headlight low beams with abrupt shadow

T

tara525

Member
:
2013 Mazda CX-5 Touring
Is anyone else having issues with the headlights on low beams not giving a good range of light? It's like there's a distinct cutoff on the area illuminated. It makes it dangerous on windy roads or when going downhill and only having 10 feet of light. When the high beams are on, it's not an issue, but you can't always drive with the high beams.

I did a google search and found a few similar complaints but no solution. Something with the shutter? If I take my car to the dealer, can they fix it? It seems to be a major safety issue and it makes me uncomfortable to drive in the dark. And it gets dark at 5:30.

I have the touring version if that matters.
 
These lights have the same cut-off pattern as my wife's '06 Miata, but her's were adjusted a little higher from the factory. I raised the ones on my CX-5 Touring up so they're now pretty much the same. I had the same problem on my '07 Nissan Frontier. I think any time a vehicle is designed to carry cargo, such as an SUV, CUV or pickup, the manufacturer adjusts the lights so that they will be at the proper height when there is a load in the rear. This doesn't do much for visability in an unladen vehicle. I turned the adjusters exactly one turn counterclockwist to adjust the lights up and have not gotten flashed by anyone. If you take it to the dealer, they will simply adjust them to factory specs and likely as not you will have the same problem.
 
At the rear of the headlight housing (under the hood) directly behind the low beam you'll find a silver 10mm bolt head in the middle of a silver washer about the size of a quarter. This is the low beam adjusting nut. The passenger side is easier to get to than the driver side, but take a small magic marker and mark the bolt so as to provide a reference point as to how far you've turned it. Then take a 10mm end wrench and turn (unscrew) each bolt one full turn counterclockwise. This will maintain the relationship between left and right side and give you a higher setting on both. You can raise them more or less if you like (and if oncoming traffic permits). What you'll notice is the cutoff will be raised, providing more usable light below that line on the roadway. High beams will not be affected. Good luck.
 
Thanks so much!

To previous poster, I just have the standard lights on the touring. I didn't get the package with the upgraded lights.
 
Both the regular lights ans xenons can be adjusted in this manor. I did this on my self leveling xenons on my 2010 mazda3 gt. The position you raise it to makes it the new neutral balanced position.

The best way to make sure they are even is to back up 10 feet from your garage door and make the adjustments at night. Just remember even an inch raised on the wall is a lot when viewed over a longer distance. You dont want to cause accidents by blinding other cars.

Lastly, it will take many turns to make a small difference in height on the garage door.
 
tara525 said:
Thanks, Paris. Would you mind explaining (like I'm 5) how to adjust them?
Click to expand...
Love the comment ;)

Paris1 Thanks for explaining. I wondered about this same thing - very "narrow" line between light and dark, but I'm ok with lights as is. Good to know they can be adjusted if needed.
 
thats how projection style headlights work, you get used to it, adjusting them up might give other drivers glare
 
paris1 said:
At the rear of the headlight housing (under the hood) directly behind the low beam you'll find a silver 10mm bolt head in the middle of a silver washer about the size of a quarter. This is the low beam adjusting nut. The passenger side is easier to get to than the driver side, but take a small magic marker and mark the bolt so as to provide a reference point as to how far you've turned it. Then take a 10mm end wrench and turn (unscrew) each bolt one full turn counterclockwise. This will maintain the relationship between left and right side and give you a higher setting on both. You can raise them more or less if you like (and if oncoming traffic permits). What you'll notice is the cutoff will be raised, providing more usable light below that line on the roadway. High beams will not be affected. Good luck.
Click to expand...

To get the correct height so you don't blind oncomming traffic.

Measure the height of the center of the projector to ground.
Park the car 25 Feet away from a nice flat wall.
Adjust the height of the cut off so that it is 2IN Lower than the headlight height.
 
thanks WhiteCX5,

I was hoping someone would have some sort of guideline for aiming the headlights more than just a raise them until you can see way far off.

It is ridiculous anymore how many cars have that type of adjustment done on them as way too many cars headlights are blinding even when sitting as high as one does in the CX5.
The worst seems to be fog lights though. It seems like a lot of people think those should light up way off in the distance too so they aim them higher. Since they are mounted lower on the cars they end up aiming up. And they are called fog lights but I look so cool driving around with them on that I have to drive with them pointing up at he oncoming traffic no matter what the weather. (smash)

okay, that's my rant for today.... I think I hear some kids out front and they might be on my lawn!!
 
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stromdriver said:
thats how projection style headlights work, you get used to it, adjusting them up might give other drivers glare
Click to expand...

I've had my car 6 months and I haven't gotten used to it. In my opinion it's a major safety issue and if this is "normal" then I need to find cars that have regular headlights. Thank goodness I did a 3 year lease so I can get rid of this car. Too many little annoyances. It looks nice, but that's about all I like about it. I want my2002 Accord back.
 
tara525 said:
I've had my car 6 months and I haven't gotten used to it. In my opinion it's a major safety issue and if this is "normal" then I need to find cars that have regular headlights. Thank goodness I did a 3 year lease so I can get rid of this car. Too many little annoyances. It looks nice, but that's about all I like about it. I want my2002 Accord back.
Click to expand...

to each their own, once i got used to projectors on my old passat i preferred them to reflector setups, you get more light on the road, and less scatter into places that dont matter
 
ta240 said:
thanks WhiteCX5,
I was hoping someone would have some sort of guideline for aiming the headlights more than just a raise them until you can see way far off.

