Adjustment procedure for Jetta high beam aiming problem

bondtimbond

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2006
Location
Houston Texas
TDI
06 Jetta package 2 - now sold
Updated - Adjustment procedure to correct Jetta high beam aiming problem

UPDATED!! - Thanks for the many positive comments to this post! I have incorporated some new information that you might find helpful. NOTE: If you have trouble printing this, try coping the entire set of instructions out of your web browser and into a Word doc in HTML format. From there you can resize the photos as required to fit your printer. You will want to maximize the margins in the word document to fit everything nicely.

There have been many, many posts and threads about high beams of the OEM headlights of the Jetta pointing too high and not being adjustable without affecting the low beams too. I was examining my headlights on my June 06 TDI recently and I do believe I may have figured out how to readjust the headlights so that they work like they should. It has always seemed odd to me that VW would set up high beam headlights so that they point well above the road and appear to only light up the trees without a way to correct it.

Well, as it turns out, the high beams and low beams CAN be adjusted independently of each other. Below you will find the step by step procedure I used to make these relatively easy adjustments. This information applies to the standard U.S.A. reflector type headlights, and projector lamps may be different. Enjoy!

Here are the basics of how the standard reflector type headlights adjust on our Jettas:

>> As you can see in the photos attached below showing the front of the car, the standard Jetta reflector type headlights are made up of the overall housing which is basically fixed in place, and the individual reflectors for the high and low beams. These reflectors are adjustable independently of each other but doing so is tricky. Just like sealed beam headlights on older cars, the reflectors are supported in the back at 3 points. Some of these attach points are adjustable and some are simply pivot points, and therefore they enable you to change the aiming of the lights.





>> As viewed from the engine side of the passenger headlight assembly, this photo below shows the various adjustment points. Note that I have labeled each adjust point for clarification and for reference in the procedure found below. One of the adjustment points was somewhat hidden. It is this adjustment, labeled L3 in the diagrams, that enables you to change the up/down aiming of the high and low beams independently of each other. L1 has a small black cap on it initially that you will have to pop out to gain access to it. The cap can be reinstalled afterwords easily.





So, what follows is the procedure I used to adjust my headlights. This technique basically lowers your high-beam aiming down to a good position while returning your low-beam aim to the same point they are now.

You can go a step further and verify the aim of both low AND high beams to a specification, and I will discuss that towards the end. That additional step requires you to make use of the excellent procedure on another website (linked later) that I was made aware of by another member.

Step 1) Pull your car into a driveway where you can point your headlights at a large flat surface such as a garage door. Your car should be fairly level. When I did this I had the front wheels about 12 feet from the garage door. This is a shorter distance from the wall that is sufficient to make the adjustments here. Make very sure that the car is perpendicular to the garage door (pointing straight at it) and not at an angle. It makes things easier if your car is also centered on the door. Turn on your headlights and make note of the pattern on the door. Obviously you should do this at dusk or dark rather than direct sunlight!

Step 2) As shown in the photo below, get some masking tape and mark the door to document the important points of the existing light pattern. This should include the aim points of the left and right high beams, and with the high beams off mark the cut-off line of each left and right low beams. Note that there is also a point in each low beam where the cutoff line goes from flat to angled upward to the right, also called the "kink" in the line. Specifically mark the "kink" point on the wall. The kink is shown in a later photo below. You will probably notice like I did that the lights might not be aimed evenly as the right high beam was aimed higher, and that there is a visible gap in the coverage between the high and low beams. I can't imagine what the factory was thinking!!





>> Step 3 Now, with the high beams on, you rotate the adjustment labeled L2/H2 CCW so that the aim points of both high beams are lowered so that the bright center point is just above the horizontal cut off line of their respective low beams that you marked on the door. The high beams should actually point directly straight ahead, focusing on a point the same distance above the ground as the high beam bulb. When you adjust L2/H2, both the high and low beams will go down at the same time. Make sure you adjust both the left and right lights as required so that the high beams are even with each other, left to right. If your left and right lights didn't start out even, make sure the high beams are even when you complete this step. The low beams will be readjusted to be the same in a later step. You may have to turn the adjustment several turns CCW to bring the high beams down enough. Note: When I first ran this procedure I didn't bring the high beams down enough the first time and had to go back and readjust after a test drive (as you can see in the photos).





