible Chance favors the prepared mind.

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    A long time ago, in a county far, far away, I used to find a gravel or blacktop road way out in the sticks and adjust my headlights there. Nobody to interrupt me or for me to bother while I'm stopped in the road fiddling with my lights.

    Back then they were adjusted with a phillips screwdriver from the outside. Now you would have to have your hood up while working on them.
     
  2. col127

    col127 Member

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    Hmmm - I don't know where the left one is - is it in plain view? :) I must have missed it last time I had my hood open...

    Also, what was the conclusion on which direction to raise/lower the headlights? Clockwise or counter-clockwise? I have a ratchet wrench that I'll be using when I adjust this...
     
  3. Mr Incredible

    Mr Incredible Chance favors the prepared mind.

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    I don't recall which way is which, but used a line of tape on the garage door as a marker for where I started.

    If it isn't one way, it's likely the other...
     
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  4. WD0AFQ

    WD0AFQ Active Member

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    Easy to do. Just line the lights up on your garage door. Makes life good. Counter clockwise will raise them.
    Dan
     
  5. c2-2013_prius

    c2-2013_prius Junior Member

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    I can completely relate to this Jason. I just drove my 2013 Prius C level 2 for the first time in darkness this morning. I experienced the low beam issue you speak of and I'm truly frightened by it. You can't always use High beams to compensate for this due to fog, on coming traffic etc. I hit a deer once and am frightened it will happen again with low beam on. With low beam only the bottom 25%-30% of the windshield is viewable with the low beam light, so it's like having dark shaded sun glasses above the hight area of this beam. Seeing animals in the distance such as a moose, deer etc will be very difficult and I can really see this could contribute to a wildlife accident and even human. Try driving roads with no street lights and it's really prounounced. I can't believe how bad this is...I've never seen anything this bad in my life. Saying you need to get used to this is would be the equivalent of russian roulet....sooner or later luck will run out. This is downright dangerous. I will say high beam seems pretty good....but as I wrote earlier you can't use high beam all of the time due to weather and driving circumstances. I think I'll speak with dealership or follow instructions here to rectify. If you ever struck and animal such as I did a few years back, you can certainly understand my level of comfort with this issue......Not Good! Really, Toyota should address this as a safety issue. I found myself trying to sit lower in my driver seat to try to see the lighted field of view....and Im' already short to begin with....Sigh Oh....this field of view might allow me to see a moose from legs to waist just before impact!
     
  6. MustangConvert

    MustangConvert Junior Member

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    1. Going from a Mustang to a Prius C I have experienced that the night time visibility in the Prius C is far superior; I am very pleased with it.
    2. I had 3 collisions with deer when I drove the Mustang and none of them involved visibility issues. Basically, the deer ran into or in front of my car. I'd like to think that my new driving habit with the C of going slower will help avoid collisions, but the truth is that as long as you drive in areas with lots of deer, there is always a risk.
    3. I suppose that you can adjust the headlights, or switch to Silverstar H11 Ultra bulbs. They will illuminate the road better for you.
     
  7. X HCH2

    X HCH2 Member

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  8. X HCH2

    X HCH2 Member

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    All you've got to do is raise the headlight alignment. There are adjusting screws on each headlight. I had to raise mine a lot. If people are flashing you, then you went too far.
    X
     
  9. kevtan

    kevtan Member

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    Isn't prius c got manual headlight adjuster at the driver side ? And auto adjuster for led light c4 ?
     
  10. ztanos

    ztanos All-around Geek!

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    US cars don't get the led or the auto adjuster.
     
  11. kevtan

    kevtan Member

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    How about manual adjuster ?
     
  12. ztanos

    ztanos All-around Geek!

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    Both sides have one as per usual.
     
  13. kevtan

    kevtan Member

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    I mean got knob to manually adjust the light at driver side adjust for up and down
     
  14. ztanos

    ztanos All-around Geek!

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    It has both up and down and left and right. I think you need a t10 to turn it.
     
  15. kevtan

    kevtan Member

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    Your method is adjust from the headlight at the engine bay?
     
  16. ztanos

    ztanos All-around Geek!

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    Correct. There are two adjuster screws per light. One for up/down and one for left/right.
     
  17. kevtan

    kevtan Member

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    [​IMG]
    What I mean is this manual knob to adjust up and down .
     
  18. ztanos

    ztanos All-around Geek!

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    US cars don't have that. We have our interior light adjuster there.
     
  19. kevtan

    kevtan Member

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    Gain some and lose some . Our spec here is in between c3 and c4 without moonroof , leather seat but price higher than c4
     
  20. WD0AFQ

    WD0AFQ Active Member

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    Several of us had the low beams too low upon purchase. Simple fix. Just follow the instructions and bump them up til you are happy and oncoming folks are happy, not flashing their brights.
    Makes all the difference in the world. Mine were dangerously low cutoff when I bought it.
    Dan
     
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