I've searched, no clear answer on adjusting MS3 HID low beams 'up'..

[nondual]

Everyone seems to reference a bronze 'gear-type' bracket under a white cap. I've got two white caps, one medial to the low beam, one lateral and higher - but under the caps, there is no 'gear-type' bronze anything, just a ridiculously difficult to get at phillips-head screw.

Yes, I know I have auto-leveling - but at the HIGHEST level, these things are dangerously low. I need them up at least a smidge or I'm just gonna leave the brights on so I don't hit deer that may be out past the 50 or so pathetic feet that the low beams go. I want to go the 'least-blinding-but-also-not-scarily-pathetically-low-low-beams'.

Please help. I've searched, but I'm never sure I'm looking at the instructions for a 2007 Mazdaspeed 3 Touring with cockpit headlight level adjusters and I don't want to accidentally loosen something that shouldn't be loosened.

Also, which way brings them up and which way brings them down? A bronze-gear thingy may actually reverse the direction that the SCREW is being turned, and since I only have screws, I need to know which way goes up and which way goes down.

Thanks.

 

[oaklandopen]

look in your owners manual.

 

[nondual]

look in your owners manual.

It's not in the manual. You seriously didn't think that I'd look there first?

 

[oaklandopen]

It's not in the manual. You seriously didn't think that I didn't look there first?

you never know, i thought i had seen it in there but i just checked it myself and didn't find it either

anyway...

if you look straight down over your driver side headlight this is what you see, you want to focus on the white thing just above the orange connector



this is a closeup of that white object. this is the phillips screw that will adjust the height of your headlights



one final closeup. you can see that the screw is connected to a pinion gear (the circle with the teeth)



the driver side is a little tougher to get to than the passenger because of the air box (unless youdon't have the stock one anymore)

at dusk/night with your car parked on level ground pointed at a flat, light colored object like a garage shine your headlights on it about 10 feet away.

with the level dial set on "0" put some sort of tape on the cutoff line on the garage or whatever you're shining light on. make sure you use separate pieces of tape for the passenger and driver side cutoff from each headlight

next, set the dial to "1", the cutoff should go down and there should be a gap between the new cutoff and the tape. now just adjust the headlights back up using either a phillips screwdriver or a hex wrench so the cutoff meets the tape again.

!!!!dont force the screw too much if it's tight because it IS plastic and can strip easier than metal!!!!

by doing this you have now changed the "0" of the cutoff. so now when you change the level setting from "1" to "0" you actually go higher than when you started

 

[oaklandopen]

oh and btw...if i wasn't so incredibly bored right now i probably would have just sent you to this how-to link on adjusting your headlights
and all i did was go in the how-to threads and do a search for "headlights" and the thread title was a couple down

 

[nondual]

you never know, i thought i had seen it in there but i just checked it myself and didn't find it either

anyway...

if you look straight down over your driver side headlight this is what you see, you want to focus on the white thing just above the orange connector



this is a closeup of that white object. this is the phillips screw that will adjust the height of your headlights



one final closeup. you can see that the screw is connected to a pinion gear (the circle with the teeth)



the driver side is a little tougher to get to than the passenger because of the air box (unless youdon't have the stock one anymore)

at dusk/night with your car parked on level ground pointed at a flat, light colored object like a garage shine your headlights on it about 10 feet away.

with the level dial set on "0" put some sort of tape on the cutoff line on the garage or whatever you're shining light on. make sure you use separate pieces of tape for the passenger and driver side cutoff from each headlight

next, set the dial to "1", the cutoff should go down and there should be a gap between the new cutoff and the tape. now just adjust the headlights back up using either a phillips screwdriver or a hex wrench so the cutoff meets the tape again.

!!!!dont force the screw too much if it's tight because it IS plastic and can strip easier than metal!!!!

by doing this you have now changed the "0" of the cutoff. so now when you change the level setting from "1" to "0" you actually go higher than when you started

I SAW that plastic gear and thought it might be the left/right adjustment! w00t! The pics were the lifesaver. I'll adjust it tonight at my friend's place (level ground and clean garage door).

I swear, I searched all the MS3 forums and came up with very little - then checked the electronics forum and came up with a bunch of threads, but they seemed ambiguous.

