Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Two years ago, my grandfather gave us his old '95 Prizm when he bought a new car. A few weeks ago, I decided that the old headlight bulbs were too dim and I replaced them with new ones. The light output is vastly improved, but with that change I noticed two other issues: The left headlight shakes up and down terribly with the vibration of the engine. This is mostly noticeable when the car is idling or accelerating at around 1000-1500 RPM (estimated) because the engine vibrates the most at those speeds, but it is vibrating a bit all the time. It looks to me like tightening the outboard (vertical) adjustment screw will fix this problem. The right headlight is pointing significantly upward. Interestingly, based on seeing other Prizms and Corollas at night, I think that this is actually an extremely common problem. I know that it is extremely annoying to other drivers, and it also means that I'm wasting light illuminating the trees instead of the road.

I have the service manual for the car, and it says this: Using a No. 2 cross-recess screwdriver, aim the headlights .... I tried to use several different screwdrivers, but I can't get the adjustment mechanisms to turn! Is there some trick I'm missing? I am guessing that a "#2 Phillips" screwdriver did not work because it isn't wide enough, but it's hard to find a true "cross-recess" driver -- as I understand it, this is like a Phillips #2, but with little or no tapering toward a point. (Or should a regular Phillips #2 work here?) There's a chance that you have a loose headlight assembly bolt. Grab the headlight assy. and try moving it in different directions. if this isn't the case, the lamp adjustment screw could be broken and you'd likely need a new assembly. try using different sizes of phillips head screwdrivers. chances are the shaft of the driver is too wide to turn the mechanism.Browse other questions tagged headlight tools geo or ask your own question.

Did you know that for the 42 years between 1941 and 1983, sealed beam headlights were required on ALL vehicles in the United States? To make matters worse, there were only FOUR styles of them allowed! Just imagine what modern cars and trucks would look like if they all shared the same headlights! That being said, before 1984, headlamps were super easy to replace with simply a Phillips screwdriver, they were inexpensive to buy, and easily found in every single auto part store in America. Levolor Vertical Blinds Replacement PartsThese days, for the sake of fantastic styling and improved visibility, lighting up the darkness has become a bit more complex. Geo Tracker Headlight Bulb Size"Headlights" don't even have one standard name! Labrador Puppies For Sale In Redding Ca

They can be called " headlights" (without the space) "head lights" (two words), headlamps, or head lamps! Then there is the whole halogen, xenon, and HID nonsense as well. Let's try to make sense of it all. Sealed beam headlights are one piece designs with glass lenses. The bulb, the lens, and the housing are all connected, and cannot be separated without destroying the light itself. If the bulb burns out, the whole headlamp needed to be replaced. There were only two sizes of sealed beam lights available between 1940 and 1978, which were the round 5.75 inch and 7 inch style. To make vehicles look good when they all used the exact same lighting, many manufacturers had headlamp covers. The Camaro RS/SS and Buick Riviera are two great examples of this. By 1978, rectangle headlights were finally permitted, and many car manufacturers rejoiced. The really big win, though, was in 1983. It was then that the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety team fully removed the entire sealed beam rule, and allowed plastic lenses and replaceable light bulbs!

This meant that car and truck manufacturers could finally design the headlights to "flow" with the styling of the vehicle itself, and not hide them behind plastic covers. It was a very big deal at the time. Composite lights were the kind of headlight that came right after the sealed beam. They have replaceable bulbs, which are filled with halogen gas. For this reason, many people call these lights "halogen headlights." The vast majority of them have plastic lenses, though there are a few exceptions here and there (I'm looking at you Volvo). Composite headlights also have the ability to incorporate turn signals, and even fog lamps into their design. This really gives the car and truck designers a blank canvas to work with, and makes for great looking vehicles. The downfall of this type of headlight is that the plastic lenses all eventually either turn yellow or fall off completely. Both are quite embarrassing, and won't get you a passing inspection sticker (unless of course you "know a guy", wink wink).

When it comes to yellow or sandblasted headlight lenses, some people like to try the magic headlight cleaners. That's because - well - some of them do actually work. The problem is that none (that we have encountered) will last for more than a couple months at the very most. That really stinks if you actually want to see the road at night, like most drivers do. HID is an acronym for High Intensity Discharge. The HID bulbs contain xenon gas. This is why these two terms have become interchangeable over the last several years.   HID and xenon lights are the same kind of headlight. Way back in 1991, the European spec BMW 7-series was the first factory vehicle to come with HIDs, and they were a game changer. The HID bulbs lasted two to three times longer than the halogen bulbs, they draw less power, they are brighter, and they look absolutely fantastic. The HID headlight system is slightly more complicated than a halogen headlamp because HIDs require a "ballast" to control the power flow to the bulb itself.

The downfall of these is price. Replacing a factory HID headlight can be twice the price of the halogen version, and they are not interchangeable without modifications. There are also more areas for failure because there are more components than in a non-HID headlight. These types of headlights are also blinding to oncoming traffic if not aimed properly, which would obviously attract unpleasant hand gestures as well. Halogen and HID versions of projector headlights both exist in the wild, depending on the vehicle. This style of headlamp has a metal shield in front of the headlight bulb that actually helps focus the light in a specific direction with the help of a special lens inside the headlight housing. The metal light shield actually moves down to allow the full light from the bulb when the high beam switch is activated. As you can imagine, these lights are high end, and their price reflects it. Also, with additional moving parts, there is more opportunity for things to go wrong.

One of the more common questions about headlights that we receive is "what is the difference between quad and non-quad headlights?" Luckily, it sounds far more confusing than it really is. The "quad" headlights have two headlight bulbs per headlight. The "non-quad" headlights have just one headlight bulb per headlight. If your vehicle came with quad headlights, your only option is quad-style replacement headlights if you need to change them. The same goes for non-quad headlights. The two styles are not interchangeable because the headlight wiring on the vehicle will not match up to the opposite style. If, by chance, some masked bandit took off with both of your headlights, and you are only left with the wiring to figure out if you have quad or non-quad headlights, there is still hope in figuring out which you had! The quad headlights have two headlight bulbs each, one for the low beam and one high beam bulb. The quad-style headlights will have two headlight bulb connectors each, and each connector will have two wires going to it.