Headlamp alignment

[antonyj]

Anybody got any tips/instructions on aligning the headlamps on the greeny?

I was thinking against the garage door method?

[Wildfire]

Hi Ant

Yep that's what I did, aligned it in the garage on the door, using the lines on the plastic. Worked fine and passed the MOT ok. Also worked with the driving lights.

[Ballistic Banana]

never had to adjust mine and never looked before, is ther adjuster screws then. not that yours would be like mine.

BB

[antonyj]

Wildfire said:

Hi Ant Yep that's what I did, aligned it in the garage on the door, using the lines on the plastic. Worked fine and passed the MOT ok. Also worked with the driving lights.

But to what?
How do i do it?
What am I looking for?

[Griffter]

Ant,

I made sure the car was level, then measured the distance between the headlamp bulbs, and the height of the bulbs from the ground. Obviously this is a bit hit and miss, but just be as accurate as you can.
I then marked the position of the bulbs on a giant piece of card and place it about 1.5 metres from the front of the car. Try and get each bulb marking directly in front of the respective bulb.

Then switch the lights on and adjust the beams so that the 'kink' in the pattern is just below the mark you made on the card. This way the beam will be pretty straight, slightly dipped if anything.

That's it - job done. Main beam alignment isn't tested - but it's a good idea to make sure they're level and parallel using a similar technique.

I took the car for the MOT 2 weeks ago and mentioned to the tester that I was confident the car would pass, but that the headlamp alignment may or may not be OK. I explained what a PITA it is to adjust it and he checked the alignment first, so that if it was out, we could whip the covers off and adjust once the car was on the ramp. However his words were:

"Spot on, mate"

Good luck - and don't push those light units into the pod...

[Wildfire]

Just a quick addition. You adjust them using 3 plastic wing nuts behind the covers in the wheel arch. It is a complete PITA to do!! But aside from that, just do as described above.