Dipped headlight adjustment

[mjp99]

I feel the headlights on my 2019 Karoq are set too high on dip. I am a little confused as to whether I can adjust them or if I have to fork out a fortune to have the 'levelling' setting adjusted?

[Paws4Thot]

5 hours ago, mjp99 said:

I feel the headlights on my 2019 Karoq are set too high on dip. I am a little confused as to whether I can adjust them or if I have to fork out a fortune to have the 'levelling' setting adjusted?

Not a scooby, not least because you've not seen fit to actually tell us which headlights you have.

[mjp99]

Dear Scooby - thank you for your helpful reply. I am not aware of the different choices - could you tell me and I might be able to help you?

 

The car is a 1.5 Petrol 'SEL'

Edited 18 March by mjp99

[kodiaqsportline]

11 hours ago, mjp99 said:

I feel the headlights on my 2019 Karoq are set too high on dip. I am a little confused as to whether I can adjust them or if I have to fork out a fortune to have the 'levelling' setting adjusted?

 

You can adjust any headlight. If it's LED self-levelling I believe the adjustment sensors are on the suspension arms, if they're the older bulb type headlamps there should be two plastic adjust screws on top.

 

I was told my car would have failed it's MOT due to headlights being too low - the MOT examiner adjusted them FOC for it to pass. ( the full MOT cost me £25 ) So when you say fork out a fortune ?  It's a 5min job for those who're doing it all the time.

Edited 18 March by kodiaqsportline

[mjp99]

Many thanks, K. I read somewhere that the levelling system has to be set up with specialist (and hence costly) equipment. A 'DIY' option would be very good.

 

How can I see an image of the 'suspension arms' - I could not see anything obvious when I last looked? Is there a diagram/pic in any of the manuals carried on here?

[agedbriar]

On my 2019 I can set the halogen lights' height on the infotainment:
Car > Settings > Lights

[mjp99]

That would have been nice, but no. I see two yellow collared ?screws? on each unit. Are these what I need?

[agedbriar]

Is the Lights setting item missing in your Car Settings infotainment section ?

 

 

Edited 19 March by agedbriar

[mjp99]

Amundsen and it doesn't have any headlight settings other than the 'auto' settings.

[kodiaqsportline]

On 18/03/2024 at 10:34, mjp99 said:

Many thanks, K. I read somewhere that the levelling system has to be set up with specialist (and hence costly) equipment. A 'DIY' option would be very good.

 

How can I see an image of the 'suspension arms' - I could not see anything obvious when I last looked? Is there a diagram/pic in any of the manuals carried on here?

 

It's just something I picked up but never really had a look. I no longer have the Karoq but just checked my Kodiaq - bloody hell, no wonder it was free of charge 

 

There are two hex screws on top of the headlight assembly - I presume one is for full beam, one for dipped. Just turn it !  Of course that's the easy part, the hard part being how far do you turn it ( and what direction do you turn it ? ) without them becoming illegal? I'm sure if you look at YouTube there will be all sorts of tips on how to align them - trick is making sure your car is level.

 

It may well have been true in the older days of self-level lights that you had to seek the help of a specialist that cost £££'s.

 

On 18/03/2024 at 16:22, agedbriar said:

On my 2019 I can set the halogen lights' height on the infotainment:
Car > Settings > Lights

 

Would only work if someone else had reset them from factory.

 

With all the potholes and bumps on the road designed to slow you down ( some which are crazy aggresive ), it's easier than ever to knock the lights off factory setting. If that's what's happened with OP then even if there was a setting ( pointless on self-levelling lights ? ) the beams would still have to be manually set back to factory default. 

Edited 19 March by kodiaqsportline

[mjp99]

Well, back again to see if anyone might know the answer, but, amazingly, no? However, back to the top in case

[kodiaqsportline]

3 hours ago, mjp99 said:

Well, back again to see if anyone might know the answer, but, amazingly, no? However, back to the top in case

 

Can you lift the bonnet and post a close up picture of a headllight unit.

[mjp99]

Will do

[sussamb]

On 18/03/2024 at 17:26, mjp99 said:

That would have been nice, but no. I see two yellow collared ?screws? on each unit. Are these what I need?

 

Should be, we have those and I use them to adjust the headlamps down when travelling in France to prevent dazzle. Three full turns of the appropriate screw does the job.  

[Winston_Woof]

On 17/03/2024 at 22:29, mjp99 said:

I feel the headlights on my 2019 Karoq are set too high on dip. I am a little confused as to whether I can adjust them or if I have to fork out a fortune to have the 'levelling' setting adjusted?

Did it pass its last MOT with the headlights set as they currently are?

[mjp99]

Yes.

[Winston_Woof]

So presuming they were a proper MOT station then the lights are correctly adjusted

[mjp99]

Were? Or perhaps they were not? Are you certain? Have they moved? History is useful but not definitive. Or, to put it in simple terms, because something 'was' does not mean it 'is'?

Edited 27 March by mjp99

[Winston_Woof]

I’m sure you’re local MOT station would be more than happy to check the alignment properly (presuming you don’t want to do it the old fashioned way at night against a wall)

[mjp99]

Winston - see post 1?

[Phutters]

40 minutes ago, Winston_Woof said:

 (presuming you don’t want to do it the old fashioned way at night against a wall)

A knee-trembler.

 

I remember them.

 

Sigh…

[mjp99]

For sportline and sussmb, pics of offside unit. Any idea which is up and down? Do the yellow bits have to come out before adjustment or are they just 'restrictors' or possibly the actual adjusters looking at the allen key shape?

 

Thank you to winston for reminding us of the 'Harvey wallbanger'

Edited 27 March by mjp99

[Warrior193]

Looking at the image posted, the yellow caps stay in place - you will need a correct hex. key (allen key) to adjust - I'd suggest a 'T' handled one for this.

[Routemaster1461]

1 hour ago, Warrior193 said:

Looking at the image posted, the yellow caps stay in place - you will need a correct hex. key (allen key) to adjust - I'd suggest a 'T' handled one for this.

 Bear in mind that only one of those adjusts level. The other adjusts left and right. Many cars have a level switch which allows you to adjust the level depending on load, don't know if any Karoqs have this. Mine doesn't as it has LED headlights., but all of my other recent cars have had it. Lastly, it isn't always necessary to lower the lights for travel to Europe. My car has an adjustment in the menus to change from driving on the left to driving on the right. Again this may not apply to all Karoqs but it is worth a look.

[mjp99]

Thanks so far to all who have helped. I have had a 'tweak' on the headlights and I will see if the adjustment remains as set. I am confused in the manuals as to whether the 'automatic levelling' will reset to its original setting! Hopefully I won't get 'flashed' so much now.