aiming headlights - 99 legacy wagon

[Fred T.]

Some moron aimed the headlights on a 99 Legacy wagon of my acquaintance
so that they converge about 50 ft in front of the car, on the ground...
and I'm trying to rectify this situation...

On inspection, I find that the owner's manual doesn't appear to have a
headlight aiming section, and online searches reveal only that the
mechanism is complex. It appears to be a feat of marvelous Japanese
engineering (yes, that's sardonic in this particular case) involving
between the frame and the glass/housing of each lamp a
1. post outboard (towards the side of the car from lamp centerline) and
above lamp centerline - a pivot point ?
2. adjustor outboard and below centerline
3. adjustor inboard (towards car center from lamp centerline) and above
lamp centerline
4. spring tensioner pulling frame and housing together inboard and at
lamp centerline in the vertical plane

so it's not just a simple elevation/windage system. Apart from the
fact that some genius of design decided to put plastic hex nuts on a
star shaft on the end of adjustors that aren't made of stainless and
hence now completely rusted (resulting in the plastic hex nuts
stripping off the star when a socket was applied, even after convincing
the adjustor shaft directly to turn by gentle application of liquid
wrench and a vice-grip) it isn't really crystalline which of the two
adjustors per lamp to move to get horizontal and vertical traverse.

I'll eventually head over to an auto parts store and borrow a subaru
shop manual for a few minutes, but maybe someone here can clue me in
faster ?

TIA,

Fred T.

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

Some moron aimed the headlights on a 99 Legacy wagon of my acquaintance
so that they converge about 50 ft in front of the car, on the ground...
and I'm trying to rectify this situation...

On inspection, I find that the owner's manual doesn't appear to have a
headlight aiming section, and online searches reveal only that the
mechanism is complex. It appears to be a feat of marvelous Japanese
engineering (yes, that's sardonic in this particular case) involving
between the frame and the glass/housing of each lamp a
1. post outboard (towards the side of the car from lamp centerline) and
above lamp centerline - a pivot point ?
2. adjustor outboard and below centerline
3. adjustor inboard (towards car center from lamp centerline) and above
lamp centerline
4. spring tensioner pulling frame and housing together inboard and at
lamp centerline in the vertical plane

so it's not just a simple elevation/windage system. Apart from the
fact that some genius of design decided to put plastic hex nuts on a
star shaft on the end of adjustors that aren't made of stainless and
hence now completely rusted (resulting in the plastic hex nuts
stripping off the star when a socket was applied, even after convincing
the adjustor shaft directly to turn by gentle application of liquid
wrench and a vice-grip) it isn't really crystalline which of the two
adjustors per lamp to move to get horizontal and vertical traverse.

I'll eventually head over to an auto parts store and borrow a subaru
shop manual for a few minutes, but maybe someone here can clue me in
faster ?

TIA,

Fred T.

First, I haven't done it , sorry. But, if the process still eludes you
and no help comes here - please try posting at www.ultimatesubaru.org
and maybe at www.nasioc.com .

just some ideas...

Carl

 

[Vanguard]

Some moron aimed the headlights on a 99 Legacy wagon of my
acquaintance
so that they converge about 50 ft in front of the car, on the
ground...
and I'm trying to rectify this situation...

<snip>

Been awhile since I did mine (and am not sure it was on my old 92
Subie). As I recall, there were 2 screws (up/down, left/right). I
just found a flat building wall to start the adjustment to make them
level, then slightly down, and then drove around until I got the
coverage that I wanted (not too far out or you don't get enough light
on the ground in front).

The following is from some manual (I forget the name). It has a
picture that supposedly is the level. On mine, I see a window atop
the headlamp body that is probably it (I'd need to clean it and polish
it to see through it again). While this is for an old 92 Subaru,
maybe they're still using the level bubble on the new ones.

1. Park the vehicle on level ground, so it is perpendicular to, and
facing a flat wall about 25 ft. (7.6m) away.
2. Remove any stone shields and switch ON the lights to low beam.
3. The horizontal distance between the light beams on the wall should
be the same as between the headlights themselves.
4. The vertical height of the light beams above the ground should be 4
in. (10cm) less than the distance between the ground and the center of
the lamp lenses for the lights.
5. If adjustment is needed, proceed as follows:
A. On 1985-93 models, turn the adjusting screw on the headlight
ring. Each headlight will have 2 adjusting screws. One will control
the vertical plain, and the other will control the horizontal plain.
Adjust in small increments.
B. On 1994-96 models, headlight alignment is made easier because
each light assembly is equipped with an adjustment level. Use a
suitable wrench or socket to adjust the level indicator nut at the end
of the level, until the bubble is in the middle of the sight glass.
6. Test to make sure the lights work correctly, and the light pattern
is even.

 

[Fred T.]

Thanks all.

Specifically my question is which adjustor controls which direction. I
think I'm close to concluding that the inboard one controls horizontal
aim while the outboard one controls elevation, but I'd love to hear a
confirmation.

Tx,
Fred

 

[Vanguard]

Thanks all.

Specifically my question is which adjustor controls which direction.
I
think I'm close to concluding that the inboard one controls
horizontal
aim while the outboard one controls elevation, but I'd love to hear
a
confirmation.

Choose one and count the number of quarter-turns. If you see the
light spot on the wall going the wrong direction, you'll know how many
quarter-turns to undo and choose the other adjuster. As I recall, one
is on top and the other is on the side in the middle. It would be
pretty hard to get a top-mounted screw to change sideways motion
instead of up and down, just like the one on the side would have
little leverage to move the lamp up and down rather than sideways.

By the way, when at a couple auto shops, I asked them how they align
the headlights. They point them at their garage door and adjust so
it's close but that won't really be the same as then test driving to
make further adjustments. The dealer's shop has the expensive
alignment gear but I've found the manual adjust to be as good and
sometimes better (because I get to choose how far ahead and how much
of the road to light up). Just be aware that the driver's side is
probably an asymmetrical pattern in that it lights further down the
middle and less to the outside to help reduce blinding oncoming
drivers on the other side of the road.