New Member with headlight problem

[notrod]

Hi All,
I purchased my '13 CX9 some three to four years ago. Since then have always been leery of my dim headlites and their severe cutoff point down the road... sometimes seems like not more than 30 or so feet. Can a DIY adjustment be made to these headlites ?? And, if so, how ?? Thank You.

 

[PTguy]

You can always aim the headlights better. I like to park on a level surface near a flat wall and see how the beams project. You'll find the aim adjustments under the hood by each headlight. I set them as I like them, then drive around at night. I might raise them if I want more light farther down the road, and lower them if drivers flash their brights at me. You can aim them left and right as well as up & down. The left should go basically straight down the road while the right should aim more toward the right shoulder of the road.

You need to know if your headlights have halogen bulbs or if they are the HID high intensity discharge lights. If halogen, there are brighter replacements available. I will never get one of the odd color bulbs; only clear for me. Any color on the glass cuts some of the light, and the blue just looks cheapo to me. Be aware that every brighter bulb will have a shorter life and burn hotter. The very bright ones can be so hot that they damage expensive parts inside the light or the wiring.
The halogen low beam are H11
https://store.candlepower.com/voh111sbrli.html
The halogen high beam are 9005
https://store.candlepower.com/9005hb3bulbs.html

Check the condition of the wiring. The negative bond to the chassis (called the ground, but it isn't, really) needs to be clean, dry, and tight. These may be loose, rusty or dirty. The plug to the bulb needs to fit tightly.

If you have the HID lights, they should be blazing, and you just need to aim them. If they aren't blazing bright, there is a problem somewhere in their circuitry.

 

[table5511]

Welcome to the forum!
Sorry to hear that your lights are lousy.
I'm going to assume that you have halogen headlamps (conventional yellowish light output from regular bulbs).
The GT or "Grand Touring" came with much better headlamps that are hid or "high intensity discharge." This is a gas charged bulb accompanied by an ignitor and voltage module. White output and has superior light output. I don't think you would be posting about this problem if you had hid lamps. Halogen came with base/sport/touring models.
Yes, you will have vertical adjustment knobs. On my 2008, they are white and located sort of on the outer sides of the lamps under the hood...closer to the fender than the engine.
But that's only going to get you so far, aiming them higher. I aim my hid lamps by driving down the road and just eyeball it at night to see how high the driver lamp is, so that it is just under oncoming traffic eyeball height, and then I raise the right side just a bit higher than the left. It may take several night test drives. The more rural the better, easier to see the light line.
As far as other options, here's a few:
1) purchase l.e.d. direct plug in replacement bulbs. Pros: a bit brighter, whiter output. Cons: heat, they can burn up quickly if they're not built well, and your round glass projector lens inside your headlamp is specifically designed for a halogen bulb. It will not output the light correctly. Available in 35 watt or 55 watt versions. Car should be able to handle 55 watts, but they may be illegal where you live and can blind oncoming traffic.
2) purchase h.i.d. conversion kits which include modules ballasts & bulbs and all wiring needed. I have one of these kits installed for my fog lamps on my Nissan Altima. They run anywhere from 20 bucks to a couple hundred for really nice ones. The Xentec kit I got for my Altima is going on about 3 years now and still works, which is really surprising to me being that it was about 15 bucks on amazon. Pros: they run cooler than the direct plug in l.e.d. lights mentioned above, brighter, white light, you can pretty much order any color of the rainbow from 4000k yellow to 20000k purple. Cons: cheap units usually don't last that long, although my Xentecs have. And once again, your halogen glass projector lens inside your headlamp housing is not designed for this sort of light output. But if you buy a quality kit, it will be a substantial improvement.
Hid kits are also available in both 35 watts and 55 watts.
3) Purchase a complete kit including replacement glass projector lenses, modules, ignitors, bulbs. Usually requires experience, using your oven to heat your headlamp adhesives, remove outer lenses, replace glass inner lens, etc. Not for the novice.
4) Replace your entire headlamps with h.i.d. factory headlamps new oem, or used from a salvage yard, or aftermarket/remanufactured from companies like apw, keystone, etc. Or there might be aftermarket l.e.d. headlamp assemblies custom made on ebay...not sure.
Factory oem h.i.d. headlamps also have electronic height adjusters and i don't know what kind of additional installation you would need to incorporate those adjusters. Although like my 2008 with hid's, you can still adjust them by hand in addition to the electronically controlled motors.

I hope this is valuable information for you.