How to adjust headlights (horizontal) - Honda Prelude Forum

axngen · 02-28-2002, 05:55 PM

Gumbylude got me thinking...

I have two crappy yellow stock replacement headlights in right now.. they're two totally different bulbs.. everyone who's driven in front of me has been telling me that one is a LOT brighter than the other.. ok, so i figured it was probably b/c one bulb was just better than the other...

then i noticed, when i'm pulled up against a wall w/ my headlights on, the headlight reflections are really off..i mean REALLY off....so i decided to try to adjust the aiming....i've got the vertical adjustment lined up properly (both bubbles are right on O), but the lights still shine the same off the wall...

now i'm thinking maybe it's the horizontal adjustment, but i don't know how to adjust it...i checked in the manual, and it says to have the thing you turn adjusted so that the O is facing the top.. is it me or is there no O there?? i sure don't see one

i started turning the horizontal adjustment anyway, and i started to see different colored dots...red on one side, blue on the other...what gives??

any of you guys know what i'm talking about??

axngen · 02-28-2002, 07:38 PM

TTT

Modern Angel · 02-28-2002, 08:09 PM

Hrm.. I adjusted my headlight beams once and had some trouble at first cuz my 'lude wasn't parked on a perfectly flat surface.. it made it hard to see the dots. .. maybe that's your problem?

Sometimes the area around the little viewing port to see the dot to adjust the headlights can get kinda dirty too so perhaps that's interfering as well.

Sorry I can't be of more help. heh..

AndoOKC · 02-28-2002, 08:14 PM

there is an "O". On teh top most part of the headlight there is a little place that accepts a philips screwdrive that you can adjust the horizontal with. Thee will be on stable vertical mark " | " and as you turn the horizontal dial there should be an "O" that is below a mobile " | ". Trust em its there. And when you have the stationary vertical marking in line with the O and its vertical line, the horizontal is where it needs to be. let me know if i can be of more help. if i had a digicam i would take a pic for you.

axngen · 02-28-2002, 08:22 PM

the "O" doesn't actually move right? you know how there's two places you can adjust? one being closer.. which one is which? wishing my digi cam didn't get stolen...

oh yea...how is it that the settings would ever go off anyways?

qboi · 02-28-2002, 08:29 PM

check out ur car manual it shows how.. vertical and horizontal.. etc etc.. with a screw driver..

and sometimes if ones brighter than the other maybe juss take it out again and put it back in.. once i put in bulbs one was much brighter.. cuz it was put on wrong.. like u gotta twist it around or something..

good luck

axngen · 02-28-2002, 08:37 PM

ok, i figured out which is which....

but anyhow, regardless of what i do, as long as that bubble is on the 'O' i should be ok right?

axngen · 02-28-2002, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by qboi
check out ur car manual it shows how.. vertical and horizontal.. etc etc.. with a screw driver..

and sometimes if ones brighter than the other maybe juss take it out again and put it back in.. once i put in bulbs one was much brighter.. cuz it was put on wrong.. like u gotta twist it around or something..

good luck

ok, i'll try that out...i would just leave them alone, but friends are telling me that one side is blinding the hell outta them....my vision plus' should be coming in soon though

what kinda bulbs do u have on your car?

oh, and thanks guys

AndoOKC · 02-28-2002, 08:49 PM

You got the best halogen bulbs that i can think. I have HID but if i still had halogen i would have gotten what u did.

there are vertical and horizontal alognments. the bubble thing si for vertical and the horizontal has the plastic dial with a movable "O" that goes left to right.

axngen · 02-28-2002, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by AndoOKC
You got the best halogen bulbs that i can think. I have HID but if i still had halogen i would have gotten what u did.

there are vertical and horizontal alognments. the bubble thing si for vertical and the horizontal has the plastic dial with a movable "O" that goes left to right.

what would happen if i were to turn the horizontal one 360 degrees and have it land back on the "O"?? would it come back to the same correct setting? oh yea, i noticed, that when you adjust the vertical alignment, it affects the position of the bubble also...not sure if that makes sense...

axngen · 02-28-2002, 09:11 PM

oh yea, and i'm glad you like the bulbs..they're on the way..i should get them any day now!

AndoOKC · 02-28-2002, 09:36 PM

you can turn it 360 degrees, in fact you can turn it so much that it pops the whole reflector off and then you have to open the headlight and fix it. A pain in the butt. Dont over turn it.

yes the vertical alignment does affect the bubble. when the bubble is at zero that means it is perfectly aligned. Try and keep it there.

axngen · 02-28-2002, 09:40 PM

i guess the whole point i'm wondering, is why do you need a vertical AND a horizontal adjustment, if the thing you're measuring with (the bubble) only moves up and down...if it moved left and right also i could understand the need...ya know what i mean?

AndoOKC · 02-28-2002, 10:29 PM

well think of you headlights as flashlights that your chassis is holding. And there is a general direction that your flashlight needs to point (not to the left, not to the right, but center, not too low, not too high but the center). Thast why u need an up and down and a left and right to get that beam where you want it.

does that explain everything?

axngen · 02-28-2002, 11:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by AndoOKC
well think of you headlights as flashlights that your chassis is holding. And there is a general direction that your flashlight needs to point (not to the left, not to the right, but center, not too low, not too high but the center). Thast why u need an up and down and a left and right to get that beam where you want it.

does that explain everything?

i totally understand that you need to be able to adjust vertically and horizontally.. the part that i still don't understand is this....let me give you a perfect example..

i've adjusted my headlights before, but i never knew the vertical adjustment existed, so i always just used the horizontal adjustment, and could always bring the bubble back onto the 'O'... given that using that one adjuster, i can always move the bubble back to where it belongs, what's the point of having the second adjuster? do you understand what i mean now? i really hope that makes sense...

i guess the real question is, since both the horizontal AND the vertical adjusters both make the bubble only go up and down, how would i know which adjuster to use if the bubble isn't in the right spot? horizontal or vertical?

sorry to beat the topic to death