Adjusting headlights on an 07 Impreza?

[houndman]

I guess it's not just me feeling the headlights don't light up the
road far enough ahead. Was trying to find out which way to turn the
adjuster on my impreza, mainly the right side, since I don't think it
lights up the road ahead, far enough especially on left turning roads.
One that was tight with a curb and guard rail had me braking to slow
and see it. I found a forum where many had the same complaint. I
bought a combo Fog/Driving light from Hella, mainly for the fogs, but
figured the drivers combo may help seeing, especially for going to
star gazing locations in a state forrest, that is one of the reasons I
bought the car for, and would Love to get Night Vision to be able to
see deer and other critters, so I Don't hit them. The car was also
bought for trips to other remote areas.

The forum I read that the low and high beams are adjusted together,
and one guy said he made his high beans useless adjusting the lows
where he could see well. Maybe adjusted them too much. I just want
them to equal or come close to the sealed beams in my old Chevy. If
Not I'll have to use the drivers, or maybe the fogs will have a better
light pattern.

I recently took a ride to the state forrest location, and though my
eyes were damaged where most of the new lights bothered me, and Some
even made them burn, ache for hrs after, and feel grainy, now that is
Very rare, but I still don't like the Brighter lights, but driving a 2
lane in the darkness, it brought home how Every Car or truck has a
Different brightness, pattern, OR Color. It was hard to tell what was
what or where, and if someone might be passing, then there was One
Bizzare sight, where there was a wall of strings of triangular lights
on a large rectangular shadow across the road. Turned out to be a semi
turning onto the road, from the opposite side, and pulled onto the
shoulder to let the traffic pass. Must have been loaded since it was
accelerating slowly.

I tried to adjust my right headlight up, turning the bolt behind it,
and best I could find about what to do was, talk about an a 04 STi
Impreza, to turn The Screw Counter Clockwaise to raise the light. I
wouldn't call a bolt a screw, and not sure if an STi is the same, so
not sure if counter clockwise raises it, but I turned it about 1/16,
to see what that does. Going to have to park in front of a wall, or
drive it at night, to see if I did anything, or went the wrong way.

VF

 

[Dano58]

I guess it's not just me feeling the headlights don't light up the
road far enough ahead. Was trying to find out which way to turn the
adjuster on my impreza, mainly the right side, since I don't think it
lights up the road ahead, far enough especially on left turning roads.
One that was tight with a curb and guard rail had me braking to slow
and see it. I found a forum where many had the same complaint. I
bought a combo Fog/Driving light from Hella, mainly for the fogs, but
figured the drivers combo may help seeing, especially for going to
star gazing locations in a state forrest, that is one of the reasons I
bought the car for, and would Love to get Night Vision to be able to
see deer and other critters, so I Don't hit them. The car was also
bought for trips to other remote areas.

The forum I read that the low and high beams are adjusted together,
and one guy said he made his high beans useless adjusting the lows
where he could see well. Maybe adjusted them too much. I just want
them to equal or come close to the sealed beams in my old Chevy. If
Not I'll have to use the drivers, or maybe the fogs will have a better
light pattern.

I recently took a ride to the state forrest location, and though my
eyes were damaged where most of the new lights bothered me, and Some
even made them burn, ache for hrs after, and feel grainy, now that is
Very rare, but I still don't like the Brighter lights, but driving a 2
lane in the darkness, it brought home how Every Car or truck has a
Different brightness, pattern, OR Color. It was hard to tell what was
what or where, and if someone might be passing, then there was One
Bizzare sight, where there was a wall of strings of triangular lights
on a large rectangular shadow across the road. Turned out to be a semi
turning onto the road, from the opposite side, and pulled onto the
shoulder to let the traffic pass. Must have been loaded since it was
accelerating slowly.

I tried to adjust my right headlight up, turning the bolt behind it,
and best I could find about what to do was, talk about an a 04 STi
Impreza, to turn The Screw Counter Clockwaise to raise the light. I
wouldn't call a bolt a screw, and not sure if an STi is the same, so
not sure if counter clockwise raises it, but I turned it about 1/16,
to see what that does. Going to have to park in front of a wall, or
drive it at night, to see if I did anything, or went the wrong way.