 

[oaklandopen]

I SAW that plastic gear and thought it might be the left/right adjustment! w00t! The pics were the lifesaver. I'll adjust it tonight at my friend's place (level ground and clean garage door).

I swear, I searched all the MS3 forums and came up with very little - then checked the electronics forum and came up with a bunch of threads, but they seemed ambiguous.

it's much easier to go into a subdivision of the forum and THEN do a search. like for instance you were trying to find out "how to" adjust your headlights. so just go to the how-to section and search "headlights" within that forum. it was seriously like 3 threads from the top with a self explanatory title.

and im not trying to come off as mean or anything

 

[oaklandopen]

and actually i don't think there is a left/right adjustment

 

[MaikuMS3]

actually, the car manual doesnt have the information but the factory manual has it. Some models have left/right and up/down adjustment.

the white plastic part is only on the driver side. the passenger side has the metal instead of plastic one.

EDIT: btw, next to the white plastic, the orange with 3 colored wires. what is that for? i have the orange plug but no wires attached but you do...

 

[nondual]

Also,

What are the screws on the left and right FOR? I've loosened the one on the lateral side thinking it was the up/down. Please tell me they don't adjust the lights left/right.

 

[MaikuMS3]

Also,

What are the screws on the left and right FOR? I've loosened the one on the lateral side thinking it was the up/down. Please tell me they don't adjust the lights left/right.

horizontal adjustment.

 

[nondual]

horizontal adjustment.

Damn...I have no idea where these are SUPPOSED to be.

 

[oaklandopen]

actually, the car manual doesnt have the information but the factory manual has it.

maybe that's where i saw it then cuz i have the complete factory manual

EDIT: btw, next to the white plastic, the orange with 3 colored wires. what is that for? i have the orange plug but no wires attached but you do...

of course i don't have the manual on this computer...but i can check later if no one else chimes in

 

[MaikuMS3]

maybe that's where i saw it then cuz i have the complete factory manual




of course i don't have the manual on this computer...but i can check later if no one else chimes in

i couldnt find what the orange thing is in my factory manual...

 

[icspots]

I'm pretty sure the orange plug goes to the leveler motors.

Oh if you haven't adjusted your headlights yet I have a suggestion. Pull your car to a wall and mark where your beams are. Next turn the leveling dial inside the car to "1". Next relevel the headlights back to the original mark. Now "0" will be higher than your normal setting and you can aim your headlights up from inside the car when you're driving away from other traffic.

 

[oaklandopen]

Oh if you haven't adjusted your headlights yet I have a suggestion. Pull your car to a wall and mark where your beams are. Next turn the leveling dial inside the car to "1". Next relevel the headlights back to the original mark. Now "0" will be higher than your normal setting and you can aim your headlights up from inside the car when you're driving away from other traffic.

you mean like this guy said?
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

at dusk/night with your car parked on level ground pointed at a flat, light colored object like a garage shine your headlights on it about 10 feet away.

with the level dial set on "0" put some sort of tape on the cutoff line on the garage or whatever you're shining light on. make sure you use separate pieces of tape for the passenger and driver side cutoff from each headlight

next, set the dial to "1", the cutoff should go down and there should be a gap between the new cutoff and the tape. now just adjust the headlights back up using either a phillips screwdriver or a hex wrench so the cutoff meets the tape again.

 

[meicalnissyen]

Everyone seems to reference a bronze 'gear-type' bracket under a white cap. I've got two white caps, one medial to the low beam, one lateral and higher - but under the caps, there is no 'gear-type' bronze anything, just a ridiculously difficult to get at phillips-head screw.

Yes, I know I have auto-leveling - but at the HIGHEST level, these things are dangerously low. I need them up at least a smidge or I'm just gonna leave the brights on so I don't hit deer that may be out past the 50 or so pathetic feet that the low beams go. I want to go the 'least-blinding-but-also-not-scarily-pathetically-low-low-beams'.

Please help. I've searched, but I'm never sure I'm looking at the instructions for a 2007 Mazdaspeed 3 Touring with cockpit headlight level adjusters and I don't want to accidentally loosen something that shouldn't be loosened.

Also, which way brings them up and which way brings them down? A bronze-gear thingy may actually reverse the direction that the SCREW is being turned, and since I only have screws, I need to know which way goes up and which way goes down.

Thanks.

By "lateral and higher" did you mean lateral and superior ??