Headlight adjustment

[Mihanicos]

Has anybody done any headlight adjustments using the spirit levels within the headlights?

Attached are the drawings from Lexus Tech Doc and it would appear to get to those spirit levels an 8 mm plastic bolt must be removed found at the top of the headlights. I tried to release the bolt but it is seized. Is the bolt just holding a plastic lid to stop water getting into the lights?

I do not want to cause any damage due to lack of knowledge of what is below or what the bolt is holding together.

The height sensors on the front and rear are ok and functioning.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Chris.

 

 

[200h]

is there any chance you could rotate the images to make them easy to read

[Zotto]

In all Gs I had, I made headlight adjustments just rotating screws with a Phillips LONG screwdriver, in some way difficult to find, I don't  remember any bolt to remove...

[Mihanicos]

Thank you very muchfor your response. I will resubmit the pages tomorrow facing the right way.

Chris.

[Mihanicos]

Attached here are the same documents as before with the right orientation.

I had another go today to access the bubble gauges but without success. On the previous model they are visible exactly where they are shown on the repair manual. I cannot understand why they are shown to exist but in reality there is no way to access them. The 8 mm plastic bolt seems to be an integral part of the plastic housing of the headlights.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Chris

Scan0001.pdf Scan0002.pdf Scan0003.pdf

[KayCee]

i dont think the spirit levels are on the gs450 its the long screwdriver im afraid

 

[Mihanicos]

I have seen photos of the buble gauges on the GWS 190 models. I removed both level sensors and checked them. Both were in order. Then I tested the servo motors of the head lights and they were in order too. 

Then I set up a diagram to test the alighnment  of the headlights at a distance of 10 metres from the car. To my surpise they were spot on. Today I had the headlights checked at my MOT garage and I could see they were exactly spot on. Seeing is believing !

The only conclusion I can draw is that the ecu controlling the headlight operation was reset due to the disconnection of the Battery prior to disconnecting and removing the level sensors. Disconnecting the Battery was deemed necessary to avoid air bag deployment.

Concluding, I would like to thank you all for your help, response, comments and suggestions.

Kindest regards, 

Chris.

 

[hazelnut]

I know this is an old post, but... I have a 2009 GS450h, I recently replaced the front height sensor, and have checked the headlight motors make the lights go up and down using techstream. However the N/S headlight is pointing way too low. I have tried to adjust the A and B screws and nothing seems to work, and I do not have any bubble gauges on my headlights, so paying out £4 to lexustech seems to be a waste of time. My tape measure shows the left beam 4cm lower than right when aimed at the fence about 50cm away. I need to fix this as it was an MOT failure. It seems I will have to remove the wheel arch liner entirely and the bumper to get to the headlight. REALLY? 

[Mihanicos]

I had to alighn my headlights. Assuming the levelling control works, you can adjust them using the horizontal and vertical screws. The height adjustment screw is accessible by removing part of the wheel arch liner. Look for the joint in the liner. That is where the adjusting screw is found.

First you have to fill the tank with petrol to the full. Place the car on a level flat surface.  Draw the centres of the lights on a flat plane, same height and distance between them. Draw a horizontal line between the centres of the lights. Mark the centres.

Put this plane vertical at a convenient distance from the lights with the horizontal line at the same height as that of the lights. The centre of the horizontal line should be at the same axes as that of the centre of the lights on the car.

Now you adjust the lights at 0.2% ( 2 mm per metre from the car) drop from the horizontal line and aim them precisely. This adjustment gives maximum visibility without blinding oncoming traffic.

Hope this can help.

Chris.

[hazelnut]

Cheers Chris. 

I had another look today, and I tried my entire collection of Philips screwdrivers to access the outer 'A' bolt. (I have about 15). The screwdriver needs to be a #2 with a 6mm shaft on a length of at least 150mm. ( 6.4mm aka 1/4" is too thick, 5.5 too thin). This leaves the selection down to a handfull of suppliers. I have ordered a Facom ATP2x250.  For alignment I have a local supermarket with a decent flat carpark, with a wall, some chalk and a tape measure I usually go for 1%. 0.2% will be a challenge for sure.

[Mihanicos]

1 to 1.5% is the normal dip. But I came accross a toyota avensis headlight adjustment and I did a drop of 0.2% and it is excellent.

Chris.

[hazelnut]

The special screwdriver arrived today, and it works for adjusting up/down on the RHS light, but the up screw on the LHS (passenger side or NSF) just won't turn, I think the teeth have been stripped in the past. I guess this is new headlight time?

[NemesisUK]

9 minutes ago, hazelnut said:

The special screwdriver arrived today, and it works for adjusting up/down on the RHS light, but the up screw on the LHS (passenger side or NSF) just won't turn, I think the teeth have been stripped in the past. I guess this is new headlight time?

It would be worth a call to Lexus as there may be a repair kit for the adjuster. It may be a 'common' failure (caused by hamfisted adjustments!)

[hazelnut]

I found some useful images off t'interweb, and added some A/B markers. It looks like both upper screws are at the same level, so a differential change in the two screws would be L-R adjust, and common mode change would be up-down. So I guess if one of the screws were wound too far it could jam the other screw. I think that is what has happened on my light. The thread of the 'B' screw appears to be  a regular right handed screw, so clockwise on both A+B should raise the lamp . 

PS. I am happy report that worked! I adjusted the 'A' until it became less tight, then the magic screwdriver was able to turn the 'B' screw. Now Both headlights are the same height. Yay