LED headlamps

I have recently purchased a 2010 Prius V and have a question for other owners about the LED “auto-leveling” head lamps. I just took my car in for the 5000 mile oil change and asked the service department to check the head lights as the auto-leveling function does not appear to work. Not only that, but they are aimed too low for driving at speeds over 40 mph and perhaps this is connected to the auto-leveling not functioning. At the end of my visit I was told by the service department representative that these headlights are not auto-leveling. However, the dealership’s claim does not agree with the Prius V specifications, the owner’s manual, nor with Toyota Customer Care who (after reading the specifications over the phone) tell me that the dealership is wrong. I am wondering what experience others have had with LED “auto-leveling” head lamps on the Prius 2010. Thanks in advance.

 

On mine, when the car is first started (and I've left the headlight switch in the ON position), I can see the headlights finishing their adaptation as they rise to their level position.

 

The headlights are auto leveling but that doesn't mean that they aim themselves. The auto leveler just moves them up or down to compensate for loads, such as luggage in the back. They must be aimed correctly just as any other kind of head light. Many of us have noticed that the LED headlights are aimed way to low as delivered from the factory. Mine were so low that I felt that I was over driving them at 35 MPH.

Your dealer should have no problem doing this or you can do it yourself. Check posts 15 and 24 on this thread: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-prius-main-forum/69497-shaded-lights-getting-me-down-2.html

 

I too have a V and the LED Headlights do "Auto-Level" to adjust for loads in the car. I have seen it quickly at turn on of the headlamps. It's quick and if you blink you will miss it! But they do adjust for load. As for being to low on the road I think mine need to be raised a little and there is a thread on here how to do that. Just do a search and you should find it.

 

Checked out the LED headlamp adjustment posts. First of all thanks.
Mine seem to have the typical too-low cutoff. Just went out to check how to adj. It is an 8mm size and easy to reach. Thought I'd mess around a bit and turned the nut IN about 1 full turn.

Question - is 'turning in/tightening/clockwise' the correct way to RAISE the LEDS? And for you folks that did the adj, was 1 full turn enough. I will check tonight, but will be subjective.

 

ROY,

Here is the post, so it appears that Counter Clock Wise (CCW) is the way to raise them. Let me know how your's came out. I will be looking at mine next. Here is the Post:
My V with LED headlights was definitely that way and they were aimed right down in front of the car, I felt as if I were over driving them at 35 MPH.

Fortunately they are adjustable and it's easy to do. There is an adjustment in the center of each headlight assembly, it does both the hi and low beams on that side of the car. It has a bolt head (about 8 or 10 mm) in the center and a toothed circle around the edges. You can move the teeth with a screwdriver one notch at a time or turn it with the bolt. CCW raises the lights. Try it a little at a time (say 4 or 5 notches) while it is aimed against a wall. Then go out and drive the car and see how it looks. I think I ended up raising mine 12 or 16 notches. After I finished I took a long drive on a dark two lane road with other traffic to see if anyone flashed me to dim my lights, no one did so I think they are not to high. In fact I have had them the way they are for over 6000 miles and no one has flashed me yet and now I can see.

NOTE: On the back of each headlight assembly there will be two plugs, one for wires to the high beam lights and one for the low beams. The vertical aiming adjustment will be between and just a bit below the plugs.


Thanks,
Bob

 

Bob,
THANKS so much! Wow - I saw the CCW and thought that was some Prius Forum lingo. duhh.


wait...on second thought - is it CCW from the front or rear? The hex screw is positioned from back to front as you look at it from the headlight. I DID turn the screws CCW if looked at from the front of the car. Perhaps I was premature with my Duh...

 

I thought the LED headlights (low beams only) were way too low. My dealer told me they were not adjustable.

One of the Prius techs on this site gave me the TIS number of the pertinent procedure to adjust them. The Toyota factory service rep at first confirmed my dealer's statement but, when I confronted him with the procedure number from TIS, he backed down and sent me the gobbeldygook message that follows.

"I will just say that although you may find documents that refer to alignment of the headlamps, that is in the event that both segments ( high and Low beam ) are off, or the vehicle has been in a collision , or the headlamp has been replaced for some unforeseen reason. I can not send you the document you are requesting as it is a very detailed 4 or 5 page set of instructions that require that you have special tools/equipment and an area set up with specific measurements of distance and height. Also the first section of the document referring to the headlamp aiming states to check the bulb installation to insure it is correct, you also must remove all items from the vehicle and if the aim of one segment ( high or low) beams is correct, then the other is as well. Sorry I can not send you this information but this e mail address is not intended to be a public information site.I will still submit the customer satisfaction report on your behalf, however I would highly recommend that you have your vehicle checked by a authorized Toyota dealer to insure the bulbs are installed correctly, and if so then no adjustments of any kind are required."

Thanks to Priuschat for coming up with the simple solution.

 

Thanks for the responses, especially for the adjustment tips. I had my son sit in the back of my Prius with the hatch open and turned the headlights on as I watched the light on the garage wall real close and sure enough like bobprius said above you can't blink. They do a quick auto level and that's it. Completely different than the BMWs I've been accustom too. What still amazes me is that I have had 4 exchanges with the Toyota dealership from whom I purchased the car and they still insist that the Prius V LEDs are not auto-leveling, duh. Readjusting the low beams should do the trick for me.

 

I guess this is the report saying how happy you are with the outstanding support he provided!!

 

Will performing the adjustment described, will this raise the brights as well?

 

Yes it will do both at the same time, I know of no way to do them independently. You may wish to check my original posts, numbers 15 and 24 on this thread.
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-prius-main-forum/69497-shaded-lights-getting-me-down-2.html

 

Bummer!

I'm happy with the brights as they are, especially after changing out the bulbs to the whiter ones as recommended by Stream. I originally found the yellow color of the brights compared to the white LED low beam very disconcerting.

I'll give it a try and see if there's a balance between raising the low beam and not getting the brights too high.

 

I raised mine quite a bit to get the low beams up where they belonged, 16 or so notches of the toothed wheel as I recall. It didn't seem to adversely effect my brights at all. I think the halogens have a pretty wide vertical beam width.

 

I have the IV and I thought that the one small circular main headlight was LED, while the V had two of them. They look the same.

 

What lamp did Stream suggest again for the High Beam replacement or what did you get? Are they close to the LED's now?

I don't like the YELLOW hue as well...of the highs..

 

Just got Sylvania Silverstar Ultra bulbs, low beam for my 2013 Prius for $45/pair from Walmart. What sucks is the stated 150 hour life. They are extra bright, so good for night driving. Next time I will get LED bulbs that have 50,000 hour stated life. I am sure even if they last 1/10th of that, it will be 33 time these stupid Halogens.