Poor low beam headlamps

[Stephen29]

Estima Hybrid 2011, standard lights 

High beam is great
but low beam is very poor  and not safe to do more than 30mph down dark twisty country lanes, even ones you know well, as you just cant see far enough ahead.
very disappointed in that

Anyone else have the same issue?

Any way to adjust/raise the headlamps?

 

[JohnGW]

Similar age vehicle has D4S HID lamps for low beam but high beam are halogen.  Are your headlamps yellowed with age and somewhat opaque? I gave mine a T cut to clear them up a bit as I still havent got round to doing a full polish, mainly due to the weather but even a 10 minute T cut made a big difference.

[Bper]

Hi John, Unless you have changed the bulbs recently then it is possible  that your low beam bulbs are nearing the end of their lifespan and aren't producing as much light as they used to. This is the most common cause of headlight dimming. Check your owner's manual to find the correct bulb type for your low beams and replace them yourself or by a mechanic.

The headlight assemblies might be misaligned, directing the low beams downward instead of straight ahead.Look in your owner's manual for instructions on how to adjust the headlights yourself. If you're not comfortable doing this, a mechanic can adjust them for you.

Over time the headlight lenses can accumulate dirt, grime, and oxidation, reducing light output. Try cleaning the headlight lenses with a headlight cleaning kit or mild soap and water. As far as adjusting the lights have a look at the back of the headlights for a possible adjustment with a knob or screws. Align the car against a garage or wall to adjust them. YouTube has videos on headlight adjustment as a guide.Hope this helps. It should also be remembered if the headlights are not set correctly they may fail an MOT.

[Stephen29]

Headlamps are not yellowed.
The low beam D4S HID lamps have AFS (although Ive not seen them 'swivel') so that might also do automatic height adjustment?

 

[JohnGW]

HID's have to be fitted with ride levelling to try and stop glare to other oncoming drivers, maybe that is the AFS as mine do not turn with the direction.

[JohnGW]

Yes Bper, there is some yellowing but the T cut did clear them somewhat. It did make quite a difference just doing that. An Estima across the road same age has markedly worse opaque headlights. 

I will do the proper headlight restoration later and then decide if I will change the lamps, higher light output lamps seem to have a shorter lifespan based on reports and feedback. 

[Stephen29]

Also a vaguely similar topic at
Headlights - Toyota Estima Forum - Toyota Owners Club - Toyota Forum

[Stephen29]

Just compared the low beam light output (as seen on the hedge opposite my driveway) with the low beam output on my old 1992 Estima 2.2TD, and the new one is better (as you might expect).
Strange then that it seems more feeble in actual use. Will have to take the old Estima for a run down the same lanes at night to recompare  (even though Ive been doing that route in the dark for years and never felt 'unsafe' till now).

[JohnGW]

Be interested to hear your results, night driving I also have to put some down to the age of the driver 😂  my old rally car with its light bar and super oscars which was about 420 watts turned night into day 😊 35 watts of HID is just not the same. 

[JohnGW]

On the front of the dipped beam lamps is a collimator, is that made of glass or plastic, I was looking at my lights when on tonight and the collimator lens did look a bit cloudy when compared to my neighbours transit van collimator lens. I will take a good close up look at the headlamp plastic tomorrow and give them another T cut.

[Stephen29]

Did the same night time country lane trip in my daughters Fiat Punto 1.4, that I also use for that route quite often, and the low beam on that was similar in terms of the area it it up. But the Fiat still seemed a bit 'better' in terms of visibility and 'confidence', maybe because your lower to the ground, and was able to maintain slightly higher overall speed. Plus of course the smaller size and weight of the Fiat made cornering faster.
Still need to redo that nighttime run in the older Estima to see if its just my perception of things.

Plus of course, most of the time would normally be able to use high beam on the dark empty country roads, and so would have good visibility.

 

[Stephen29]

Update to the above (as cant edit it)

Plus of course, most of the time would normally be able to use high beam on the dark empty country roads, and so would have good visibility.
And low beam on normal or illuminated A roads, or with traffic, would be ok.

