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Are my headlights too high?

-Rich-

-Rich-

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Location
Herts
Car
2.4 Tourer Auto
I have the HIDs on my car and while I love them it seems other drivers don't!

I am always getting flashed by cars coming in the opposite direction, especially down roads with no street lighting.

If I drive down country lanes most of the time I don't even need my full beam on, they light up both sides of the road and the verges.

I've read that Honda did set these quite high from the factory but does anyone know where they should be set or how I can check myself/adjust them if needed?
 
Hi Rich you could go to a garage that do MOT,S and ask them to check your lights for a small charge.
Also I'm sure there are 2 adjusters under the bonnet just above your lights.
 
yep there are adjusters, I've done it myself a long time ago, and IIRC there's a thread on here somewhere with a picture

But, you might also have the dreaded auto-levelling problem. The sensors for the auto-levelling on the Tourer often go wrong, I bought my car when it was only 1 year old, and each year it was in for a service I would tell them that the lights were at the wrong level, and they would adjust them, I would take it back a few weeks later, and so on, and so on, until I got them to work on the sensors. When it was all working right, I pulled the plugs off the motors on the headlights and I've left them off ever since.

If you think that your MOT bods won't like that, then put some masking tape in the plugs and push them back on before the MOT.
 
Thanks for the replies.

I have found the video on how to adjust them but how would I know where to set them or is this really a garage job?

How can I test these, I tried putting weight in the boot and standing in it but I couldn't tell if the lights were moving or not, should it be noticeable? Thinking about it I tend to get flashed more when we go away and I have the boot fully loaded, which I guess is making the beam even higher.

If I turn the lights on and then start the engine should they move at all?

I've read Steve's thread and found a couple more with close up photos of the sensors but where exactly are they and which side? Do I need to remove any trim?

Where are the plugs for the motors on the headlights, do they connect to number 13 - http://www.lingshondaparts.com/honda_car_parts_selection_pfk.php?block_01=17SED01&block_02=B__0800&block_03=443

I have my MOT in just over a week but have a friendly tester so they should get through.

It's not just HIDs that have this problem though, the manual adjuster on our Civic stopped working a couple of years ago so I need to sort that as well but being halogen it's not a problem for other drivers unlike the Accord!
 
If you point the car at a wall or garage door (a car's length away), you can tell if the lights are high or not from the position of the beams on the wall/door.

They shouldn't move just by starting the engine alone, you need to have the engine running and then get several people to sit in the boot with the tailgate up (no joke).

Without going and looking at my car, I think item 13 is correct, there is a cable that plugs into it and it can be unplugged fairly easily. When you unplug it, the lights will not move, but AFAIK it is best to do this when the sensors are working properly otherwise the manual adjusters on the lights will need a lot of adjustment. Once it's all set up properly, IMO unplugging the cables to the motors is the best thing to do, but obviously the lights will aim high again if you put a big load in the back.
 
I've copied this picture that I used in "Diagnosing Aircon Problems", which I took to show the "sight glass" and pressure switch on the aircon.

But you can also see the plug for the electric motors hanging down next to the pressure switch, and the block that holds the motors and adjusters for the lights are also in the picture. If you compare with your car, the plug will be plugged into the block.

DSCF0750.jpg
 
freddofrog said:
If you point the car at a wall or garage door (a car's length away), you can tell if the lights are high or not from the position of the beams on the wall/door.

They shouldn't move just by starting the engine alone, you need to have the engine running and then get several people to sit in the boot with the tailgate up (no joke).

Without going and looking at my car, I think item 13 is correct, there is a cable that plugs into it and it can be unplugged fairly easily. When you unplug it, the lights will not move, but AFAIK it is best to do this when the sensors are working properly otherwise the manual adjusters on the lights will need a lot of adjustment. Once it's all set up properly, IMO unplugging the cables to the motors is the best thing to do, but obviously the lights will aim high again if you put a big load in the back.
Click to expand...
Thanks Brian

How high or low should the beam be if shining at a wall when parked flat? I would say ATM they are pointing straight ahead.

I'll do some checking over the weekend to see if anything is broken. I think when I get it sorted I'll unplug them as well, it seems to be too much aggro to keep them working.
 
If the ground is totally flat all the way to the bottom of the wall, get a tape measure and measure to the top of each beam. They should slant a bit, and the right-hand beam should be a bit lower than the left-hand beam. Both beams should be a bit lower than the top of the glass over the lights on the car, the further the car is from the wall, the lower the beams should be.

Alternatively, if you have a friendly MOT bloke, take it to him and he will use their light-box to check.
 
The right hand beam is definitely lower than the left and they do seem to slant slightly down. The car passed the MOT on Saturday as well.