>> Step 4 Next, you adjust the L3 adjustment CCW with only the low beams turned on to bring back up the low beam cutoff line to where it was at the start (4 mm or 5/32" 1/4" socket). As you turn this adjustment, you should notice that the aim mainly moves up and down, but also moves a smaller amount side to side at the same time. Due to this, if you have to move the adjustment very far, you will also need to adjust the L1 adjustment screw to move the aim side to side to bring the "kink" point back to where it was. When you are finished with step 4, the aim of the low beams should be right back to where they were when you started, but the high beams will remain lowered significantly. It is VERY IMPORTANT that the cutoff point of the low beams be returned precisely where they were when you started. If you adjust the cutoff line too high, you will blind oncoming traffic. If you adjust too low, then you won't put enough light far enough out in front of you. It is for this reason I suggest that you readjust the low beams to the same point they were when you started. Note: If, your low beam cutoff lines were not the same height above the ground at the start, I suggest you use the lower of the two and match that one. You can then use the detailed procedure referenced later to readjust to spec if you like.





Last Step!! You are basically complete at this point. But, you might find upon test driving your car that you are not happy with the aim of the high beams quite yet. That is what I found when I first test drove my car. It was certainly better without any visible gap in lighting, but I still wanted to bring the high beams down a bit more. So, I brought the car back to the same spot in the driveway and readjusted the L2/H2 adjuster slightly more so that the high beam focus spot was centered on a point the same height above the ground as the high-beam bulbs are from the ground (about 28").

If you do bring the high beams down further using the L2/H2 adjustment, then make sure you remember to then readjust the L3 (and a smaller amount of L1 if required) so that your low beams are aimed to the same cutoff point as when you started. Here is what my aiming job looked like when I was all complete:





Note in the above photo how much I had to bring down the aim point of the high beams before they started behaving like they should!! Luckily, I never ran out of adjustment range of the screws that I adjusted.

The above procedure did not recheck the low beam aiming to any spec, but rather simply re-aimed them to where they were when you started. You can go further and verify/adjust the aim using another procedure. Go to the link below for further information:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html

This procedure at the Dan Stearn Lighting website is excellent and is quite easy to follow, but it does require you to find a level flat area with the front of the car 25 feet away from a wall. After I ran this procedure, I found that the left/right aiming of my low beams was WAY off, and I had to tweak the height slightly to match the specs listed. In that procedure on highlight aiming, there is a table showing aiming specs for various types of lighting systems. For our Jetta's, the low beam headlights are about 28 inches above the ground, and they are about 25.5 inches out from the centerline of the car. You can simply mark these positions on the wall once you have the center point identified. The Jetta headlights are marked "DOT", so I assume we should use the specs listed for "US DOT headlamps marked VOL", however I could not find a marking as such on the actual headlights for the "VOL" part.

Here is a tip that I used to help in finding the center point of the car on the wall when you run the Dan Stearn Lighting procedure:

>> I used a laser level to help me find the center point, and it worked very well. As shown in the photo below, I simply used two reference points in my Jetta that are centered to line up the laser level. One was the center child seat attach point, and one is the vent control knob in the center of the upper dash. The photo shows how I did this, and it is much easier and more reliable than trying to back the car straight back 25 ft as the procedure describes. Use the center point projected by the laser to find all the other points referenced in the Dan Stearn procedure.






Important note: Specifically in the Jetta, make sure you adjust the high beams first using the L2/H2 adjustment. This adjustment moves both the high and low beams together. Next, after you have the high beams correct, then you can adjust the low beams both up and down (L3) and left and right (L1) to meet the spec.

