How to adjust the headlights on a right-hand drive car?
It is well known that headlights on right-hand drive cars are designed in such a way that part of the light beam is directed to the left and up. It is impossible to eliminate this problem by simply adjusting the headlights, and without this it is impossible to pass instrumental control. In addition, driving with such headlights is in itself unsafe, since the headlights, when adjusted in this way, blind oncoming drivers.
If your car has “crystal” headlights, the easiest way is to replace them with similar European headlights. To date, there is only one known way to successfully convert such headlights. Here's how sopka describes it in the "Japanese Cars" conference:
“It can easily be converted to illuminate the side of the road and undergo maintenance. The fact is that in such headlights the shape of the distribution of the light beam is determined by a special mask. It is easy to make it yourself from an aluminum sheet like the one in the headlight. The most difficult thing is to get to this mask. To do this, you need to heat the headlight in the oven until the sealant becomes very pliable. Then very carefully separate the plastic from the glass. When setting up the light beam, it is useful to use a 6-8 volt power supply: the distribution of the beam is visible, and it does not burn your fingers. : horizontal border on the left and 15 degrees upward on the right. I did everything myself and have been passing the official maintenance for the third year without any problems. But I don’t advise you to shout about changing the design on your own - this is prohibited by the rules. Although, you can do everything so that the expert won’t undermine it. . And the light will be no worse than the factory headlight."
If your car has regular, non-crystal headlights, then solving the problem of the light beam is much easier. This can be done in three main ways.
The first method, as in the case of “crystal” headlights, is to purchase and install European-style headlights. This method is not always possible, it is extremely simple and quite expensive, so we will not describe it.
The other two methods do not have a simple and understandable explanation, but they allow you to achieve positive results, which have been repeatedly tested in practice.
The first one is to seal opaque film a certain part of the headlight glasses, thereby covering that part of the light beam that shines to the left and up. The photographs show how this was done on a Toyota RAV4.
However, this method, to put it mildly, does not improve the appearance of the car, not to mention the fact that these pieces of film may fall off or be torn off by pioneers.
Therefore, the most practical method is in which a change in the light beam is achieved by rotating H4 type bulbs around its axis. If you look at the headlight from reverse side, it is easy to see that in all right-hand drive cars the light bulb is not fixed in the headlight strictly vertically, but is turned clockwise at a small angle. In practice, it has been repeatedly verified that turning a light bulb at the same angle, but in the opposite side allows you to achieve the desired result, i.e. eliminate that part of the light beam that shines upward to the left and blinds oncoming drivers.
Since the light bulb is fixed in the headlight with the help of three antennae, to rotate it, the easiest way is to cut off these antennae with ordinary scissors, and then insert the light bulb into the headlight, turning it in the opposite direction at a similar angle. Due to the force of friction, the light bulb is held in the headlight quite reliably, however, if you are still afraid that it may turn during operation, when cutting off the antennae, do not cut them off completely, but leave about 0.5 mm from each antennae. These remnants, sharpened with scissors, will cling very well to the plastic housing of the headlight and prevent the bulb from turning.
The following photos show how the light bulb is positioned in the headlight before it is rotated, and after the antennae are cut off and installed in a new position. For clarity, the antennae on the light bulb base are painted over with a red marker.
However, on some Toyota models, the mounting of the light bulb in the headlight is designed in such a way that there is no support rim in the headlight housing, and the light bulb is supported only by the antennae themselves. Accordingly, if you cut them off, the light bulb will simply fall into the headlight.
This problem can also be solved in several ways. The first is to make new recesses in the headlight housing for the antennae, allowing the bulb to be fixed in the correct position. This method is very labor-intensive and requires special tool and equipment, such as burrs. But it does not require alteration of the light bulb itself and makes it easy to change it in the future.
Another way is to replace the cut antennae by soldering new ones to the bulb base. It is also quite labor-intensive, since the base is made of metal, which is not so easy to solder; in addition, you cannot always be sure that this soldering will hold for a long time and reliably.