It is ridiculous anymore how many cars have that type of adjustment done on them as way too many cars headlights are blinding even when sitting as high as one does in the CX5.
The worst seems to be fog lights though. It seems like a lot of people think those should light up way off in the distance too so they aim them higher. Since they are mounted lower on the cars they end up aiming up. And they are called fog lights but I look so cool driving around with them on that I have to drive with them pointing up at he oncoming traffic no matter what the weather. (smash)
Click to expand...
The method outlined by WhiteCX5 sounds great, but if you've ever stood 25' ahead of a car shining its headlights on a wall and tried to determine a 2" difference between the height of the actual light and the projected cut-off, it aint that easy! That's why they make sophisticated headlight aiming equiptment used in dealerships and elsewhere. Besides, even if it were easy (and accurate), you'd simply end up with the same result the OP is complaining about. My suggestion in post #4 is not advocating just a raise them until you can see way far off. I'm simply suggesting raising them a bit to see if that puts them where you want them to be and use the reactions of oncoming traffic (whether you get flashed or not) to verify that they are not too high. Another check is to park your car with at the curb (or in the middle of the lane in front of your house if it's safe to do so) and approach it on foot or in another vehicle from a distance to see if the change creates a problem. I admit, it's not terribly scientific, but it works and if you keep track of how much you've moved off the factory setting, you can always put it back if you don't get the result you want.
 
I have had the exact same experience. I bought my car 2 days before a cross country trip and it was near impossible to drive the speed limit on level roads at night because the car was overdriving the headlights. There was a very distinct cut off to the beams with the left being shorter than the right (there was almost a V of darkness in between the beams from the left and right headlights). I actually had to flash my high beams on some times to see the road markings or risk driving off the road. I decided to drive with the trucks which drive at a lower posted speed. The posted speed for cars on I40 in Texas is 70 mph and it was impossible to drive on the level road at that speed if there was a curve. I could clearly see them adjust left and right slightly on curves and they seem to bounce slightly when hitting a dip in the road but they never illuminate enough of the road ahead to drive the speed limit on the freeway.
 
paris1 said:
At the rear of the headlight housing (under the hood) directly behind the low beam you'll find a silver 10mm bolt head in the middle of a silver washer about the size of a quarter. This is the low beam adjusting nut. The passenger side is easier to get to than the driver side, but take a small magic marker and mark the bolt so as to provide a reference point as to how far you've turned it. Then take a 10mm end wrench and turn (unscrew) each bolt one full turn counterclockwise. This will maintain the relationship between left and right side and give you a higher setting on both. You can raise them more or less if you like (and if oncoming traffic permits). What you'll notice is the cutoff will be raised, providing more usable light below that line on the roadway. High beams will not be affected. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Thank you for this! I needed to lower our headlights to avoid blinding oncoming traffic. I tried to find the aiming screws from the online maintenance manual resources, but they show only the HID headlamp screws even in the base headlight section (!) and I couldn't determine the ones for mine. Thanks to your post I found the screws and adjusted the low beams. Muchos Gracias.
 
tara525 said:
Is anyone else having issues with the headlights on low beams not giving a good range of light? It's like there's a distinct cutoff on the area illuminated. It makes it dangerous on windy roads or when going downhill and only having 10 feet of light. When the high beams are on, it's not an issue, but you can't always drive with the high beams.

I did a google search and found a few similar complaints but no solution. Something with the shutter? If I take my car to the dealer, can they fix it? It seems to be a major safety issue and it makes me uncomfortable to drive in the dark. And it gets dark at 5:30.

I have the touring version if that matters.
Click to expand...
A distinct cutoff is a sign of a well designed low beam. The light that travels the greatest distance is the top portion of the beam. If the cutoff is too soft then there is not enough light in the top part of the beam to adequately light the road at a distance. A well defined cutoff puts maximum light where it is needed most (at the top of the beam) without blinding fellow motorists. If yours only extend 10 feet then they have been improperly aimed. A headlight adjustment is the solution. I recommend letting the experts do it because they have the proper equipment to get it done right the first time.
 
Still blows my mind that consumers are considering the cut-off line as an "issue". There are endless companies out there trying to figure out a way to increase overall lighting and sharpen the cut-off for on-coming and ahead traffic. Yet there are still people who insist that light bleed (a poor cut-off) is beneficial to overall safety, and I can assure you that these are the same people who complain about those with aftermarket HID's in halogen housings blinding the hell out of them. Zero sense made.

The factory cut-off lines are perfectly tuned with the driver side being slightly lower to prevent blinding of oncoming traffic. Our factory tech-pack projectors are amongst the best in terms of even light spread and SHARP cut-off. Unless your projectors are flawed from the get-go (be it the hardware or aligning), it shouldn't be tampered with.

Hell, even Audi is finally integrating active matrix individual LED lighting into their new line of cars. The technology that many have pioneered the past decade.

 
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