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Strike one on HID headlights pointing too low

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by rlcarr, Jun 30, 2005.

  1. rlcarr

    rlcarr New Member

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    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.
     
  2. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    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.
     
  3. rlcarr

    rlcarr New Member

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    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.
     
  4. DanMan32

    DanMan32 Senior Member

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    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.
     
  5. rlcarr

    rlcarr New Member

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    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.
     
  6. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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

    rlcarr New Member

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    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.
     
  8. naterprius

    naterprius Senior Member

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    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
     
  9. KTPhil

    KTPhil Active Member

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    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.
     
  10. devo1182

    devo1182 New Member

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    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.
     
  11. Craig0812

    Craig0812 New Member

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    Devo11182,

    I have a similar situation with my HID lights. My 2005 Prius headlights were fine before my wreck but when they ordered new HID Lights at the Toyota Dealership and installed them, they were too low and I had to use my brights to see at a normal(low beam) setting. I took them back and this time the collision specialist at the dealership got another Prius and compared them. As a result, mine were too low and they again adjusted. Currently, the driver's side is too high and the passenger is too low. Yet again I have to go back and have another adjustment. I have not tried messing with the assembly for fear I would break something and then end up paying more in the end. Let me know how the dealer adjusts your lights. Thanks!
     
  12. devo1182

    devo1182 New Member

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    Made appointment and went to local dealer. (Not dealer from whom I bought, but that is a another story.)
    They knew on Friday I had a headlight problem. They did not know, until after taking car into building, that the machine they had to use was out of order.
    They called after I was at home again and said that Toyota told them to use "tape on wall" method.Told me that subwoofer and other things had to be removed from car and that a person weighing 150 pounds needed to be in car.
    Told them I could remove sub. etc. and be there in 30 minutes, but I could not gain 10 pounds.
    They said no I can't. I need to make appointment.
    Tonight I will be driving after dark. Maybe they fixed themselves.
    Maybe I can use highbeams again without anybody flashing me.
    To be continued in a few days.
     
  13. mehrenst

    mehrenst Member

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    One major thing to keep in mind when looking at how the headlights on the Prius illuminate the road ahead.


    • With the above in mind then it is quite possible to properly evaluate the aiming of your headlights using a visual method (pattern on the wall).

      However, doing this in your driveway is probably not the best place to try it because of the way driveways are sloped to provide drainage. (As long as the slope is uniform from the wall back to where you will position the car and it is flat from side-to-side it should be okay.)

      The numbers in the Prius shop manual for aiming appear to have about the same relationship as those towards the bottom of this page http://www.dimebank.com/Light-up.html . Keep in mind that the process described on the website is based on aiming lamps that comply to the European standards which always provided for a very sharp cutoff of vertical light. It is my understanding that U.S. standards are now being migrated towards the sharp cutoff of light. This is likely the result of the potential for higher intensity systems (HID) to blind oncoming traffic.

      Yeah, you're not going to see quite as far down the road when on the "dim" setting and you definitely will not be seeing those roadsigns as easily. :cry:
     
  14. nyprius

    nyprius Member

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    Some Prius's with HID lights need the leveling sensor replaced. It was causing my headlights to point too low sometimes and work well other times. The dealer ordered me a new sensor, which hasn't arrived yet. In the meantime, so I could drive safely, I disconnected the autoleveling sensor. Now I can manually adjust the height. I almost never have weight in the car. So I don't need autoleveling. It only lowers the lights if weight is in the car.

    To disconnect the sensor, take off the back left wheel. You'll see a little black box with an adjusting arm. This is connected to a wishbone piece of metal which is connected to a mounting bracket on the axel. Just take off the wishbone metal piece by unbolting the top and bottom bolts. Now you can set the lights manually. Pushing down the arm on the sensor (black box) will raise the lights all the way, which is too high. Experiment until you get them set just below the windshieilds of cars ahead.

    Also, the standard bulb in the Prius (D2R) has black shading which limits light output. You can replace it with a D2C bulb which has no shading and is supposedly 30% brighter (I haven't installed them yet so I'm can't say for sure). The bulbs are available at http://www.sigmaauto.com/jdm/prius/prius0405.php

    Good luck!
     
  15. moneytrain8

    moneytrain8 New Member

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    I have noticed, in the 6 weeks I have had my Prius, that I have gotten a number of oncoming drivers flashing me their high beams, especially in "country road" situations where there is little or no street light illumination.

    My wife thinks it is because my headlights are blinding them, and they think I have my high beams on, so they give me the "Go F yourself" high beam flash to let me know about my transgression. Do you think it's possible that my headlights are "aimed" too high, or is it just a matter of their car being at a lower level, therefore increasing the amount of light that they get from my headlights?

    I had a similar problem in my old Wrangler... Low-sitting cars would think that I was giving them the high beams when I was behind them... Caused a number of "incidents" where they would try to "retaliate," when if was just that the Wrangler sits 2-3 feet higher than their Corolla or Taurus, putting my headlights right in their rear window. :: shrug ::
     
  16. mehrenst

    mehrenst Member

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    A lot of drivers here are just not use to the HID lighting systems yet. I get it on occasion and they back-off when I flah back in response.

    BTW, I use to get the same thing when I put Lucas bulbs in a sports car I owned many years ago.