I have been noticing that the regular lights on my monte seem to not go that far down the road. When I'm driving at night I really feel like I can't see far enough down the road to be safe. I have driven other cars with stock headlights that shine much further down the road than my monte. So I decided that I wanted to adjust them up a little bit. The only problem with this is when I looked in my "manual" it said to take it to the dealer or consult the service manual for the car. I'm not taking it to the dealer for something I'm sure I can do in 20 minutes. So heres my question. How do you adjust the headlights?. I looked under the hood and I found this little star shaped screw on top of the headlights but thats it. Is that the adjustment? Which way do I turn it?

Edit: this should prob be in general tech

 

yes this is all true the head lights SUK!!

change them out for silver stars you will not be disapointed!!!

I have all of mine changed out to include the fogs.

if you watch E-steal you can get them cheaper then in the stores sometimes
also Wally's world sells them cheap to. made by salvainya

worth the money!!

only wish i could change the color of the fogs to be like amber or yellos with out having to change the lens.
so they would give some contrast on the roads more at night. over here it is alot of back roads and some dont have the white lines painted to well.

 

ok i will try to best decribe how to adjust head lights


1. Find a level space facing a wall


2. Park your car about 15 feet away facing said wall


3. Measure the height of the center of your headlights


4. Make a line of tape about 3 feet long on the wall at the same height as your measurment


5. open the hood on your car and turn on the lights

6. Use the adjustment screw on the lights the try and center the beams on the line the best you can get them

7. If you do this correctly your lights should be adjusted properly and giving you a good light pattern

8. while you are doing this i would suggest upgeading your buld to a higher quality such as silverstar or some other comperable light

 

Okay thanks for all the good information. BUT, I really need to know which screw I turn? There should be two on each headlight if I'm right. One for left/right, one for up/down?

 

Headlamp Aiming (Monte Carlo)
Visual Aiming Preperation Procedure
Important: Some state and local laws specify requirements for headlamp aim. All of these laws must be complied with when performing any headlamp aiming operations.


Headlamp aim should be checked:

• When a new headlamp capsule is installed

• If service or repairs to the front end area have disturbed the headlamps or their mounting

• The area will consist of a level surface large enough to allow for a vehicle and an additional 7.62 m (25 ft) measured from face of lamps to the front of the aiming screen.


• The screen will be 1.52 m (5 ft) high x 3.66 m (12 ft) wide with a matte white surface well shaded from extraneous light, and properly adjusted to the floor on which the vehicle stands. Provisions should be made to alignthe screen parallel with the vehicle.


• The screen shall be provided with a fixed vertical centerline, two laterally adjustable vertical tapes, and one vertically adjustable horizontal tape.


• If a regular commercial aiming screen is not available, the screen may consist of a vertical wall having a clear uninterrupted area approximately 1.83 m (6 ft) high and 3.66 m (12 ft) wide. The surface should be finished with a washable non-gloss white paint.


•



After the aiming screen has been set up in a permanent location, paint a reference line on the floor directly under the lens of the lamps to indicate the proper location of the headlamps when they are being aimed:


- Distance between headlamps (1)

- Center line of screen (2)

- Adjustable vertical pointer (3)

- Adjustable horizontal tape (4)

- Diagram of light screen (5)

- Vertical center line ahead of right headlamp pointer position (6)

- 7.62 m (25 ft) (7)

- Car axis (8)

- Adjustable vertical pointer

- Horizontal center line of lamps

- Vertical center line ahead of left headlamp

Prior to aiming the headlamps, the following steps must be taken:

Remove any snow, ice or mud from the vehicle.
The vehicle must have a full tank of gas.
Stop all other work on the vehicle.
If any service has been performed on the vehicle, make sure that all of the components are back in their original place.
The vehicle must be on a level surface.



The vehicle left tires must be aligned with the reference line extending from the screen with the headlamps aligned with the reference line.
Do not load any cargo in the vehicle.
The vehicle must contain one person or 72.56 kg (160 lb) on the driver's seat.
Inflate the tires to the proper pressure.
Simulate the vehicle loads if the intended use of the vehicle is for hauling heavy loads or towing a trailer.
Rock the vehicle in order to stabilize the suspension.
Turn on the headlamps to low beam and observe the left and the top edges of the high intensity zone on the screen. The edges of the high intensity zone should fall within the specifications.
Headlamp Aiming Procedure
Open the hood.



Measure from the floor to the center of the headlamp bulb.
At the screen, measure from the floor and place the horizontal tape at the measured distance.
Measure from the reference line on the floor to the left headlamp bulb centerline.
At the screen, measure from the reference line and place the vertical tape at the measured distance.
Measure from the reference line on the floor to the right headlamp bulb centerline.
At the screen, measure from the reference line and place the vertical tape at the measured distance.
Important: DO NOT cover the headlamp, this may cause excessive heat build up.






Turn on the low beam headlamps and block the light from projecting onto the screen from the passenger side he

 

Here is a pic that may help

[IMG]local://upfiles/1227/B789887E05A64F4589C5BE36A1441049.gif[/IMG]

 

Wow, nice detail again NYCRISS, mind if I warp this up in our DIY section??

Thanks for the write up!!

 

Be my guest, montejass, and thanks for the compliment

 

Yes thats a great writeup. Very detailed.

Yesturday I got the sylvania silverstars and they are great. I would highly recommend this upgrade to anyone. Its cheap, very easy to install and will greatly improve your nightime visibility. I only got them for the low-beams because the high-beams are already good and they would just burnout quicker since the DRLs use the high beam bulbs.

 

I cant see this picture