VF

Anything in the owner's manual about headlight adjustment? All driving
lights are going to do is give you some light immediately in front of
the car and to the sides, not further down the road. And just keep in
mind any adjusting you do to throw light farther down the road is
going to negatively impact other drivers...

Geez, I'm thinking that maybe you shouldn't be driving at night at
all, VF!

Dan D
'99 Impreza 2.5 RS (son's)
Central NJ USA

 

[houndman]

Anything in the owner's manual about headlight adjustment? All driving
lights are going to do is give you some light immediately in front of
the car and to the sides, not further down the road. And just keep in
mind any adjusting you do to throw light farther down the road is
going to negatively impact other drivers...

Geez, I'm thinking that maybe you shouldn't be driving at night at
all, VF!

Dan D
'99 Impreza 2.5 RS (son's)
Central NJ USA

I have a shop manual on CD, and it just shows the location, but
maybe I didn't find how to adjust them.

I am adjusting just the Right light for seeing more on the Right side
of the road, which shouldn't affect oncoming drivers, and if it
Doesn't light up the side, maybe it needs to be moved horizontally.

Driving lights and fog lights are different. Fogs have a wide, short
pattern, and drivers are longer than high beams, Depending on the
model, they can have longer and shorter distances, and some light more
of the right side of the road to see people who may be walking, and
road signs. The other night going to the star gazing sight, I had been
to as a passenger. I had to look for a Smokey the Bear sign on the
right, and about 100yrs past, a narrow, 45deg angled dirt road through
trees, with oncoming cars and lights, and maybe a critter or two, like
deer that the prez of the club hit a month ago, coyotes that we have
heard, or bears
that are said to be in the area. Now it wouldn't be much fun to
flatten the front or have a 4 legged passenger Inside the car who
entered through the windsheild. I Like Bambi. Later I found out the
bear sign had been removed, and one member didn't know How I could
miss the road. It supposedly had 2 driveway reflectors at the
entrance. I Didn't see anything reflect My lights 100yrds past the
mile marker they were Supposed to be, and I drove past 4X, but was
looking for the Missing sign, and making Sure I didn't Hit anything.
Had a semi tail gaiting me for a few mi lighting up the inside of my
car. If I wasn't looking so hard for a sign that Wasn't there or
reflectors, and everything else, I would have done my usual, shadow
hand puppets, or driven like a nut, making them Wonder what MY problem
was, when They were the problem, since I was driving the limit...

Almost hit a deer last year, driving through the area, who was
standing on the right side of the lane, while I was a passenger. Good
thing my eyes aren't That bad yet, since we were almost on top of it
when the headlights lit it up, and me being the passenger and I
wasn't as affceted by the oncoming lights as the driver might be, and
the driver was able to react fast enough to my warning, and swerve,
and there were no oncoming cars close. Yep, Driving at night through a
state forrest or Any unlit, rural road or highway isn't the safest,
and I want All the advantage I can have. See I don't want to have to
make an insurance claim, or feel Dumb because I didn't learn from
experiences, mine or others.

Had to avoid a cow on a highway at night once. I was young but I saw
the car far ahead of me swerve, and couldn't figure why, till My
lights lit up the Black and White one in my lane. Once had to avoid a
dead dog In My lane and its buddy roaming around. I had a Big Buck
running on a collision course with my car in the daytime, on an angle
from behind me as I was looking for a road I had to turn on, I knew
was close, though had never been to the area before, which is WHY I
Also want GPS, since I plan to travel all around the US, mostly on
secondary roads.. probably take a year and drive 15K mi. I picked up
the movement of the buck, and slowed to try to avoid it, not knowing
where he would go, or what would avoid a hit from the angles, and he
leaped over the narrow back road about eye height, about 30' ahead. He
was runing in an open field and in the day, so I saw him Early, which
is What I Want to Do At Night, and it is hard to see anything when
Your lights don't Light it, and Oncoming ones wash out the road. Some
with driving lights, and ones They installed, changed the bulbs on, or
pickups, suv's or Semi's, OR ones adjusted wrong, pointing Right at
you.

