Right hand drive lights in left hand drive i Miev

[dakine]

Aloha everyone. Or as we say here in the Cook Islands, Kia Orana!

Few years with this great car in paradise and all is well. Remember this is a left hand drive iMiev imported from Hawaii to Rarotonga where we drive right hand drive cars on th eleft side of the road. When I go for my warrant of fitness, think inspection, the guy tells me my headlamp beams are throwing to the right. This will not let the car pass no matter how I argued with him. So I am asking here for suggestions. Few thoughts I had were: maybe remove the lamps and adjust them slightly to the left. Order some new head light assemblies which are for right hand drive cars. But I know that the USA model is different in may ways to EU or Asia versions. Any ideas you guys can give me would be great!

 

[kiev]

There are adjustment screws on the headlamp for up/down and left/right, maybe those can be used to correct the issue?

 

[melloyello]

Headlights project forwards in a way that lights up the bottom half of a circle plus a little bit up and outwards to light up street signs on the side of the road (right side for LHD, left side for RHD). Google images of "headlight elbow point" to see what I mean. In another car I had, there was a plate inside the light housing to mask off part of the circle to create this pattern. In that car, this plate was adjustable between left and right side. I'd suggest opening the imiev headlight housing to see if you can find something similar. If it's not adjustable, maybe it can be modded or maybe try to add something to just block off the whole upper semicircle. Btw, this plate was upside down in that car - I guess the way the projector lens works would invert the light - just fyi for when you're looking for it.

 

[dakine]

Headlights project forwards in a way that lights up the bottom half of a circle plus a little bit up and outwards to light up street signs on the side of the road (right side for LHD, left side for RHD). Google images of "headlight elbow point" to see what I mean..

Yes the guy who inspected the car had a light box thing that showed the half circle plus the little bit outwards. This was a testing unit he used. I will follow the other poster's suggestion and try the adjustment screws. I knew I could count on you guys!

 

[melloyello]

Yes the guy who inspected the car had a light box thing that showed the half circle plus the little bit outwards. This was a testing unit he used. I will follow the other poster's suggestion and try the adjustment screws. I knew I could count on you guys!

That's not gonna work. The adjustment screws just move the light pattern up/down/left/right without changing the pattern. The inspector will still see the same pattern and fail you. You need to flip the pattern left/right. The light thrown up and outwards is supposed to light up signs on the side of the road, but when your on the opposite side, then that light is being thrown into the eyes of oncoming traffic! Thats why you need to flip whatever is creating the pattern in the headlight housing.

 

[kiev]

i found the elbow-point diagram in the factory service manual and the adjustment screws appear to just move the screen up/down and left/right, they won't reverse the elbow. Don't know if they can be dismantled to access the screen.

 

[Don]

I'm afraid your only solution is going to be to get a pair of headlight assemblies from a RHD car - I hope they'll fit a USA version of the car, or you may be out of luck

Don

 

[dakine]

This is what it looks like behind my headlight. Different than the diagram.
https://imgur.com/gallery/hjdOF

 

[Don]

Some of our European members can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Euro/JDM versions of the car had adjustable headlights - A shaft which turned a gear on the headlight bucket to raise or lower the beam. I also think *some* of those components are present on the North American version of the headlight assemblies, though none of them actually incorporated the adjustment feature. If that's true, it makes me think you *might* be able to use a set of Euro headlights on your NA car . . . . just maybe

It would be very interesting to see the backside of both versions of the headlights removed from the car. Anyone have any idea what a Euro headlight would sell for? Maybe someone could help you by locating a crashed Euro or JDM car which you could buy one or both headlights from??

Don

 

[kiev]

Looked at the pictures and also went outside and looked at my headlamps.

Those covers are held by tamper-proof one-way screws. A phillips head screwdriver can install them, but it requires a special socket tool to remove. i haven't found it yet doing google searches.

i think that rusty metal tab is covering the adjuster screws, and it it held in place by one of those security screws. A socket has to fit over the head and either 2 or 4 splines engage the screw in the V notches in the outer circumference. The outer diameter appears to be 7mm.

Maybe someone with the service manual can look up to see if that special tool is listed in the special tools section?

 

[jsantala]

I think headlight adjustment is a required feature in Euroland and must work in inspection as well. It may even be required to be automatic in new vehicles with set criteria.