If you have comments let myself and everyone know, particularly if you try out the procedure and find something that might help others. If you find errors in my post or improvements I will be glad to edit the procedure. This is version 2.1, updated on 3/12/07. Thanks so much to "CADTechTdi" for letting me know about the Dan Stearn Lighting website!

Have fun, and enjoy the well lit road in front of you!! :)
 
Last edited:

CATDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2007
Location
Bay Area, CA
TDI
2006.5 A5 Jetta TDI Pkg #3
This is absolutely fantastic. This has been driving me crazy for some time. Thank you so much for doing this! Very clear and a detailed. Your hard work will help a lot of A5 owners.

Again, thanks!
 

TDI 4 RD

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2006
Location
Hamilton, NY
TDI
2006 TDI Pkg 1
Tremendous post. This solves a problem that a lot of people have had.

I would suggest posting a link to this on other MKV sites, like the Vortex.

Many thanks for all the time and effort.
 

BMac

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2006
Location
Halifax N.S.
TDI
2015 Jetta TDI
Can this also be posted in the "How To" section for future reference.

Excellent method!

Bmac
 

All of Us

Ian's Dad
Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Location
Brookfield, IL
TDI
2015 NMS Passat SE TDI "Gin" 2006 A5 New Jetta TDI "Graycie" and 2003 A4 Jetta GLS TDI "Liath"
A5's first sticky

BTB:

Congratulations on getting the A5 forum its first sticky! Good write up and great pictures too. After the weather warms a bit I hope to cure Graycie's "eyes in the sky" problem. Thanks for taking the time to figure this one out for the rest of us.

Dan
 

Taz107

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 22, 2006
Location
Manitoba
TDI
06 Jetta
Thanks, this is great news...

Whoever does this, can you post how many turns and in what direction on each adjustment bolt (L1, L2, and L3) was required????

Just something to get us close till it warms up out...and we can follow the procedure in detail?

Thanks again...
 

CADtechTDi

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2005
Location
On the road in Mn
TDI
'06 A5 Jetta 5 spd Pkg 1
Outstanding!! Excellent write-up and pictures too!
I can't wait to dig in and bring my highs back down to earth.

Here is a helpful link to Daniel Stern's website, explaining proper aiming procedures for e-code headlights. Contains a very helpful aiming chart with dimensions! I recommend you use painter's tape to lay out his chart, then another color tape for your lines as Tim mentions.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html
 

bondtimbond

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2006
Location
Houston Texas
TDI
06 Jetta package 2 - now sold
The Dan Stern lighting website link provided is excellent! Thanks CADtechTDi!! In fact, I think I might update my original post that started this thread on aiming the Jetta to take that info into account. I might try to find time to recheck my aim this weekend to those specs listed and see how close I was with my original procedure. Finding an appropriate place with 25ft of flat surface might be tough to come by however.
 

CADtechTDi

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2005
Location
On the road in Mn
TDI
'06 A5 Jetta 5 spd Pkg 1
I've printed out large, thick black "+" marks using Paint onto pieces of paper, driven into town and taped them to the wall of buildings at night. :rolleyes:

An easier method is to do it on your back garage wall or (in a pinch) on a sheet of plywood propped up in the street.
 

TDI 4 RD

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2006
Location
Hamilton, NY
TDI
2006 TDI Pkg 1
An office parking garage on the weekends is another good place to try to find the adequate space (or get to work super early one day!).
 

LF06VWJTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2006
Location
Liverpool, NY
TDI
06 MkV Jetta TDI
Nice work but I'm not too sure the procedure works on Hella E-codes like these:



I was going to do it early this morning but the adjustments are different than the stock headlights. It seems as though low and high beams are done together. Any suggestions?
 

CADtechTDi

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2005
Location
On the road in Mn
TDI
'06 A5 Jetta 5 spd Pkg 1
I finally got a chance to try this adjustment out tonight: it worked great!!
I have the stock reflector headlights, BTW. I taped & adjusted to the original light pattern for now.

