Headlight alignment

[Roadster90]

Does anyone have a simple procedure for aligning the headlights on a Reatta.....as in instructions for aligning on a close object such as the brick wall of a building please?

Thanks,

Nic

[Jim]

Nic,

Why are you worrying about headlight adjustment. I saw on the news this morning Richmond is getting bad weather. Stay inside and be warm.

From Google----

Getting Set Up:

Park so that both the left and right headlights are precisely 25 feet from the wall.

Using your tape measure, find the exact middle of both the windshield & rear window and mark them with strips of tape, creating vertical center lines, front & rear.

Standing behind the car, now sight along those center lines, as if you were lining up sights on a rifle in a carnival shooting gallery. When center lines are aligned, you can locate the headlight centerline on the wall. Mark this with another strip of tape.

Now measure the distance between the headlight lenses, center to center. Divide this distance in half and measure that distance to the right of the centerline on the wall. Mark it with a vertical strip of tape. Do the same on the left side.

Finally, measure the distance from the ground to the center of each headlight lens; mark that distance on the wall with a horizontal strip of tape.

You should now have two crosses on the wall, with centers that correspond exactly to the center of each headlight lens.

Testing Your Beams:

Turn your headlights on low beam. The left edge of the bright spots on the wall should just touch the vertical bars of the crosses in the lower right quadrants. The top edge should just touch the horizontal bars.

On some cars, you can adjust the headlight aim yourself by turning small set screws at the top & sides of each lamp. For our cars the out side Torx is used to aim up and down, the inside is for left and right.

If you cannot do it yourself, a mechanic can adjust your headlights at a garage or dealership. Aligning your headlights does not substitute for any required state inspections.

[padgett]

Since I live on a dark straight level street, I usually just get close on the wall then point down the street and adjust to maximise visibility on low beams. Have SilverStars but no-one blinks at me so must not be too high.

[Roadster90]

Thanks for the replies Gentlemen. I have Silver Star Sealed Beams and have been attempting a method similar to Padgett's, but the lights just do not seem to be bright enough on county / country roads. Will wait till the snow mess melts / disappears and try the procedure Jim posted.

Thanks !

Nic

[Guest steveskyhawk]

Nic,

Be aware that those high draw headlights can overheat your expensive, unrebuildable 90 light switch. I recommend that you put the bulbs in it that are standard equipment and check for broken strands in the headlight wireing and bad grounds. Barney did a nice tutorial on this wire issue.

Remember that resistence is cumulative. If you have high draw headlight bulbs, marginal grounds, broken strands in the headlight wire, overheated burned contacts in the switch, these things combined can equal meltdown and possible fire.

Many people are looking for easy fixes. Usually going back to basics is the solution. If working properly, the standard equipment lighting is more than adaquate. Nobody that bought these cars new had a problem. Has it become darker at night since the 1990s? Putting in high draw headlights when the system already has the problems I listed above may be the straw that breaks the camel's back so to speak.

[89REATTAJIM]

WOW!!

[Guest NEMO]

Making the proper repairs is more work then installing HID lamps.

[padgett]

I would be concerned about 100w bulbs. Silverstars draw much less, the same as the original high beams (65w). The low beam is 55w instead of 35w but is still less than the origional highs.

Suspect there are more issues with H4 bulbs in the fog lights.

[Guest Mc_Reatta]

Anybody done any comparing the HIDs with a good H4 set up. I have seen that you can get a cheap H4 set for about the same as Silverstars, but I be even with a higher wattage, they probably won't out perform the Silverstars. I have not seen any comparisons between the HIDs and say a Hella H4 set up.

[wws944]

I would be concerned about 100w bulbs. Silverstars draw much less, the same as the original high beams (65w). The low beam is 55w instead of 35w but is still less than the origional highs.

I've not seen any 6054 sealed beams that are higher wattage than what the Silverstars are. Dan Stern claims the GE Nighthawk sealed beams have better optics than the Silverstars, and aren't 'tinted' to produce white light - thereby improving the amount of light on the road. But that doesn't affect wattage.

