Headlight adjustment? Vag-com required?

[Motomaniac22]

Hey guys can you adjust the headlights without vag-com? I thought I read somewhere you have to use vag-com to adjust them. But I see these little white adjusters on each side of the housing. So does that mean you can adjust them with vag-com OR use the manual adjusters? Also like I said there's 2 adjusters for each headlight, one on each side? What is each for? Attached below is pics of the adjusters.

[Motomaniac22]

Mine seem to be pretty low currently so I wanted to raise them a tad. If these are the adjusters for the headlights does anyone als know which way you rotate them to go up or down? As in clockwise vs counter clockwise

[getslideways]

For up and down, adjustment direction, just turn on your lights and witness what the beam pattern is doing against an adjacent wall based on the direction you are turning them.

[MetalMan]

Adjusting the headlights is performed with those adjusters you see (height + side-to-side).

VAG-COM is needed to set the internal auto-level height adjusters to zero prior to manual adjusting. I haven't tried adjusting factory xenon without VAG-COM, but for all I know it could throw a fault in the auto-leveling system.

[Timtheguru]

You can, but you'll probably over extend the adjuster threads causing other issues. Read the directions below for Vag-Com setting.

http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/car...alignment.html

Basically turn them on, have them auto adjust, then set them manually, then use Vag-Com to remember your new manual adjustment.

[Motomaniac22]

I don't have vag-com that's why i was wondering. Nor do I know anyone with it.

[jballou]

Yes, you need to set them via vag. If the headlights don't have the motors in them, then you can just adjust accordingly.

[Motomaniac22]

Yes, you need to set them via vag. If the headlights don't have the motors in them, then you can just adjust accordingly.

I would assume mine do.. Oh well then! Guess I'll deal with them being low. Thanks for the quick answers guys!

[Timtheguru]

I suggest you get it, well worth it if you plan to keep the car. It works on tablets too, I'm using it on a surface pro 2

[Motomaniac22]

I just don't have the money for it right now. I know it's amazing for these cars and helps a ton but I can't do it right now

[julex]

Just adjust the damn things. If you park on level surface and don't have a ton of bricks in the trunk, you don't need vag-com. Just fire the car up, let it do normal lights positioning, adjust with the allens and you're done.

[Motomaniac22]

Just adjust the damn things. If you park on level surface and don't have a ton of bricks in the trunk, you don't need vag-com. Just fire the car up, let it do normal lights positioning, adjust with the allens and you're done.

Everyone was saying that I needed vag-com and if I don't I can mess it up. So thought I couldn't do it

[Motomaniac22]

Just adjust the damn things. If you park on level surface and don't have a ton of bricks in the trunk, you don't need vag-com. Just fire the car up, let it do normal lights positioning, adjust with the allens and you're done.

So just start the car, turn the lights on, and adjust them? Which adjustment nob is for up and down and which is for left and right

[natedog]

So just start the car, turn the lights on, and adjust them? Which adjustment nob is for up and down and which is for left and right

If i remember correctly, the outer adjuster (behind turn signal) is for up/down. I'm having trouble getting one of my lights adjusted high enough myself...

[bmos]

If i remember correctly, the outer adjuster (behind turn signal) is for up/down. I'm having trouble getting one of my lights adjusted high enough myself...

Any chance you have broken self-leveling headlights?
I've heard they will exhibit that issue, aiming all the way down without the manual adjustment range to fully correct them.

[julex]

I used vag-com for aligning lights twice, both times I aligned exactly and then my lights would be off next day. Since then I don't use vag-com and I aligned the lights like 10 times since then due to engine removal to misc power upgrade projects.

If you're having problems adjusting with screws (they don't go low/high enough) simply undo the two tabs on top of light and move them back/forth whcih will result in housing aiming up/down. It is simply bolted down improperly. There is a lot of movement in tabs.

As far as direction, dude seriously just spin them and you will see the beam moving...

[SlowDr1v3r]

You can also bypass the leveling system. That's what I did but the motors were already pointed all the way up. Still terrible light output. Really thinking about removing the cutoff and adjusting the motors all the way down but been too lazy.

[Timtheguru]

You can also bypass the leveling system. That's what I did but the motors were already pointed all the way up. Still terrible light output. Really thinking about removing the cutoff and adjusting the motors all the way down but been too lazy.

Don't remove the cutoff, that is not going to work.

[SlowDr1v3r]

You can also bypass the leveling system. That's what I did but the motors were already pointed all the way up. Still terrible light output. Really thinking about removing the cutoff and adjusting the motors all the way down but been too lazy.

[getslideways]

You can also bypass the leveling system. That's what I did but the motors were already pointed all the way up. Still terrible light output. Really thinking about removing the cutoff and adjusting the motors all the way down but been too lazy.

Keep in mind poor light output can also be from old bulbs. HID bulbs degrade over time, and can put out less light than a standard halogen as time goes on. My factory original bulbs still worked, and were not pink, but you could almost not even tell they were on, using the foglights to supplement was a must. After swapping in new bulbs... wow, what a difference!!!

For Example

Old Bulb with only around 400 hours



New Bulb with around 20 Hours:



Light output is already noticeably effected after 400 hours, so imagine what those factory originals are putting out and how many hours they have on them

[SlowDr1v3r]

Tim- what do you mean it won't work? (not being a dick just honestly don't know what you meant)
Slideways- I probably do need to change the bulbs. Wanna switch to 55 Watt ddm probably. But mainly meant the cutoff is ridiculously low. Barely shows on bumpers on cars. And since I bypassed the auto level I was actually able to move the motor up and down so it is all the way up already and still terrible.

[Timtheguru]

Tim- what do you mean it won't work? (not being a dick just honestly don't know what you meant)
Slideways- I probably do need to change the bulbs. Wanna switch to 55 Watt ddm probably. But mainly meant the cutoff is ridiculously low. Barely shows on bumpers on cars. And since I bypassed the auto level I was actually able to move the motor up and down so it is all the way up already and still terrible.

No worries!

Sorry I wasn't clear earlier. The cutoff is there for a very good reason, not to blind oncoming drivers. I would highly recommend not removing it, it might make your light output a bit better, but also make them illegal (not sure about your state). Typically the causes for low light output are dying bulbs, as Slideways mentioned, burned reflector bowls, dirty fresnal lenses, and pitted/cloudy/dirty headlight housings.

Best bang for your buck will be the clear lenses (still only $40 http://www.theretrofitsource.com/com...l#.VYTRc_lVhBc) and some new bulbs (get 4300k D2S bulbs for best usable light spectrum http://www.theretrofitsource.com/com...l#.VYTR3vlVhBc). Just need to remove the projectors to install the new lenses. Very easy to do, there is a thread somewhere (search for TSX-R DIY).

If you're interested in upgrading ballasts I would recommend the Morimoto H1 mini kit. It's absolutely amazing. Check out this thread (BlkBullit did a great writeup: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...and-HID-Thread), I think retrofit source also has a bracket now to retrofit the H1 mini projectors into the housings, different for eCode and OE Valeo housings.

[SlowDr1v3r]

I didn't know the lenses were that cheap. Definitely a possibility. Was also debating on some ecodes. And I don't think the output is so much the problem as much as the height. I'll try and get a picture of my beam compared to my brother's. 2015 accord