Headlight Dip Manual Adjustment

[slamduncan]

Hello folks.

Since i've owned the focus Mk2.5, I've had a lot of people flashing their lights at me when driving in the evening or at night time and i've come to the conclusion that my dipped headlights are pointing up too high. I've rolled the in car adjuster down to its lowest setting but the beam is still pointing too far upwards on both sides. So much so that i've resorted to often driving on foglights and sidelights which I don't like doing because the fogs aren't as comprehensive for visibility on their own.

Is there a lever or adjustment screw on the headlight unit itself that can be changed to make the dip lower? Because with the setting at it's highest, it is pointing ridiculously high and on lowest still points too far upwards as I mentioned before.

I've checked the bulbs are fitted into the clips correctly and the bulbs are good too.

Any ideas would be much appreciated!

[Stoney871]

You need to head to a garage as soon as able as driving on sidelights and fogs is illegal and you will incurr a big fine and points.

[MrGrumpy]

There should be manual adjusters on the top of the headlight, one moves the beam up/down and one moves it left/right.

[slamduncan]

There should be manual adjusters on the top of the headlight, one moves the beam up/down and one moves it left/right.

Thank you.

For anyone else who happens to have this problem in future and stumbles across this thread, there are, like MrGrumpy said, 2 adjustment screws on each headlamp unit (This is the Mk2.5).

You will need a long-shafted philips screwdriver to be able to reach it without removing the light from its clips, or a hex tool if you are removing the lamp unit.

The screws you are looking for are white plastic, approx 1/2' in diameter. The ones at the top in clear view are the left/right adjuster for the dipped beams. The up/down adjuster is towrds the bottom of the headlamp unit on the back side, so this is why you need a long screwdriver if you are not going to remove the light.

About a dozen rotations of the screw and my lights now match up in terms of beam pattern and thankfully no more getting flashed by oncoming vehicles!

[gc88]

Thank you.

For anyone else who happens to have this problem in future and stumbles across this thread, there are, like MrGrumpy said, 2 adjustment screws on each headlamp unit (This is the Mk2.5).

You will need a long-shafted philips screwdriver to be able to reach it without removing the light from its clips, or a hex tool if you are removing the lamp unit.

The screws you are looking for are white plastic, approx 1/2' in diameter. The ones at the top in clear view are the left/right adjuster for the dipped beams. The up/down adjuster is towrds the bottom of the headlamp unit on the back side, so this is why you need a long screwdriver if you are not going to remove the light.

About a dozen rotations of the screw and my lights now match up in terms of beam pattern and thankfully no more getting flashed by oncoming vehicles!

Good work, and thanks for the update!

Are the mot testing rules online for this, so I know how to do mine?

[slamduncan]

Good work, and thanks for the update!

Are the mot testing rules online for this, so I know how to do mine?

No problem!

http://www.ukmot.com/1-6.asp Refers to the headlight aim rules.

I just did it using the wall at the back of my garage to check the dip levels.

[jeebowhite]

might be worth pulling the adjuster control panel out and check that its all wired up ok, might be a loose connection is why you are not able to remotely change it.

[Paddy H]

i think this was mentioned before, won't a local garage get it in and do it properly for a small amount? Im waiting for my LED sidelights then I'm getting mine done, mine arnt bad at the minute but il need them all adjusted.

[slamduncan]

might be worth pulling the adjuster control panel out and check that its all wired up ok, might be a loose connection is why you are not able to remotely change it.

Oh mis-communicated the last post.

My headlight dip controls inside the cabin work just fine, it goes up when i roll it that way and down again when i return the dial.

My problem was that the unit on one side in particular was pointing too high to begin with, so with the settings turned down to lowest dip, it was still too high (even though it moved down when i used the remote inside the cabin).

Anyhoo all sorted now

[jeebowhite]

aaaah, OK, makes sense :) well, glad you got it sorted anyway, a nice easy fix, just make sure you will still pass the lighting requirements of the MOT after your 'modification'.

[.Ryan]

Still having issues with mine, thinking of taking it to Kwikfit for them to sort.

[ManchesterMike]

One thing no-one seems to have mentioned, not even the official Ford video (!), is what setting to have the in-car, driver adjustment control set at. I presumed mid-point, so that adjustment can be made in either direction (up or down) whilst driving but the MoT testing instructions are that this control must be set at the highest position for adjustment:

Where driver’s beam aim controls are fitted the beam aim should be tested without altering the control setting except where this would result in failure for beam aim being too low. In such cases the beam aim should be re-checked with the control set at its ‘highest’ position.

​I suspect that in most cases of mis-aligned beams, the technician didn't check the in-car control and, therefore, when the lights were adjusted, they ended up being mis-aligned through forgetting to check the setting of this control!

[mjt]

I think the adjustment should be made with the control set on the highest setting and a driver in the car. This way the control can always bring the beams down to compensate for a fully-loaded rear. It will never be necessary to raise the beams above the setting for an empty car plus driver.

[ManchesterMike]

Yes, I wondered about having someone in the driver's seat.

Your explanation for using the highest setting of the driver's manual control confirms why the MoT test instructions also requires the highest setting.

[Pathebusman]

Hi I have a 2010 1.6 deisel. Has anyone come across my headlight problem. My dipped headlights both point as expected wholey except I'm getting cars flash me in the nights and I have noticed that the outer edge of both my lights sort of like flair in the air. I've noticed this particularly when in built up street or where there's trees, my edge shine upwards. Hope this makes sense. 

[isetta]

when the beam pattern is wrong it's usually because the bulbs are not in correctly, they are not far enough into the holder or they are rotated wrongly. 

[Pathebusman]

Hi thanks. I did think something like that but wasn't sure if that could be the case. I will check them in the morning weather permitting and update thank you