Headlights must be properly adjusted. Improperly adjusted headlights can dazzle an oncoming vehicle and cause a serious accident or severely reduce your ability to see the road. The headlights should be checked for correct alignment every 12 months and every time the headlights are replaced or the front end is repaired. It should be emphasized that the following procedure is only an intermediate step to temporarily adjust the headlights until they can be adjusted in a specially equipped workshop.
The headlights have two adjustment screws, one of which controls the vertical adjustment and one controls the horizontal adjustment. You may need to remove the grille to access these screws (see chapter Body).
There are several methods for adjusting headlights. The simplest of them requires an empty wall (or garage door) ten meters in front of the car and a flat floor.
1. Attach the adhesive tape vertically to the wall along a line corresponding to the center line of the vehicle and being the center of both headlights.
It may be easier to do this if you first place the car a few centimeters from the wall, and then, after making all the marks, put it back at the desired distance.
2. Attach another adhesive tape horizontally to the wall along a line corresponding to the center line of all headlights.
3. Park the car 10 meters from the marked wall (the front edge of the car must be parallel to the wall). The adjustment should be made with the car nominally loaded, the gas tank should be half full.
4. Begin adjustment with the dipped beam. Position the zone of greatest intensity so that it is five centimeters below the horizontal line and five centimeters to the right of the vertical line. Adjustment is made by turning the top adjustment screw clockwise to raise the beam and counterclockwise to lower it. In the same way, the side adjustment screw is used to move the beam to the left or right.
5. With the high beam turned on, place the area of greatest intensity exactly on the vertical line and just below the horizontal line.
Sometimes it is not possible to fine-tune both beams, low beam and high beam. If a compromise is necessary, remember that low beams are used much more often and are much more important for driver safety.
6. Have your headlights adjusted at your dealer or service station as soon as possible.