The third method is to make a simple lining with antennae for the light bulb base. To do this, you need to prepare a piece of tin, for example from an old tin can, measuring no less than 6x6 centimeters. And you will also need a two-ruble coin, nail scissors, pliers, and some kind of scriber or marker.
Applying a two-ruble coin to the center of a piece of tin, circle it with a marker. We pierce the tin with scissors and cut a round hole according to the outlined line. We put a piece of tin on back the base of the light bulb and trace the outer contour of the base along with the antennae. We remove the tin from the base and next to each antenna we draw exactly the same one, but shorter by one third.
Required if the car is right-hand drive. Correct adjustment is not so easy, although it is necessary. Firstly, you will not pass those. Inspection. Secondly, and more dangerously, you can blind drivers passing by cars, thereby creating a dangerous situation.
It consists of changing the direction of the light beam. After all, part of this beam shines to the left and up. The easiest way is to change the headlights to a European equivalent. But it won't come cheap.
Another way to adjust headlights Japanese cars- this is to cover the “unnecessary” area of the headlights with a film impenetrable to light. Cheap, but there are downsides here too. The film may come off, or someone may tear it off. Besides appearance the car is not improving.
Another way to adjust headlights on Japanese cars is to turn the bulb to a certain angle. First you need to determine what type of light bulb is on your car. Let's take the headlight apart and take a look. It turns out that the light bulb in the headlight is turned clockwise and stands at a slight angle. Its position is fixed by three antennae. We cut off these antennae, but so that approximately 0.5 mm remain. After this, we insert the light bulb into the headlight, first turning it to the same angle, only in the other direction. The remnants of the antennae will catch on the plastic and the lamp in the headlight of a Japanese car will be securely fastened.
And what are the frightening facts about the possible elimination of right-hand drive cars as a class on Russian roads? But perhaps the most difficult thing is to undergo scheduled maintenance and remain a welcome participant on the road.
Japanese light
And the point here is not at all the “handedness” of the car (it has long been proven that the location of the steering wheel has no effect on the accident rate). And in their design features. Most of the inconvenience falls, of course, on the owner. But there are also larger-scale problems that affect the “neighbors” downstream.
According to GOST
First of all, this applies to headlights. Or rather, the direction in which they shine. Many drivers complain that dark time days on the highway they are literally blinded by the low beam of the Japanese, tuned to Left side traffic. And motorists themselves sometimes suffer because of “dark” turns.
This can be done
In addition, if you pass MOT on your own, then... you, of course, do not pass it. The stand at the station will immediately show your “beam” of incorrect light, with which you will be sent to hell for non-compliance with GOST R 51709-2001. If we translate official document into the familiar Russian language, we get the necessary requirement for lighting the road, the side of the road and signs, of course, on the right. In fact Japanese optics he copes with this superbly... But the Japanese have a different “right” on the side of the road.
Homemade
How to solve a problem? There are several popular methods. They are massively advertised in all media, but no one has really checked whether they actually work, and there are a wide variety of opinions floating around. A year ago, when an order “from above” prohibited maintenance for cars with unadjusted headlights, the head of the Novosibirsk traffic police, S.V. Shtelmakh introduced a relaxation because service stations were absolutely not ready to provide such services to car owners in a high-quality manner. Let's evaluate how the situation is now and what methods are used, dispel a couple of myths and try to point out the right path.
So, the first and simplest method. If your car has a European equivalent, then the headlight unit is simply replaced. Yes, it is, of course, expensive, but forever and without special problems. We will return to this method at the end of the material. And now we’re talking about those whose European analogues are simply not produced.
These are stickers for headlights, so-called “light corrector” lenses. Two years ago, when such stickers first appeared in Russia, motorists considered the problem solved. Having glued the “reflector” using the garage method, the driver easily received a maintenance ticket. Now employees of the State Technical Supervision Authority are putting a spoke in the wheels of those who decided to save money. Because British invention doesn't fit the norm, established by GOST. Some inspectors even say: such stickers constitute changes to the design. lighting fixture, and therefore its further use is prohibited. The films may reflect a beam of light, but at the same time they darken the headlight, which neither the maintenance technician nor the driver will like.
