Headlights issue

neilmcl

the_tired_one said:

Richard53 said:

That pattern looks OK to me. Both bulbs have a 'kick up' to the left to illuminate the road side, so the weird angles you see are not a fault. It seems that the beams are set too low. Do you have a beam adjuster in the car (usually a little roller close to the light switch)? If so, you could play with that to see if you can bring the beams up. Most have about 4 settings, and the default setting for driver only is usually 0. Check the manual for details. If that doesn't work, ask a competent garage to do a beam alignment check and adjust the levelling accordingly. Cost would be minimal, even free if they are nice people.

I do have a beam adjuster but I find those dark angular blocks disconcerting and make night driving difficult and even dangerous.  Not a single car that drives past me has this...they have a clean, well lit path in front of them.  Like I said I didn't have this issue last year.

It's almost as if my headlights have cataracts!

When I'm in the left lane of the motorway, my lane is poorly lit, the hard shoulder is lovely and bright!

I'll try my local garage, but I've never met a nice mechanic!

You still haven't told us the make/model of your car. It may well be that your headlights are of a particular poor design.

MarvinDay

Does anyone drive your car? and if so, what was their opinion?
The reason I ask is that there is a slight possibility that the car is fine and the problem is actually with your vision and if you've not had this checked for a while, it might be worth getting it done. 

As we age, our night vision does gradually worsen so depending on how old you are, this could be fully or partly to blame.

Richard53

Further point - to narrow down any issues, point the car to a wall after dark and cover the headlights one at a time with a cloth or towel. That will help you identify if the problem is with just one or both of the units.

I had to do this with an MX-5 I had. The pattern on both dip and main was awful and I couldn't understand it at all. Separating the two units with a cloth showed that, when one unit was main, the other was dip, and vice versa. Previous owner had done a wiring bodge. Easily fixed, but took a while to track down.

But as others have said, the left kick-up is quite normal. There's nothing weird about the pattern, but the aim might need correction.

scrappy_returns

the_tired_one said:

Hi.  With the nights getting longer, my journey home from work is in the dark.

And I've noticed that I'm struggling to see more than 10 metres ahead of me on the motorway .

The angle of the lights seems all over the place.  I've posted an image



The. Bulbs are very tricky to access, requiring removal of front grill etc.

I'm happy to pay someone to resolve, what I do t want us to take it to someone who just replaces the bulbs and not fix the problem.

Who should I be taking it to and is there a mechanical term for this issue?  Thanks

Looks spot on to me. Are you used to driving cars with better lights, hids/ xenons/laser or whatever else?

nologo

So again...WHATS THE MAKE & MODEL of your car, as this may have a headlamp recall  or other known problems ...(it's on the back)

oh_really

Are the lens on your lights perhaps becoming opaque?

coffeehound

Or, have you put on weight over the past year?

BOWFER

neilmcl said:

You still haven't told us the make/model of your car. It may well be that your headlights are of a particular poor design.

VW Polo of the past few years being an example.
Set way too low out of the factory, manual adjustment only marginally improves them.
Headlights in a £24K Polo GTi being bettered by an 8 year old Seat Mii.

scrappy_returns

nologo said:

So again...WHATS THE MAKE & MODEL of your car, as this may have a headlamp recall  or other known problems ...(it's on the back)

Back of What? The car? It ain't on mine.

the_tired_one

nologo said:

So again...WHATS THE MAKE & MODEL of your car, as this may have a headlamp recall  or other known problems ...(it's on the back)

2010 Hyundai i30