headlight adjusting

[special k]

Anyone know how to adjust the headlight beam? My passenger side is off to the right a little

 

[nsxtasy]

You'll find the procedure in your service manual. Go to the table of contents for the Electrical section, and look for Lights - Headlights. You'll find the adjustment procedure on the first few pages of that section. In the '91 manual, it's page 23-188.

 

[nsxbuilder]

The manual is all well and good but if your car is like my '91 than the adjusters you reach from the sides (with a phillips head screw stick) are fused in place, never to be moved again. I'm not kidding, it took me hours and a fair amount of tool making to get mine to move the slightest bit. Best of luck.

As for setting the lights, I've asked 3 different Acura NSX dealer service techs and 2 shop owners the spec for setting the height and spread of the headlights - and no one could answer the question. There isn't anything in the service manual on this that I've seen.

Shouldn't there be a known formula somewhere that says for a car who's headlight center line is X inches from the ground, park the car Y feet from a flat surface and have the centers of the beams be Z1 inches on the left and Z2 inches on the right? I've searched and have found nothing.

How about a little help over here!

-Ed
www.nsxbuilder.com

 

[nsxbuilder]

In answering my own question, I found a couple resources...

http://www.cibielights.com/headlamps/aiming.htm
http://www.cfive-corvette.com/headlights.htm

So it looks like some of the answers would be:

Start by parking your car 25 feet from a light colored wall on a level surface, with 1/2 tank gas and a person in the drivers seat. Measure the centerline of your headlights. This will vary depending on tire/suspension/car differences. Use low beam setting.

Still digging for more...

-Ed
www.nsxbuilder.com

 

[myf16]

The manual is all well and good but if your car is like my '91 than the adjusters you reach from the sides (with a phillips head screw stick) are fused in place, never to be moved again. I'm not kidding, it took me hours and a fair amount of tool making to get mine to move the slightest bit. Best of luck.

This appears to be the case with my 1991 car. What's your recommended method?

 

[special k]

I fixed it just needed to know what it needed, a phillips screwdriver

 

[Hugh]

The manual is all well and good but if your car is like my '91 than the adjusters you reach from the sides (with a phillips head screw stick) are fused in place, never to be moved again.

I had a similar problem with one of my headlamps. I'd turn and turn the adjuster and nothing would happen. I took off the headlight assembly cover and discovered that the worm bolt that the adjuster engages was spinning freely in the housing mount. It should be fixed so that the adjuster nut forces it to move in and out thereby moving the lamp assembly. I simply held it in place with a needle nose plier as I turned the adjuster and presto, we had a moving headlamp assembly. If you've ever removed your headlamp covers you know exactly what I'm talking about.

I aimed the lamps in a similar fashion to that described on the Cibie site but also drove on a pitch dark road and fined tuned them to my personal preference.