The only difference from Tim's write-up, was the use of a 4mm 1/4" drive socket vs. 5/32" - my 5/32" was too big to fit the L3 adjuster hole. I also did not have any plugs over these openings :confused:

I ended up turning the L2/H2 between 3 - 4 turns CCW on each side; 2-1/2 to 3 turns CCW for L3, around 2 turns for L1 (I lost track after going up/down several times).

I didn't get a chance to drive it yet - but I did back down my drive about 60 feet (I've got a 500 foot drive) and so far, I like what I'm seeing!

I like the laser level idea - I also plan on re-adjusting using Dan Stearn's specs, since I'm pretty sure my side-to-side alignment is waay off too.

Thanks again Tim for great work on this write-up!!
 

bondtimbond

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2006
Location
Houston Texas
TDI
06 Jetta package 2 - now sold
Glad it worked CADtechTDi! I will add some of your experiences to the original. I figured that the small socket would be in metric, but didn't remember to go see what one fit. Thanks!
 

scrichy84

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2006
Location
St. Helens, OR
TDI
2006 Jetta, Manual
Soothappens, 06spicered, and myself all adjusted our headlights this weekend. Your write up was awesome! Thanks for taking the time to document it all!
 

SootHappens

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2006
Location
Scappoose, OR
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
Yep Thanks! Commute this morning was awesome on the back roads with properly aimed lights! No more squirrel hunting lights for me
 

LF06VWJTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2006
Location
Liverpool, NY
TDI
06 MkV Jetta TDI
Tried the procedure on my Hella HID. Can't do it.
The hex bolt that should adjust he L-beam u/d cannot be adjusted.
I tried the following sockets (1/4 drive)
- 4mm (too small)
- 5mm (too big) :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:
- 5/32" (too small)
- 7/32" (too big) :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

Looks like I need a 4.5mm or a 7/64" but I don't think those sizes exist anywhere in the world. Sooooooo, I will keep hunting the squirrels, I guess.:(
 

Gear jammer

Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2006
Location
San Diego
TDI
2006 Jetta PKG 2
Thanks for the detailed instructions. I spent more time putting the tape on the walls and finding the right tools for the job, than I spent making the actual adjustments.

Thanks GJ.
 

Deansel

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Location
Central Wisconsin
TDI
'06 Jetta w/DSG, pkg1, Blue Graphite
Thank you for the great headlight adjusting guide - it worked out great! No more flashing of brights from oncoming traffic and our "Brights" actually serve a purpose other than spotting owls sitting high up in the trees.
 

LF06VWJTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2006
Location
Liverpool, NY
TDI
06 MkV Jetta TDI
DieselDavid said:
They are 97 cents each at Sears.

Craftsman 4.5mm Hex Key
Sears item #00946791000 Mfr. model #46791
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?pid=00946791000

Craftsman 7/64 in. Hex Key
Sears item #00946776000 Mfr. model #46776
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?pid=00946776000
Unfortunately neither of those will work DieselDavid. After closer inspection I determined that the high-beam adjustment bolt is pentagonal in shape and 4mm in size. So I figured that other than the tool Hella designed specifically for this bolt, only a 4mm (5/32") combination wrench would do the job; the problem is that a wrench that size is not something you find at the nearest Home Depot or Lowe's store.
 

dizzyswimmer

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 8, 2006
Location
Georgia
TDI
06 Jetta
This is a great how to ! I will do mine this weekend. I think it might help if this was sent to VW ! :D
 

Rod Bearing

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2007
Location
Fort Worth
TDI
Several
It's a fantastic How To, and maybe after I adjust mine, Bruce Wayne will stop calling me asking if that's a new kind of BatCall (VW insignia in front of the headlight) he's seeing in the clouds.:D :p
 

funoutdoors121

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2008
Location
CT (USA)
TDI
15 GSW S 6MT
headlight adjustments

Great job on both the touched-up photos and instructions!
Will need to print out and keep in my JSW owner's manual.
 
Last edited:
Top