 

[Don]

I remember when I was stationed in Germany in the early '80's a friend bought a Porsche 928 which had a knob for adjusting the headlights - If you had passengers in the back seat, you lowered the headlight beams to get them back down on the road

If we had that feature here in the USA, we would be blinded while driving at night from all the oncoming cars with misadjusted headlights - Everybody would have them cranked all the way up so they could see farther down the road and to heck with everybody you're blinding. Only an automatic feature would work here

No doubt Mitsu left that option off NA version cars on purpose - Still, I do recall reading somewhere that the mechanics of it are still incorporated in our headlight buckets, which makes me think they may be similar to the Euro/JDM versions. I think this was the discussion I recalled - http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=254&hilit=headlight+adjustment

Don

 

[jsantala]

The beam adjustment only turns the beams lower than default, so you can't blind anyone, unless you pack the car full and don't change the setting to lower. Beam height is also checked in inspection so you'll be busted eventually, if you're beams are too high.

 

[Don]

Beam height is also checked in inspection so you'll be busted eventually, if you're beams are too high.

Not here. Few states have an inspection program which goes as far as checking headlight alignment. Here in Mississippi we've had a $5 annual 'inspection' for years but about all they checked was functioning lights (so long as they light up, you pass) and to check that a broken windshield doesn't have a break within the swept area of the wipers. A car 'inspection' took all of 3 minutes to do. This year, someone realized the whole thing was just a sham and they did away with the inspection program all together - You can now drive a 30 year old, rusted out car with half the lights not working, squealing brakes, bald tires, bad shocks and you're good to go. In other words, 100% the opposite of the excellent inspection I recall when I lived in Germany

Don

 

[wmcbrine]

Here in Maryland, we have what I take to be a pretty thorough inspection,* but it only happens once, when you bring the car into the state. After that, they seemingly don't care, except for emissions testing (in the more populous counties). Another benefit of EVs -- no emissions to test.

* I haven't actually witnessed it. I had it done once, when I bought a Prius in Virginia, but the inspection (at Laurel Carmax/Toyota) happened out of my view. I got a nice long form about it, though.

My i-MiEV was already a Maryland car, so no inspection (for me).

 

[misterbleepy]

Not sure if this is any use, but when people in the UK (we drive on the left) take their cars abroad (where most drive on the right), we are meant to make sure our dipped headlights don't dazzle other drivers by masking them so the beam is flat, without the 'elbow'. We do this by buying a set of self adhesive masks (at great expense at the ferry port or train terminal) which also come with a chart showing where to fix them on the headlight lens to properly mask the wrong way around dipped beam pattern. Could this approach work for you?

 

[dakine]

That is an interesting idea. I will look into it. Thanks!

Not sure if this is any use, but when people in the UK (we drive on the left) take their cars abroad (where most drive on the right), we are meant to make sure our dipped headlights don't dazzle other drivers by masking them so the beam is flat, without the 'elbow'. We do this by buying a set of self adhesive masks (at great expense at the ferry port or train terminal) which also come with a chart showing where to fix them on the headlight lens to properly mask the wrong way around dipped beam pattern. Could this approach work for you?

 

[Don]

If they would help you a bit at the testing station, you might very well get by that way

When they test the lights, slide a piece of cardboard on the light in the correct place to eliminate the up and to the right beam that would blind oncoming drivers, mask the area not covered by the cardboard with some paper tape and paint the portion of the headlight lens which was covered by the cardboard with a can of black spray paint

Don

 

[dakine]

Removed the rusty bracket.
https://imgur.com/gallery/pf3ybEO

 

[kiev]

i did too, and the bracket toward the bottom where the spur gear is seen.

Those two points are the access for the beam adjustment.

A long phillips head screwdriver is used at the upper adjuster, down the long hole that the rusty bracket was covering. And a 10-mm box end wrench is needed to turn the spur gear at the lower adjuster.

A cable runs from the bottom adjuster back behind the lamp to the upper corner, where it turns another set of gears that moves the beam plate.

Turning the upper screw clockwise moves the beam toward the right, so you would need to back it out ccw to steer it to the left.

But the elbow point with the shield is toward the left so i doubt this will solve your issue.

The lower adjuster must control the vertical position but i couldn't get it to turn easily and stopped before stripping the plastic gear.

The tape-over-the-right-side trick such as mentioned for UK is likely your quickest fix, but i like Don's idea even better.