To get higher wattage lights, one would have to use H4 housings and install 'off-road use only' H4 bulbs. A headlight relay harness would be *highly* recommended in that case.

Suspect there are more issues with H4 bulbs in the fog lights.

The fog lights in our Reattas use wimpy 881 bulbs. They are rated 27.5 watts each. Many 'decent' fog lights use 55 watt H3 bulbs or similar. The wiring does route through relays though. I'd assume they need to do this because the fog lights need to turn themselves off when the headlights are in high-beam mode. (Legal requirements.)

[Guest Mc_Reatta]

My concern with upgrading the wattage of the fog lights would be destroying the housings from the extra heat generated. Would definately want to explore an aftermarket set or better ones from another vehicle with the same size housing but H3 bulb capable to swap the hole assembly.

[wws944]

My concern with upgrading the wattage of the fog lights would be destroying the housings from the extra heat generated. Would definately want to explore an aftermarket set or better ones from another vehicle with the same size housing but H3 bulb capable to swap the hole assembly.

Agreed. A different option is to use E-code headlights instead of DOT spec ones. With the sharp cutoff, they are more effective in snow storms and fog than DOT lights are.

[Guest Mc_Reatta]

Nobody that bought these cars new had a problem. Has it become darker at night since the 1990s? Putting in high draw headlights when the system already has the problems I listed above may be the straw that breaks the camel's back so to speak.

Steve, I've been thinking about what you said, and I respecfully disagree with your conculsion to not install upgraded lighting.

While the nights have not gotten darker than in 1990, (actually have gotten lighter in most areas due to more sky glow) the eyes of the drivers have gotten 20 years older and lost many rods and cones in the process making our view of the road darker.

I used to tear down the interstates and back highways in my first sports car late at night with a set of Hella lamps with offroad H4 bulbs and was only concered about bears and deer. Can't even stay awake those hours anymore, no less feel safe driving on the same roads.

Used to be able to ride you brights for quite a while, now your lucky to be able to run with them on for more than 15 or 20 seconds before you have to dim them for oncoming traffic. Given that senerio, I think we owe it to ourselves to equip our vehicles with at least a better set of low beams than stock. Those of you in rural areas should also consider the brights if you can get to use them much.

I think for most of us the the SilverStars or Nighthawks are the most practicle solution and won't stress the electrics any more the the current brights do. Although granted those parts are 20 years older too.

If anyone is overly concerned, or wants to install some HIDs or H4s, it is not hard to install some relays to drop the current through the switch to almost nothing. Just need some relays, wire and connectors.

I've also given some thought to the desirability of having the switches remanufactured. Really, those items are electro/mechanical nightmares. I would not expect anyone to attempt to remake them as they are, but convert the guts to modern solid state components and just keep the external case the same for fitment into the dash. Still unfortunately not very practical given the small market, but better than trying to remake such an obsolescent assembly.

I guess we will have to find all the good used ones we can and rebuild some others just to keep our cars on the road after dark. I will gladly run the risk of a rebuilt switch rather than not be able to drive my car after dark.

Just think about the poor Toyota drivers who have to drive their cars every day with a sticky throttle until they can get it replace under the recall.

[Guest steveskyhawk]

Mc

I think we are in total agreement. My only point is to be sure the basics are done before doing the quick fix of changing the bulbs. If a person hasn't checked grounds and checked for compromised wire then they shouldn't be attempting to rewire the system with relays. Do the basic, simple things first. I dont have a cheap answer for the problematic 1990 switch. There is no cheap answer to that problem and that is what many forum regulars want is cheap. Some of their cheap solutions like faux rebuilt switches may burn up their cars. Penny wise= dollar foolish. When people fixate on price they get confused with facts.

[Guest NEMO]

Not the cost but the speed. The quicker it is done, the sooner the next job will be started. The cost is just given to the customer. It is the way business is done. Do the job. BUT, doing the job the right way is when the owner of the car does the work.