The third method is garage-manual, and therefore “unofficial”. There are several subspecies here. If the headlight has a “shelf” for the light bulb, then the matter is simplified. The light bulb is deprived of its “antennae” and turned under the right angle. Then the lamp curtain closes for reflection right side lamps, directing the light in the desired direction. And if the lamps in the headlights of your car are not soldered to the base, then you can deploy them directly in the base. It’s more difficult for those whose light bulbs are not standard. But they also came up with a special way. A corrector ring with new antennae is cut out of metal and installed almost in the place of the old one - only, of course, at the desired “left” angle.
This method, invented by Novosibirsk masters, does not always give a 100% effect, but it will allow you to pass maintenance. Sometimes this action can only straighten the “beam” of light, and not give it the opposite angle of inclination.
You can do this at home: there are a lot of clearly demonstrated methods scattered across the World Wide Web.
On the left is the light distribution of the converted headlight, on the right is not
Checking the light distribution of headlights is easy. We stop 2-3 meters in front of a vertical plane (for example, a wall or garage door) and turn on the low beam headlights. The light should fall in such a way that there is a horizontal border of light and shadow approximately at the height of the headlights. And this border, starting from the center (which is determined by the center of the headlight) should rise up and to the right. If it doesn’t rise, it’s not so scary. But if it rises, but in the other direction, then - forward to the master!
Exit price
What do we have? Several not-so-reliable methods that will only provide us with light and the coveted maintenance ticket. Why not very reliable? Because not only reflectors and curtains direct the beam of light “to the left”. The glass of the headlight itself is “lined” from the inside in such a way as to form a flow of light in the desired direction. And neither “makeshift” headlight adjustment nor any stickers solve the “left light” problem. Therefore, if there is a European analogue, do not regret this amount spent on security. If there are no “twins”, then it’s better to use technical way– cutting down the antennae and installing their substitutes.
Many car owners do not even think about the issue of replacement, simply because they receive the ticket in a roundabout way. But maybe we should take responsibility for the safety of other road users and stop blinding them when turning? Bad form, you know...
Remaking lamps on a Nissan Wingroad
Wing made about five options for curtains until he was satisfied with the result. Headlight reflectors have a rather complex, and also asymmetrical shape. The ideal curtain, which will shade everything you need, and at the same time nothing unnecessary, should be no less complex in shape. But we are not a design bureau, so we settled on a simple trapezoid.
The first version of the curtain shaded the sector tinted in the picture yellow. But this was not enough. After several attempts, it turned out that the green sector also needed to be closed. Thus, the curtain became wider and wider, simultaneously taking on a conical shape.
Japanese headlight adjustment
The petals of the curtain are wrapped around each other in the form of a lock. The letters “ICHICON...” on the lamp base, apparently, are located in the same place for all the same lamps, so I’m posting a photo where you can determine the position of the curtain
Small technical advice: When you take out the lamp, put a paper condom on it (wrap it in paper) so that you can safely work with it. A hand-stained lamp will not last long.
As a result, we obtained a beam shape that was horizontal along the upper boundary. That's what was required. In the photo on the left is the light distribution of the converted headlight, on the right is not. The result is obvious. Japanese headlight adjustment
P.S. Some people manage to replace their original Nissan bulb with a common H4 type bulb. By cutting the base and turning it to the required angle, you can achieve an almost correct beam of light.
Adjusting headlights on Japanese cars
How to adjust headlights on a right-hand drive car. It is known that the headlights on right-hand drive cars are made so that part of the light assembly is directed to the left and up. Eliminate this problem simplest adjustment headlights are not allowed, and without this it is impossible to bypass instrumental control. In addition, driving with such headlights is in itself risky, since the headlights, when adjusted in this way, blind oncoming drivers. If the car had transparent headlights, it is easier to replace them with similar European headlights. Now
There is only one known method for successfully remaking such headlights. This is how it is described in the conference Japanese cars: “Perhaps it can be easily converted to roadside lighting and overcoming technical inspection.