I've not had the chance (or weather) to look at the motors yet but I will soon. Should I be able to move them by hand?
 
-Rich- said:
The right hand beam is definitely lower than the left and they do seem to slant slightly down. The car passed the MOT on Saturday as well.

I've not had the chance (or weather) to look at the motors yet but I will soon. Should I be able to move them by hand?
Click to expand...
If it passed an MOT then it should be OK (depends how "friendly" the MOT bloke is though).

You can't move them by hand. If one knew the pinout in the plug and got hold of a spare plug, it would be possible to wire up the spare plug to be able to move each light up and down from the car battery, then leave it in that position. In the time I've owned my car, before I disconnected the plugs to the lights, I've had them pointing down to the ground, or up in the air, and sometimes just "oscillating" up and down a bit on the driveway. Honda .....your auto-levelling is a heap of cråp
 
I just thought, depends what you mean by "move them by hand". There are holes in the top of the modules to fit a screwdriver, large cross-head. Without going outside and checking I think there is one for lateral adjustment and one for vertical adjustment. I tried it once and got nowhere because the gearing on the adjustment is so low (large number of screwdriver turns for little change).
 
Sorry mate I've confused you, I meant the sensors on the suspension. I found the rear one on the N/S and couldn't move the little arm, I ***ume this should move? Where is the front one as I couldn't see that but only had a quick look as it was getting dark?

Can the sensors be removed, stripped down and cleaned?
 
-Rich- said:
Sorry mate I've confused you, I meant the sensors on the suspension. I found the rear one on the N/S and couldn't move the little arm, I ***ume this should move? Where is the front one as I couldn't see that but only had a quick look as it was getting dark?

Can the sensors be removed, stripped down and cleaned?
Click to expand...
never done it myself, I think Steve has
 
Nah, I've not done that. You're more likely to experience faulty headlamp adjusters than sensors. This is what I had, removed, cleaned, replaced. Still didn't work. Had to replace in the end.

As for your question, the front one fits on the shaft of the shock absorber on the near side. I don't know if you should be able to move them by hand. I doubt you could without detaching the ball/knuckle joint first and to get that off I expect would require some serious fiddling!
 
Stevearcade said:
Nah, I've not done that. You're more likely to experience faulty headlamp adjusters than sensors. This is what I had, removed, cleaned, replaced. Still didn't work. Had to replace in the end.

As for your question, the front one fits on the shaft of the shock absorber on the near side. I don't know if you should be able to move them by hand. I doubt you could without detaching the ball/knuckle joint first and to get that off I expect would require some serious fiddling!
Click to expand...
I found this thread of your's Steve, I thought you'd been at the sensors as well, however I see in the thread that it was cables and the levelling-ECU unit.

http://typeaccord.co.uk/forum/topic/13984-auto-levelling-headlamps-and-mots/
 
Indeed, the ECU for the self levelling system was dead as a dodo. Swapped it out for about £20 if I remember rightly with one from a breaker. Then all systems were go except the headlights still wouldn't adjust (the HDS was confirming the system up to the headlamps was operational). You should be able to adjust the headlamps with your fingers by simply turning the knob on the back of the motorised adjusters. One of mine needed pliers... They bodged it for the MOT that year. This year, replaced the part for and instantly, the whole system worked just fine. MOT was no problem.
 
Stevearcade said:
. You should be able to adjust the headlamps with your fingers by simply turning the knob on the back of the motorised adjusters.
Click to expand...
I've not seen that knob, is it accessible from the engine bay or is it internal in the light ?
IIRC I've only seen is a hole for a screwdriver
 
Look at the back of the light housing when you open the bonnet. You'll see the adjustors. They look like this:

2014-05-10230304_zpsdd1cba3c.jpg


The white bit is what goes inside the lamp housing (so you won't see that!), the bit you can twist is that nipple-like bit sticking out at in the top right at the back of the item in the picture.
 
Stevearcade said:
The white bit is what goes inside the lamp housing (so you won't see that!), the bit you can twist is that nipple-like bit sticking out at in the top right at the back of the item in the picture.
Click to expand...
I've seen that "nipple-bit", never seemed to move on my car, but I have used a screwdriver in that tube sticking up top-right in the picture. Mind you that was several years ago, as I say, I pulled the plugs off the motors when the beams were ok, and not had any problems ever since, with no-one ever flashing their lights at my car
 
for reference, circuit diagram for motors and sensors is below

each sensor is 3-wire +5/signal/gnd
each motor is 3-wire Vcc/signal/gnd (no idea if Vcc is +5 or +12)

SEA3E00000000000000EBAT00i009.jpg
 
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