VF

 

[David]

Going to have to park in front of a wall, or
drive it at night, to see if I did anything, or went the wrong way.

VF

Perhaps if you took the sack of concrete out of your trunk...

 

[David]

Yep, Driving at night through a
state forrest or Any unlit, rural road or highway isn't the safest,
and I want All the advantage I can have. See I don't want to have to
make an insurance claim, or feel Dumb because I didn't learn from
experiences, mine or others.

Try the high beams, Sparky.

 

[.._..]

My driver manual says "don't touch them, go to dealer for adjustment"

That impiles taking stuff apart to do it.

Maybe try some aftermarket bulbs, they vary widely in color and light
output.

 

[houndman]

Try the high beams, Sparky.

I'll remember that when You are approaching from the other direction.
I Shut them Off when I See headlights coming, as soon as I see them,
but That's Just Me. Was thinking, I Rarely use high beams in my Old
Car. I WONDER Why Not??? Maybe just driving in an Over lit city, where
you Don't even nead headlights on, you Have to Remember to Put Them
On. No, it's only in rare situations, But Many here have Their driving
lights on All the time. They must be the ones with their High beams on
On the road. Legally blind.((

 

[houndman]

Perhaps if you took the sack of concrete out of your trunk...

I'm using the concrete, so haven't put it in. I Lowered tire
pressures to improve the ride. Anyway if I took weight out of the
rear, the headlights would be Even Lower. If I added it, I probably
wouldn't have to adjust the lights. Thanks for the reminder.(( Must
be the curse of being 6' tall. I Know, I'll Lower the seat.

 

[Bugalugs]

I'm using the concrete, so haven't put it in. I Lowered tire
pressures to improve the ride. Anyway if I took weight out of the
rear, the headlights would be Even Lower. If I added it, I probably
wouldn't have to adjust the lights. Thanks for the reminder.(( Must
be the curse of being 6' tall. I Know, I'll Lower the seat.

My GT Legacy Wagon comes with a small wheeled knob on the dash (similar
to knobs used to increase/decrease the dash lights) which can be used to
raises or lower the lowbeam of the headlights when carrying heavy loads.

Have you checked all the controls on your dash?.

 

[Rick Courtright]

to see what that does. Going to have to park in front of a wall, or
drive it at night, to see if I did anything, or went the wrong way.

Hi,

If you insist on driving at night (which is sounding less and less like
such a good idea the more I read), Google is your friend. If you can't
find some useful info in the 35k+ hits that come up under "headlight
aiming," you should consider leaving such stuff to the pros and drive
only during daylight hours.

Which way to turn the screw/bolt/whatever? You've only got two choices!
Since you've independently discovered what mechanics have been doing
since the dawn of adjustable headlamps, i.e. aiming 'em against the
wall, one of those Google hits will probably suggest placing a couple of
pieces of masking tape (one vertical, one horizontal) on said wall to
mark the defining line between light and dark. After doing that, you
turn your screw. If the light moves the wrong way, you turn the screw
the other way. Period.

You probably want to get that concept down before re-engineering the
rest of the car. Better yet, it sounds like the old Chevy was far more
suited to your purposes than the Subie. Perhaps the new owner will sell
it back?

Rick

 

[KLS]

You probably want to get that concept down before re-engineering the
rest of the car. Better yet, it sounds like the old Chevy was far more
suited to your purposes than the Subie. Perhaps the new owner will sell
it back?

If I remember right from the millions of words he's posted here, he
still has the Chevy; the Subie is for long distance trips, which he
prefers to make at night when there's less traffic and fewer
distractions on the road. I think he should sell the Subie.

 

[houndman]

Hi,

If you insist on driving at night (which is sounding less and less like
such a good idea the more I read), Google is your friend. If you can't
find some useful info in the 35k+ hits that come up under "headlight
aiming," you should consider leaving such stuff to the pros and drive
only during daylight hours.

