Headlight level / aiming

jdTrader

jdTrader

Staff
Moderator
Car
2009 FX50S
Hi guys,

I noticed on my 09 FX50 that the passenger side headlight aims slightly higher than the drivers side all the time. I was going to mention it to the dealer, until they loaned me a Infiniti G37x, and it was the same: the passenger headlight was a little higher than the driver side.

But today I ran across this old thread talking about older FX and adjusting headlights manually:
///7902&highlight=headlight+aiming

I was just curious if anybody else has noticed Infiniti headlights passenger headlight slightly higher aiming than driver side and why that may be the case. Or, maybe it just so happened that my car and the loaner had the same condition and just needed to be adjusted. Wondering if anybody else noticed this slight difference in the dark? Nobody else noticed, but I'm really particular about my car so I notice the slightest things when things might be off.
 
Yes I have noticed this too. It's normal actually. If you have adaptive headlights like I do, that means you also have the auto-leveling headlights not the manual levelizers. The AFS computer will control the height of each headlight depending on what the leveling sensor in the rear suspension tells the computer how high the car is from the ground. That varies how many passengers are sitting in your car or if the car is sitting on an incline or a slope. The left side is purposely aimed a little lower on the left side compared to the right side to prevent from blinding driver's on the opposite side of the road. It's stated in the service manual, and service explained this to me before. If the left side was aimed on par with the right side, it would blind oncoming driver's in the opposite lane.
 
Fire0nic3 said:
Yes I have noticed this too. It's normal actually. If you have adaptive headlights like I do, that means you also have the auto-leveling headlights not the manual levelizers. The AFS computer will control the height of each headlight depending on what the leveling sensor in the rear suspension tells the computer how high the car is from the ground. That varies how many passengers are sitting in your car or if the car is sitting on an incline or a slope. The left side is purposely aimed a little lower on the left side compared to the right side to prevent from blinding driver's on the opposite side of the road. It's stated in the service manual, and service explained this to me before. If the left side was aimed on par with the right side, it would blind oncoming driver's in the opposite lane.
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Fire0nic3 you are an amazing contributor to the IS forum! This makes sense and is great to know. Thanks again so much Fire0nic3! I love finding new little thought out engineered things about these great cars! :)
 
jdTrader said:
Fire0nic3 you are an amazing contributor to the IS forum! This makes sense and is great to know. Thanks again so much Fire0nic3! I love finding new little thought out engineered things about these great cars! :)
Click to expand...


No problem man. I was wondering about this too when I took it to the dealer and they printed out a section in the service manual to show me. I suspect that in the Euro version FX that the right side is aimed lower and the left side is aimed higher since they drive on the left side of the road there.

---------- Post added at 10:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:12 PM ----------

I forgot to mention that if the FX is parked on a slope and you start it up and leave the headlights on auto on they self adjust themselves on startup. First they will both move down, then come back up, split apart, and finally come back together. This is the self adjusting diagnostic function that checks to see if their working properly as they should. It's like eyes moving lol.
 
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There is still a baseline level, even with self leveling headlights. The baseline can be adjusted and you can raise or lower the baseline level. I don't have a second gen, but know of this technology on other self leveling headlight equipped vehicles.

The left side is aimed lower as to not blind oncoming traffic. Right side is aimed higher to light up road signs in the US.
 
I had my 60K service done at the dealer this week. After returning, I noticed that my headlights were aimed differently than before the service. On the driver side, the cutoff is about 30ft in front of the car and then it is completely dark. I'm having a hard time seeing down the road. I noticed this because the cutoff line is bouncing with every bump in the road. When I called the dealer to inquire about it he mentioned that they plugged in the sensor (he said it was in back) that adjusts the headlight level. He said my headlights are now how they are supposed to be which I find to be unacceptable. I also noticed the drivers side light is not moving when I turn the car, only the passenger side is. If anyone could chime in to see if that is not normal I would appreciate it. My assumption is the driver side headlight ability to adjust is no longer functioning.
 
beelove said:
I had my 60K service done at the dealer this week. After returning, I noticed that my headlights were aimed differently than before the service. On the driver side, the cutoff is about 30ft in front of the car and then it is completely dark. I'm having a hard time seeing down the road. I noticed this because the cutoff line is bouncing with every bump in the road. When I called the dealer to inquire about it he mentioned that they plugged in the sensor (he said it was in back) that adjusts the headlight level. He said my headlights are now how they are supposed to be which I find to be unacceptable. I also noticed the drivers side light is not moving when I turn the car, only the passenger side is. If anyone could chime in to see if that is not normal I would appreciate it. My assumption is the driver side headlight ability to adjust is no longer functioning.
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As to your headlights turning, the right one will turn when stopped and you turn the wheel, the left one will only turn when driving above a certain speed.
 
Then if that is the way they are designed then they are working properly, maybe just not aimed correctly?
 
I have some pretty crappy aimed headlights myself. 11 FX50S and the light seems to just point around like foglight hight. (I will attach a pic) i haven't checked the level
sensor in the rear control arm yet. If i drive in city its ok because of all the other light but highway in the distance just sucks, my touareg that i drive has great lighting, it does sit a lot higher due to bigger tires and there also auto levelling. I don't feel i should have to adjust them only having 57000km.

The pic doesn't look that bad but i assure you they suck, lighting is a big deal for me.
IMG_1476.jpg
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