[Steven84]

It was 10 years old when I bought my Estima, my headlights were dim as well, I'm just going to say that cleaning the headlights wiring part is involved.

1: clean the headlight, I've used T cut and all kinds of products, 10% better but still poor low beam.

2: clean the 12V Battery earth cable both end connected to body and Battery, clean the nuts and bolts on both positive and negative, fully charge the Battery, 15% better than 1 , still poor low beam.

3: clean and swap with high and low beam fuses or just put a new one, fuses 1 2 3 &4 inside fuses box next to cooling expansion tanks, I will say 20% better ,oxide at the contact point of the fuse, which impedes the flow of electrons, now ok low beam ,it is possible to drive at night. 

4: this part is a little difficult, clean the ground cable and bolts behind each headlight, inside front wing can reach from wheel arch cover, I don't just clean it, I also solder it terminal to wires, if you remove  the bumper you will see seven ground points, now ok to drive at night, the vehicle on the opposite lane sometime turned on its high beam and shot at me but I still don't think it's very bright.

5: adjust the projection distance of the headlight, original factory setting is 1%, it is too far away, I reduced the distance and set to about 1.2%, now the place where there is light is brighter and no more high beam shot at me from opposite lane.

6: one day a low beam bulb burned, I changed both bulbs, I use Osram, I think 5-15% brighter, maybe new bulb and new contact point.

7: it should be done with 3, swap high and low beam relay , two square grey ones next to fuses 1 2 3 & 4, they are same parts no.,

I'm now very happy with the luminosity of driving at night.

 

[Crickleymal]

I haven't tried it on cars but rewiring my motorbike headlights made quite a difference so I would expect doing as Steven84 suggests might work well.

[JohnGW]

Yes I would agree, its many years since I owned a ford but they always took shortcuts with earthing which is why after its been raining any combination of rear lights would flash on and off with the indicators 🤣 Toyota gold plated their earths on old Corollas, maybe they dont do that anymore?

[JohnGW]

Interesting comparison of different lamps, yes I know not our D4S but still interesting and to my eyes the laser series showed a bit more brightness.

 

[JohnGW]

This is an even better test and explanation.

 

[Haliotis]

My VW Caravelle had poor low beam headlights, which was bad for a 2017 vehicle.  With so many late model vehicles having much better headlights, I found this a disadvantage when faced with oncoming vehicles at night.  My 2021 C-HR has much better lights.

[JohnGW]

I have ordered a pair of Philips extreme vision Gen 2

[Stephen29]

(just posting for my info later in the year)
Osram Classic came out well

[JohnGW]

Yes they did, I was going in that direction myself then found the Philips at a very good price so decided on those. If it had been the full price I would probably have gone with the nightbreaker laser. They are clearly brighter than all of the others in another Philips vs Osram test and the difference was at the beam perimeter. The whiter light was not as good in fog or rain though where the yellower light was better so favoring the classic once more. 

[JohnGW]

The Philips lamps arrived and a quick look and they were Osram lamps inside the packaging so they got returned pronto and refunded. Now have a set of genuine Osram night breaker laser lamps. GSF autoparts have these on special for £97 a pair delivered free. Will take various light readings before and after to compare. 

[Stephen29]

Just an update to the original discussion about driving in the dark on unlight twisty country roads, and the visibility from low beam.
Some of the poor visibility was because I had my 10" Android head unit on, and it was shining rather bright inside the cabin, and de-sensitizing my eyes slightly. Turning that off and the outside view is slightly better, and just about back to to expected level of visibility on low beam (although would still like it to be a bit better - hopefully new bulbs in due course will help that).

[Steven84]

Install screen dimmer app.

[JohnGW]

Took a couple of light readings with the current lamps. Just over 11500 lux at the sweet spot for dipped beam. Could see the micro crazing in the plastic quite easily so hopefully that will sand/polish out.