Which way to turn the screw/bolt/whatever? You've only got two choices!
Since you've independently discovered what mechanics have been doing
since the dawn of adjustable headlamps, i.e. aiming 'em against the
wall, one of those Google hits will probably suggest placing a couple of
pieces of masking tape (one vertical, one horizontal) on said wall to
mark the defining line between light and dark. After doing that, you
turn your screw. If the light moves the wrong way, you turn the screw
the other way. Period.

You probably want to get that concept down before re-engineering the
rest of the car. Better yet, it sounds like the old Chevy was far more
suited to your purposes than the Subie. Perhaps the new owner will sell
it back?

Rick

Still have the 86' Chevy, and will keep it till it quits. It only has
75K on it, and many rides I take are 1.5mi of stoping at every
intersection for a light or stop sign, and then leave it sit for an hr
or 2, and not something I'd want to do to a new car, plus the Chevy
can take the hits in the parking lots, and they won't be noticed, with
all the others.

I'm up to a few K hits on adjusting the lights, and still find
nothing definite. It's a bit hard leaning under the hood and getting a
wrench between the sheetmetal, overflow bottle, and wire harness and
twisting around to try to see which way turning the bolt will move the
light, and can't figure out where to put the tape on the Jag XJ6
parked in front of it, to aim at since that is parked half on the
pavement, about 4' in front of it

I'm taking my time reengineering the rest of the car, since I Want to
do it Right, so I search and ask, BUT Not very many Know how to fix
things, Even Sube Doesn't seem to know Their Own Car, and come up with
some Really Off the FRIGGIN Wall, Comments. Now I didn't hear it first
hand, but somone said, they were told the motor has Forged Alumimum
connecting rods, an Cast Iron Pistons..(???) When I wrote and asked,
they wanted to know Why I wanted to know, and Never responded. In ALL
the Hits that I read about the crank, NO ONE seems to know. Sube says
that ALL their cranks are Forged. I Wouldn't Bet on It....

I have some limitations, so Many parts I bought to put on the Sube
are sitting. I have to firm up the bumper covers to mount the Hella
fog/driving lights I bought, so they don't wiggle over ever
imperfection I the road. That won't work... Mounting them on the
bumper beam is Too far back. Sube wanted 300$ for their lights, but I
didn't even ask if they were driving or fogs. I got both in one
housing for 35$.

 

[Bugalugs]

Still have the 86' Chevy, and will keep it till it quits. It only has
75K on it, and many rides I take are 1.5mi of stoping at every
intersection for a light or stop sign, and then leave it sit for an hr
or 2, and not something I'd want to do to a new car, plus the Chevy
can take the hits in the parking lots, and they won't be noticed, with
all the others.

I'm up to a few K hits on adjusting the lights, and still find
nothing definite. It's a bit hard leaning under the hood and getting a
wrench between the sheetmetal, overflow bottle, and wire harness and
twisting around to try to see which way turning the bolt will move the
light, and can't figure out where to put the tape on the Jag XJ6
parked in front of it, to aim at since that is parked half on the
pavement, about 4' in front of it

I'm taking my time reengineering the rest of the car, since I Want to
do it Right, so I search and ask, BUT Not very many Know how to fix
things, Even Sube Doesn't seem to know Their Own Car, and come up with
some Really Off the FRIGGIN Wall, Comments. Now I didn't hear it first
hand, but somone said, they were told the motor has Forged Alumimum
connecting rods, an Cast Iron Pistons..(???) When I wrote and asked,
they wanted to know Why I wanted to know, and Never responded. In ALL
the Hits that I read about the crank, NO ONE seems to know. Sube says
that ALL their cranks are Forged. I Wouldn't Bet on It....

Let me get this right. You asked Subaru if the cranks were forged or
not. They told you they were. And you say you don't believe them.

Why ask ??

Have you heard they are breaking ? Are you planning on breaking yours ?

 

[.._..]