The fact is that in such headlights the shape of the division of the light unit is given by a special mask. It is not difficult to make it yourself from an aluminum sheet like the one in the headlight. The hardest thing is to get to this mask. To do this, you need to heat the headlight in the oven until the sealant becomes soft. Then carefully separate the plastic from the glass. When setting up a light node, it is advisable to use a power supply of six to eight volts: the distribution of the node is visible and does not burn your fingers. If the car has ordinary, non-transparent headlights, then solving the problem of the light unit is much easier.
Adjusting the headlights of Japanese cars can be done using three key methods. The first method, as with clear headlights, is to purchase and install headlights European type. This method is not always possible, is incredibly easy and very expensive. The other two methods do not have an easy and clear explanation for everyone, but they provide the opportunity to achieve positive results, which have been tested many times in experience. The first of them is to seal a specific part of the headlight glass with a non-transparent film, directly covering that part of the light assembly that glows to the left and up.
However this method, does not improve the appearance of the car. Therefore, the most convenient method is in which a change in the light unit is achieved by rotating lamps of the H-4 type around its axis. If you look at the headlight from the back, you will simply notice that in all right-hand drive cars the lamp is mounted in the headlight not exactly vertically, but is turned clockwise at a small angle.
It has been repeatedly verified through experience that turning the lamp to the same angle, but in the other direction, makes it possible to achieve the desired result, that is, to remove that part of the light assembly that glows upward to the left and blinds oncoming drivers. Since the lamp is attached to the headlight using three whiskers, the easiest way to rotate it is to cut off these whiskers with ordinary scissors, and then insert the lamp into the headlight, turning it in the other direction at a similar angle.
Due to the power of friction, the lamp is held in the headlight very tightly, however, if there is a fear that it may turn during operation, when cutting off the whiskers, you should not cut them off entirely, but leave approximately 0.5 millimeters from each antennae. These remnants, which are sharpened with scissors, will cling very well to the plastic housing of the headlight and will not allow the lamp to turn.
On some brands, the mounting of the lamp in the headlight is done in such a way that there is no supporting side in the headlight housing, and the lamp is attached only to the mustache itself. Accordingly, if you cut them off, the lamp will easily fall into the headlight. Adjusting the headlights of Japanese cars helps solve the problem using a couple of methods. The first is to make the newest mustache recesses into the headlight housing, which allow the lamp to be mounted in the correct position.
This method is very labor intensive and requires special means and equipment, for example, bur machines. But at the same time, it does not require reworking the lamp itself and makes it possible to simply change it in the future. Another method is to solder the newest ones to the lamp base instead of the cut off ones. It is also very labor-intensive, since the base is made of metal, which is not so easy to solder, in addition, you cannot always be convinced that this soldering will hold for a long time and firmly. The third method is to produce a simple mustache cover for the lamp base.
To do this, you need to prepare a piece of tin, for example, from an old tin can, no less than six by six centimeters in size. Then it may be possible to adjust the headlights to Japanese cars. And you will also need a coin with two rubles, nail scissors, pliers, and some kind of marker. Applying a coin with two rubles to the center of a piece of tin, it is outlined with a marker. The tin is pierced with scissors and a round hole is cut out according to the outlined line.
A piece of tin is placed on the tail part of the lamp base, and the outer contour of the base is traced along with the whiskers. The tin is removed from the base and next to each mustache exactly the same is drawn, but shorter by one third. We cut the tin according to the resulting outline. Then a cut is made between the adjacent mustaches. The cover is placed on the tail part of the lamp base, and the outer shape of the ring and mustache is adjusted.
Further, it expands central hole in the ring so that the holding spiral passes into this hole and holds the light bulb by the base, and not by the cover. The normal mustache on the lamp base is cut off. The ring is put on the tail part of the lamp base and oriented so that the lamp, when installed, occupies correct position, and the ring is fixed on the base by bending the additional whiskers and squeezing them with pliers. Thanks to these tips, adjusting headlights on Japanese cars is sure to be possible for everyone.
