Adjusting headlights?

Well since I bought my NB my headlights have been way out of adjustment. One pointing in the face of oncoming traffic, and the other one is aimed at the side of the road. And on top of that the lights are pointed at the road so basically the headlights are useless. I attempted to adjust the height of the headlights with limited success. The headlights are still pointed in the wrong directions. What is the trick to adjust the headlights on the NB? Thanks.

Longsnowsm

I dont know that there is any super special trick, but here's a headlight aiming guide

Thanks for the info. I know the alignment procedure, just cannot figure out how to adjust the headlights on the Beetle. I found 2 allen head adjusters on each headlight. So far they only appear to move the headlights up and down, but I have not figured out how to move them side to side. I have been fighting with these for a couple of days without much real success. The fuel filter assembly is directly in the way on the passenger side so it is a real pain to get into to adjust at all. Any ideas how to adjust these side to side or is one of the allen head adjusters suppose to do that?

Longsnowsm

make sure the lights are all clipped together properly. each light has two allen head adjusters. one does up down, the other does left right.

I was afraid you were going to say that... Now I am thinking that my headlight adjusters may be non-functional. Any idea which one is suppose to do which function? Thanks.

Longsnowsm

*gets out bentley*
okay, on each light there are two allen head adjusters. the top one does height adjustment, the bottom one does lateral adjustment.

on a side note... my bentley lists the wrong bulbs

Sounds like I need to get a Bentley...

I think someone may have broken, or messed mine up before I bought the car last month. It is a 98, and the allen head screws looked beat up so I think something maybe wrong. I will try more driveway cursing... oops, I mean adjusting on Sunday. So far I have cranked and cranked, and cranked... One headlight will go up and down and that is it, the other doesn't seem to go up and down. No side to side at all on either one. It seems to take a LOT of turns to even get a small move on the one that does move.

Thanks very much for the assistance.

Longsnowsm

keep trying, and do it at night, the movement of the actual unit is VERY small, and that's why it takes so many turns to get any movement. ideally you're adjusting a projection that what, 25 feet away. but you're right, it does take a lot of turning to get them to move. I'll have a torn apart diagram in the coming weeks when I install my city lights.

Hey Brian... on your passenger side headlight, does the low beam point in the same basic direction as the high beam? My aunt's 2.0 buggy had an encounter with a deer, and they replaced the entire passenger side assy. But the low beam and high beam point in different directions... I'm wondering if the unit is somehow defective.

-Jason

yeah, low beam and high beam point in the same direction. the two adjust with the same adjustment screw. they are one assembily

Right. I would adjust it so the high was ok, and the low beam was pointed wayyyyy too far left. Adjust the light as far as it would go, and the low is almost adjusted straight ahead, but the high beam is off in the bushes.

-J

wierd, check to make sure the light bulbs are installed correctly

Headlights

Take it back to the dealer! It is still under warranty. Let them adjust it.

Well to followup on the headlight adjustment. I wasn't having any success trying to get both lights aligned. My car broke down yesterday so I had it towed to the shop. I posted another thread in the TDI 101 about my "Car Won't Start". Well I asked the shop to look at the headlights while I had them working on the other problem. Seems that the bezel was broken on one of the lights so it couldn't be adjusted. So they had to order a completely new bucket. So while I am the poorer for the ordeal, at least it explains why I was having such a horrible time trying to do this.

Thanks again for the input on how to adjust these.

Longsnowsm