Hi,

If you insist on driving at night (which is sounding less and less like
such a good idea the more I read), Google is your friend. If you can't
find some useful info in the 35k+ hits that come up under "headlight
aiming," you should consider leaving such stuff to the pros and drive
only during daylight hours.

IP address: 66.173.249.104
Reverse DNS: static-66-173-249-104.dsl.cavtel.net.
Reverse DNS authenticity: [Verified]
ASN: 16810
ASN Name: CAVTEL02
IP range connectivity: 3
Registrar (per ASN): ARIN
Country (per IP registrar): US [United States]
Country Currency: USD [United States Dollars]
Country IP Range: 66.172.0.0 to 66.175.255.255
Country fraud profile: Normal
City (per outside source): Warrington, Pennsylvania
Country (per outside source): US [United States]
Private (internal) IP? No
IP address registrar: whois.arin.net

Folks outside and well away from Pennsylvania can breathe easy.
Those there, good luck and keep an eye out for VF-Magoo "houndman" who can
be identified by his new but strangly modified Subaru with headlights
pointing off
at odd angles.

 

[.._..]

I'm up to a few K hits on adjusting the lights, and still find
nothing definite. It's a bit hard leaning under the hood and getting a
wrench between the sheetmetal, overflow bottle, and wire harness and
twisting around to try to see which way turning the bolt will move the
light, and can't figure out where to put the tape on the Jag XJ6
parked in front of it, to aim at since that is parked half on the
pavement, about 4' in front of it

You are supposed to take all that stuff out to adjust headlights.

I found that around hit 21,456 in Google. (I read fast and have a T1 at
work.)

 

[David]

Hi,

If you insist on driving at night (which is sounding less and less like
such a good idea the more I read), Google is your friend. If you can't
find some useful info in the 35k+ hits that come up under "headlight
aiming," you should consider leaving such stuff to the pros and drive
only during daylight hours.

IP address: 66.173.249.104
Reverse DNS: static-66-173-249-104.dsl.cavtel.net.
Reverse DNS authenticity: [Verified]
ASN: 16810
ASN Name: CAVTEL02
IP range connectivity: 3
Registrar (per ASN): ARIN
Country (per IP registrar): US [United States]
Country Currency: USD [United States Dollars]
Country IP Range: 66.172.0.0 to 66.175.255.255
Country fraud profile: Normal
City (per outside source): Warrington, Pennsylvania
Country (per outside source): US [United States]
Private (internal) IP? No
IP address registrar: whois.arin.net

Folks outside and well away from Pennsylvania can breathe easy.
Those there, good luck and keep an eye out for VF-Magoo "houndman" who can
be identified by his new but strangly modified Subaru with headlights
pointing off
at odd angles.

LOL!

 

[Bugalugs]

(e-mail address removed) wrote:

to see what that does. Going to have to park in front of a wall, or
drive it at night, to see if I did anything, or went the wrong way.
Hi,

If you insist on driving at night (which is sounding less and less like
such a good idea the more I read), Google is your friend. If you can't
find some useful info in the 35k+ hits that come up under "headlight
aiming," you should consider leaving such stuff to the pros and drive
only during daylight hours.

IP address: 66.173.249.104
Reverse DNS: static-66-173-249-104.dsl.cavtel.net.
Reverse DNS authenticity: [Verified]
ASN: 16810
ASN Name: CAVTEL02
IP range connectivity: 3
Registrar (per ASN): ARIN
Country (per IP registrar): US [United States]
Country Currency: USD [United States Dollars]
Country IP Range: 66.172.0.0 to 66.175.255.255
Country fraud profile: Normal
City (per outside source): Warrington, Pennsylvania
Country (per outside source): US [United States]
Private (internal) IP? No
IP address registrar: whois.arin.net

Folks outside and well away from Pennsylvania can breathe easy.
Those there, good luck and keep an eye out for VF-Magoo "houndman" who can
be identified by his new but strangly modified Subaru with headlights
pointing off
at odd angles.

LOL!

Thanks for that. I was getting a bit worried...and I'm not even on the
same continent. :>)