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-   BRZ First-Gen (2012+) — General Topics (https://www.ft86club.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=23)
-   -   BRZ Headlights Issue? (https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8716)

billysangi 06-14-2012 12:26 PM

BRZ Headlights Issue?
 
Does any BRZ owner notice an issue with their low beam headlights only lighting up approx 20 feet in front of the car making it impossible to clearly see the road ahead?

Please let me know if you think this is a widespread issue or only with my vehicle.

Thanks for your help

GMU-BRZ 06-14-2012 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billysangi (Post 257904)
Does any BRZ owner notice an issue with their low beam headlights only lighting up approx 20 feet in front of the car making it impossible to clearly see the road ahead?

Please let me know if you think this is a widespread issue or only with my vehicle.

Thanks for your help

Read your manual- you can adjust the headlight level very easily by turning the little wheel thing to the left of the steering wheel.

mattles 06-14-2012 12:33 PM

you'll want to play with that headlamp leveling adjustment dial to the left of your steering wheel. that will aim your headlamps up to the proper level to more evenly and completely light up the road ahead.

#87 06-14-2012 12:38 PM

Adjusted to their highest setting I see they don't go as high as other vehicles but I don't drive on any pitch black roads so can't really say if it is an issue.

Sony 06-14-2012 12:39 PM

Yep, what they said! Mine came from the factory set to #5 which is the lowest setting, but the recommended setting when only one person is in the car is #0 the highest setting. Most likely your headlights are set to the wrong number! Adjust the dial to the lower left of your steering wheel.

billysangi 06-14-2012 12:40 PM

Thanks everyone....appreciate the responses. I guess it pays to read the manual.
I will give it a try.

#87 06-14-2012 12:56 PM

By highest, I mean height on the road, which is actually the number 0 setting.

Draco-REX 06-14-2012 01:10 PM

The lights in my BRZ on 0 are at level I like so I haven't tried this yet, but there was a trick I did with my STI which has HIDs.

Pull up to a brick wall, or other wall with horizontal marks.
Move the headlights to the highest setting and mark on the wall where the cutoff is.
Then aim the lights down one click.
Under the hood, use the vertical adjuster to adjust the headlight back up to the position it was at the highest setting.
You now have one more click of height.

The tough part is finding the vertical adjustment. On the 07 STI you need to use a #2 Philips to engage the motor gear like a pinion. I'm not sure what the adjustment is like in the BRZ. So that will have to be figured out first before the above can be done.

groucho 06-14-2012 01:12 PM

My '08 STI's headlights were set from the factory to be notably lower than my '05's. My folk's '10 Legacy is also surprisingly low. Our '10 Outback is OK but that may be because it rides higher.

On the '08 STI, there are adjusters under the hood, behind the headlights, that you can use to control the adjustment. I marked the original spot with a Sharpie then moved them up slightly; enough so that #1 was the preferred aiming, rather than #0. I assume you could do the same with the BRZ. I haven't driven mine at night yet so I don't have a first-hand opinion. :)

Mavrik 06-14-2012 03:14 PM

When I took delivery of mine, the headlights were also aimed to the lowest setting. I quickly raised them back all the way up.

OrbitalEllipses 06-14-2012 03:39 PM

Adjust using the wheel in-cabin, then adjust from the back of the headlight under the hood.

Longhorn248 06-14-2012 04:04 PM

The whole headlight adjustment seems like a pretty silly feature to me. Why not just let them be adjusted manually under the hood without all the electronic motors and gizmos. It's not the type of thing you're going to be changing regularly once they're aligned to where you like them.

robotvoice 06-14-2012 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Longhorn248 (Post 258320)
The whole headlight adjustment seems like a pretty silly feature to me. Why not just let them be adjusted manually under the hood without all the electronic motors and gizmos. It's not the type of thing you're going to be changing regularly once they're aligned to where you like them.

Actually....because HID bulbs give off about 2-3 times the amount of light as a halogen bulb, it's very import to have your lights adjusted properly as to not blind other drivers and having a leveling device is essential for this. With a couple people in the back of the car/full tank of gas/cargo in the trunk (or any combination of these) the beam patter will raise up quite a bit and you will need the ability to adjust your headlights on the fly instead of having to pop the hood every time you need to make an adjustment.

Some cars have auto-levelers for their HID headlights which gets rid of the manual adjuster wheel but this also increases the cost of the lights as well.

Jeff Lange 06-14-2012 05:34 PM

Headlights get adjusted manually even on cars that have auto-leveling. You need to be able to set where "base" level is before it starts to adjust it.

I'm sure the BRZ is probably the same.

Jeff


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